MTB'er v Roadie

SUPERSUTT

Hi all
I was wondering how much harder it is for a MTB'er to keep up with a roadie.I do can about 16 mph over short distances (8 miles in 28 mins, commuting to work and back)

Im doing a 100 mile charity bike ride at the end of August and im the only guy on a mountian bike the other guys are riding carbon road frames. Im out training every night for an hour or two mainly stop start sprinting, riding as hard and fast as i can for 10 to 20 min then slowing down for ten mins or so before repeting, its not a race we just need to ride from Scunthorpe to King Lynn but want to do it in good time.

I dont want to slow the pack down but dont want to work to hard to keep up and tier myself out to soon

cooldad

They'll leave you for dead. Borrow a road bike.

nicklouse

They will be 5+miles an hour faster. Hire a bike.

tarbot18

depends how friendly you are as a group i did the coast to coast last year with 3 mates 2 of us on mtb s and 2 on road bikes and we all just kept to a decent pace as it wasnt a race, just because someone s on a road bike dont assume they ll be faster.
I regularly overtake roadies on my commute to work on my mtb because a lot are commuters on road bikes not dedicated roadies and probably not that fit.
Im a roadie too when i cant get away on my proper bike though and have to say as above they are great on the road very fast and easy to ride so if you can borrow one, if not chuck some slicks on your mtb and hope your fitter than the roadies !

njee20

I'd say 5 is an exaggeration, but they'll be quicker for sure. Rather depends on fitness though, if you're still pretty unfit it'll be more obvious, if you're fitter than they are then you'll probably keep up.

DodgeT

tarbot18 wrote:

chuck some slicks on your mtb

I'd do this as option 2. Option 1 would be borrow a road bike.

mrmonkfinger

If you can't borrow a road bike for it, then get some road slicks and you'll be almost as quick.

supersonic

Yep, put slicks on it. Only when you hit 15mph plus does aero come into it.

lighty89

If your used to slugging around a big heavy mountain bike, then youll be flying on a road-bike.

VWsurfbum

if you had a proper sized mountain bike wheels (see 29er) you could use roadie tyres.

*ducks and awaits battering*

I'm doing the www.thekaiserchallenge.com tomorrow which is 200 miles and a few of us on MTB's, i shall technically be on a mtb but a 29er rigid one

mrmonkfinger

VWsurfbum wrote:

if you had a proper sized mountain bike wheels (see 29er) you could use roadie tyres.

*ducks and awaits battering*

I'm doing the http://www.thekaiserchallenge.com tomorrow which is 200 miles and a few of us on MTB's, i shall technically be on a mtb but a 29er rigid one

so, you're riding a flat bar road bike?

steelie600

Slicks should cover you if you can cruise above 20mph with the slicks fitted you should be ok

But like others have said hire a road bike and be bi-sexual for the day.

VWsurfbum

mrmonkfinger wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

if you had a proper sized mountain bike wheels (see 29er) you could use roadie tyres.

*ducks and awaits battering*

I'm doing the http://www.thekaiserchallenge.com tomorrow which is 200 miles and a few of us on MTB's, i shall technically be on a mtb but a 29er rigid one

so, you're riding a flat bar road bike?

no but yeah but no but..............i ride it off road more than on

Twelly

I did Portsmouth to Brighton and back this year - 107 miles in a day.

I was on my road bike and me and the other two guys who used road bikes finished an hour ahead of the others and were able to sink a pint at the finish line without collapsing. The guys riding MTB's were much slower, even with slicks, and either dropped out before the finish or keeled over at the finish line.

As said above, beg, borrow or steal a road bike. If you can't, put skinny slicks on your MTB as a minimum. Other things you can do to the MTB to help would be a longer lower stem, narrower flat handlebars, swap the sus fork for a lightweight rigid. But for the price of all that you can hire a road bike.

P.S. just noticed your sig. Don't do it on the Camber, it would be hard enough on a hartail, let alone a bouncy bike like that.

diy

5mph as others have said. Doing 15mph on a road bike is an easy cruise. I reckon its going to be 20-30% more work riding an MTB at 15mph on tarmac than a half decent road bike.

borrow or hire a road bike - most LBS will do an extended test ride for 25-30 quid. Or you could go to ebay and sell it on after.
Get it set up for you
get used to the rubbish stoppers
get an extra pair of padded shorts.
shave your legs and be obsessed with bum wiggle
Trigger OCD in all the roadies by wearing mtb gear.

DodgeT

VWsurfbum wrote:

mrmonkfinger wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

if you had a proper sized mountain bike wheels (see 29er) you could use roadie tyres.

*ducks and awaits battering*

I'm doing the http://www.thekaiserchallenge.com tomorrow which is 200 miles and a few of us on MTB's, i shall technically be on a mtb but a 29er rigid one

so, you're riding a flat bar road bike?

no but yeah but no but..............i ride it off road more than on

so it s a cyclo cross bike??

supersonic

This is simple physics, and it ain't a 5mph difference for lowish average speeds.

Road bikes are faster for one main reason - aerodynamics. The drop bars and narrow tyres allow better aerodynamics. The weight only makes a difference when accelerating really, to keep the machine going at the same speed takes very little extra energy.

So with very narrow tyres on the MTB, and maybe some bar ends the difference is negligible.

But... you have and FS bike. This will sap more energy, even when locked out.

mrmonkfinger

supersonic wrote:

The weight only makes a difference when accelerating really, to keep the machine going at the same speed takes very little extra energy.

hence my permanent amusement at threads containing stuff like "this 1kg lighter bike really flies!"

Twelly

supersonic wrote:

Road bikes are faster for one main reason - aerodynamics. The drop bars and narrow tyres allow better aerodynamics. The weight only makes a difference when accelerating really, to keep the machine going at the same speed takes very little extra energy.

So with very narrow tyres on the MTB, and maybe some bar ends the difference is negligible.

Ah but on a 100 mile road ride, there is going to be a lot of stopping at lights, slowing for corners, and repetitive getting up to speed again. So the lower weight of the road bike is going to mean you use less energy building up your speed over and over again. Over that sort of distance the benefit of a lighter bike is huge.

njee20

To be honest I reckon there's a lot of willy-waving going on here!

Slicks should cover you if you can cruise above 20mph with the slicks fitted you should be ok

Few roadies can sustain a 20mph average on their tod, it's significantly quicker in a bunch (even so, not that many group rides will still be over 20mph), but then you'll also be quicker on an MTB in a bunch.

There's not a 5mph difference unless your MTB is a 40lb DH rig with 2.5" Super Tacky tyres. Don't get me wrong they are quicker, my winter road bike actually weighs more than my FS MTB, but it's still faster, admittedly on knobblies, never ridden a slick-equipped MTB any notable distance.

But as I said, the biggest variable is fitness. Your average roadie is significantly fitter than your average MTBer, and that will really show up if you ride an MTB. If the "other guys" are a bunch of overweight duffers and you're an XC whippet then I'd suggest you'll be absolutely fine, if they're your average club roadie and you enjoy a 10 mile pootle around your local trail centre stopping to chew the fat every 30 seconds then I'd say you're screwed!

Ah but on a 100 mile road ride, there is going to be a lot of stopping at lights, slowing for corners, and repetitive getting up to speed again. So the lower weight of the road bike is going to mean you use less energy building up your speed over and over again. Over that sort of distance the benefit of a lighter bike is huge.

I reckon all that's a bit of a red herring to be honest, I'd say it's hills that'll make or break it, far more pleasant on a road bike.

Twelly

njee20 wrote:

Ah but on a 100 mile road ride, there is going to be a lot of stopping at lights, slowing for corners, and repetitive getting up to speed again. So the lower weight of the road bike is going to mean you use less energy building up your speed over and over again. Over that sort of distance the benefit of a lighter bike is huge.

I reckon all that's a bit of a red herring to be honest, I'd say it's hills that'll make or break it, far more pleasant on a road bike.

Oh yeah, and hills.. my point stands though - weight does make a difference even if SS thinks not.

styxd

Get some slicks, some narrow bars and some bar ends and you'll be ok (and some SPD's unless you use them already)

However, the roadies will be cruising whilst you'll be hammering away.

supersonic

A lightweight mtb with slicks and rigids will weigh even less than a base to mid range road bike though. But as he has a FS bike, hiring one may be the way forwards.

njee20

Yeah but I'm guessing we're not talking about changing forks for one ride? Surely one can procure a road bike more easily than that!

As I said, even with knobblies, my FS MTB weighs less than my winter road bike (which in itself is a mid-range Allez with carbon forks etc), but it's still not as quick, or perhaps more significantly for this, as comfortable on the road.

supersonic

For a 2 min swap and a pair of rigids for £25, I would.

njee20

I'd hire a road bike with that £25!

Twelly

njee20 wrote:

Yeah but I'm guessing we're not talking about changing forks for one ride? Surely one can procure a road bike more easily than that!

Not difficult, not expensive.

njee20 wrote:

As I said, even with knobblies, my FS MTB weighs less than my winter road bike (which in itself is a mid-range Allez with carbon forks etc).

I have an Allez with carbon forks. I would love to know what FS MTB you have which weighs less! Must be very exotic.

cooldad

My road bike (an old Carerra in Reynolds 531) cost me £5 on Ebay, but I did have to stick new tubes in. Plus some petrol to drive a few miles to pick it up.

njee20

I have an Allez with carbon forks. I would love to know what FS MTB you have which weighs less! Must be very exotic.

Yeah, pretty much :-D

The Allez is 22lbs with mudguards and PowerTap, the Fuel is 20 pretty well on the nose.



Anyway, we digress...

I'd try your LBS who may well have a demo road bike (mine have an Allez and a Madone) they'd be prepared to hire you for £30 or so, which IMO is money better spent than rigid forks.

mrmonkfinger

TwellySmat wrote:

Oh yeah, and hills.. my point stands though - weight does make a difference even if SS thinks not.

How much difference? Can we get a quantification?

How much faster will you go over 100kms with, (and I'm pulling a random figure out of thin air) 1kg less of weight on the bike. For a 100kg rider & bike combination. Nice round numbers! We could even be going up a 10% gradient if you want.

supersonic

It makes more difference on an MTB as you are constantly moving it about under you, and a lot more stop starting. At even speed you could argue the energy output is the same once you have attained that speed, as you have more momentum.