Ride Position from MTB to Road

dancook

Currently I'm riding a focus forest mtb which I bought last year for about £800.

I'm moving soon, and I'll be double distance from work, 10 miles instead of 5. I'm quite tempted to sell the car, and buy a road bike. Selling the car to free up cash and remove the temptation to drive.

I've read before a question to ask yourself is what position do you ride, upright, or bent over?

Well I often find myself trying to keep my head low and body streamlined, trying to fight against the wind resistances taking my bike as fast as my knackered legs will take me...

Considering this, should I be looking at drop bar road bikes? I've never either ridden a road bike or used drop bar handlebars.

I also find i run out of gears, and without cycling so hard my legs fall off - I feel like I've taken the bike as fast as it's going to get. Though maybe I just need to get fitter!!! (that said i'm not 'unfit')

mudcovered

dancook wrote:

Well I often find myself trying to keep my head low and body streamlined, trying to fight against the wind resistances taking my bike as fast as my knackered legs will take me...

Considering this, should I be looking at drop bar road bikes? I've never either ridden a road bike or used drop bar handlebars.

I also find i run out of gears, and without cycling so hard my legs fall off - I feel like I've taken the bike as fast as it's going to get. Though maybe I just need to get fitter!!! (that said i'm not 'unfit')

Drop bar road bikes will help with getting out of the wind and also give better high speed gearing but you may have to sacrifice low gears so be prepared for a bit of a culture shock if you use your MTB super low gears to get up hills. That was my biggest concern when I first switched although I've gotten so used to it now I'm thinking about getting rid of the granny ring on my MTB.

As for overall position on a road bike there are so many variations (and tweaks that can be done) that pretty much any rider position can be set up. Basically get yourself to a bike shop and see how comfortable you are on the drop bar bikes. If you are actually buying the bike and you feel the position needs some tweaks most shops will change bits around to make it fit you better.

Mike

dancook

There's only one hill that I have ever switch the left hand gearing from 3 to 2 for, and to be honest it'd be faster if I got off and walked.

This hill I not only avoid like the plague, but I'll be moving away from so I think I might be ok there.

I use (3)(3-4) for the steepest hills I meet at the moment. (sorry I don't know the gearing terminology)

Yea I'll try it out at a bike shop, and warn my girlfriend when she gets a car and passes her test, it's her turn to play taxi

thanks

mudcovered

dancook wrote:

There's only one hill that I have ever switch the left hand gearing from 3 to 2 for, and to be honest it'd be faster if I got off and walked.

This hill I not only avoid like the plague, but I'll be moving away from so I think I might be ok there.

I use (3)(3-4) for the steepest hills I meet at the moment. (sorry I don't know the gearing terminology)

You should be fine on the gearing front then although you might find that after a while that steeper hills will become doable on higher gears.That was certainly my experience.

Riding a road bike will feel a bit narrow for a few rides then you might find that the MTB feels wide if you switch back. That and the gearing were pretty much the only things I noticed. On the position front my CX bike (road bike with slightly fatter tyres) and my MTB have fairly similar riding positions apart from the width. My LBS didn't even have to change anything to make that the case (being average sized has its uses ).

dancook wrote:

Yea I'll try it out at a bike shop, and warn my girlfriend when she gets a car and passes her test, it's her turn to play taxi
/quote]


Mike

simon_e

I'd say most people who get a road bike never look back once they are accustomed to it (which doesn't take long). I find my road bike lighter and rolls, climbs and accelerates much better, but my old steel MTB copes with the winter better on my commute (10-12 rural miles each way). If you decide you don't want to go for a drop bar there are good flat-bar hybrids with very similar frames and components e.g. Specialized Sirrus, Giant Rapid or FCR.

Re. position, I spend quite a lot of time with my hands on the brake lever hoods, which is not much less upright than the MTB. Switch to the flat part on the top now and then, while drops are great for getting low and purposeful. The greater variety of positions and the more natural resting angle my hands makes it less tiring than the MTB's flat bars.

A triple or compact front chainring setup should give you a pretty wide range of gears. By (3)(3-4) I take it you mean 3rd and 4th cog out from the wheel on the big front chainring. On the back 1st (bottom) gear is the biggest cog, nearest the spokes.

dancook

Simon E wrote:

A triple or compact front chainring setup should give you a pretty wide range of gears. By (3)(3-4) I take it you mean 3rd and 4th cog out from the wheel on the big front chainring. On the back 1st (bottom) gear is the biggest cog, nearest the spokes.

I think that's right

I'm instantly drawn the focus cayo - just because I bought the focus forest - and I know they get great reviews for their excellent value.

I do think drop bar is going to be the way forward, I've read that you can adopt all sorts of positions with them.

I'm half expecting to feel like i'm floating when I get a road bike.... I hope i'm not too dissapointed