Potential gain from a road bike

nbuuifx
nbuuifx Posts: 302
edited August 2012 in Road beginners
I've just had a cracking ride out, really pushed it for most of the ride (did run out of go a bit in my legs towards the end). However this was all on my MTB with slick tyres on.

I've been using Strava and mainly pushed it along the segments I knew were coming etc. On one particular segment which is 2 miles long and virtually flat I got my personal best and got 3rd place (only 2 seconds off 2nd place) - I averaged 23.9 mph. I'm very happy with that time espicially as there was a bit of a head wind - my previous best had an average speed of 18.9 mph.

So my question is - as I'm looking for a road bike - what potential gain could I see from a road bike? If I rode the exact same segment with the exact same conditions and used the exact same amount of effort - would I be faster? Does it work like that? Or does the bike just have more potential but I have to use more effort to get there?

Comments

  • Twelly
    Twelly Posts: 1,437
    Road bike = less weight, less air resistance, less rolling resistance = less effort needed to move at the same speed. So yes, you will generally be faster on a road bike.

    I would question your GPS accuracy if it says you are averaging 23mph on an MTB (unless you were going down hill)
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  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    Closer to 24mph thank you :)

    GPS Accuracy is good, it was hard work! My mate was on his carbon bike behind, he got his best time too with an average of 22mph - I'd lost him by half way and had to wait at the end (when I say had to wait - it wasn't really that I had to wait for him - I was about to collapse!)

    I was also watching my bike computer and I kept the speed at 27mph (ish) for most of the way, just dipped down to 20 at a slight hill/bend towards the end then only managed to get it back up to 25 for the last bit.

    The route is basically flat it does go up and down slightly but averages out over the 2 miles. The end of the segment is 14 foot lower than the start.
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    And different gear ratios more suited to roads
  • Twelly
    Twelly Posts: 1,437
    Sorry I didn't notice the route was only 2 miles, thought you were doing long distance and doing that speed on an MTB - was about to suggest you sign up for the Olympics before they start!

    What I said stands, you will be faster on a road bike.

    I average 14-15mph on my 10 mile commute on my hardtail. That goes up to 17-18mph if I am on my roadie.
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  • jameses
    jameses Posts: 653
    Over such a short distance, there will be very little increase in speed on a road bike vs mtb. On a long ride, much more so. Lighter weight on the hills and more aero positioning on the drops make it easier to maintain higher speed over longer distances.

    And road bikes make you smile :)
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    Yes it was a quick 25 mile ride, it's fairly hilly round here. The average for the ride was 16.5mph. Ideally I'd like to get around 18-19mph averages on this terrain.

    Fingers crossed I'll be getting a road bike tomorrow if all goes well.
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    nbuuifx wrote:
    I've been using Strava and mainly pushed it along the segments I knew were coming etc. On one particular segment which is 2 miles long and virtually flat I got my personal best and got 3rd place (only 2 seconds off 2nd place) - I averaged 23.9 mph. I'm very happy with that time espicially as there was a bit of a head wind - my previous best had an average speed of 18.9 mph.

    Post up the Strava segment so people can compare. Good effort on a mtb but that speed/ effort wouldn't get you into the top 25's on any 1/2/3 mile segments I ride.
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    Luckily not too many people have ridden it, we don't seem to have a huge number of Strava users here yet. It says it has been ridden 98 times by 25 riders. So it would be impossible not to be in the top 25!!!

    I've got in the top 5 for a good number of segments now but there aren't many that have been ridden by more than 50 people. Most have only been ridden by 20ish. Generally the more times it has been ridden the lower down the ranks I am!

    There is one cracking ride which I'm currently second on, it's 2 miles down a dark overcast single width lane - it's mostly downhill and it's covered in mud, gravel, puddles, sticks, pot holes and a couple of blind bends. Anybody with a decent road bike avoids it!
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    You've managed to improve from 18.9 average to 23.9mph average so if you can adapt easily to a road bike position there could be more gains. Maybe your bike isn't such a limiting factor.
  • klep
    klep Posts: 158
    JamesEs wrote:
    And road bikes make you smile :)
    Most important if you ask me... It's not just some smile you know, it's an everlasting, invigorating, vainglorious smile of proudness.
  • Twelly
    Twelly Posts: 1,437
    klep wrote:
    it's an everlasting, invigorating, vainglorious smile of proudness.

    I get this when I fart
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  • Manc33
    Manc33 Posts: 2,157
    I was averaging about 11.0MPH on my MTB with 26 x 1.5 @ 85psi (Schwalbe City Jets, what else!) and it is about 32lbs.

    On my new road bike I average about 13.0MPH with the same effort, its 23lbs.

    So for me going to 700c x 23 @ 115psi gave me +18% speed increase.

    Its not the average speed its the acceleration. :P Setting off from lights I can get to 15MPH on this road bike with literally a few hard turns of the pedals stood up. MTB no chance, its more of a keep pedalling a bit to get to 15MPH whereas on the road bike I find myself going 15MPH when I think I am doing 10MPH.

    How I ever put up with a MTB on the road I do not know but I have to admit it is slightly more comfortable, which is funny, when I got that road bike I expected it to be REALLY REALLY bumpy, but its not. Not sure why its not but I ain'y bothered about finding out to be honest lol. I just know the other bike like that (an old 1960's Pennine tourer with 700c x 28's @ 90psi) was vastly more bumpy. Yeah we have carbon forks now but I am talking about the seat as well, nowhere near as bumpy on this new bike as that old one is, carbon fork or not. I know a carbon fork isn't dampening the bumps at the back and yet it is surprisingly good on the road. When you get on a smooth bit especially it is just so silent (Shimano 2300 cassettes are nearly silent) and smooth.
  • Mikey23
    Mikey23 Posts: 5,306
    I am around 2mph quicker on my roadie than I am on my hybrid for the same effort on a measured course. I would imagine that the difference would be greater for you
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    Well I purchased a road bike this evening and took it out for a quick 10 mile ride and it's official road bikes are slower than MTBs!

    OK not quite a fair test, due to my legs being knackered after yesterdays ride, it also being my first ride, stopping lots of times to adjust things and not trusting the brakes downhill. Otherwise though it felt quite quick for a similar effort - although I couldn't really tell as I haven't put a computer on it yet. I had strava running but it doesn't seem to be doing the segments today?? Average for the whole ride was 14.5mph compared to yesterdays MTB run of 16.5mph!
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    nbuuifx wrote:
    Well I purchased a road bike this evening and took it out for a quick 10 mile ride and it's official road bikes are slower than MTBs!

    OK not quite a fair test, due to my legs being knackered after yesterdays ride, it also being my first ride, stopping lots of times to adjust things and not trusting the brakes downhill. Otherwise though it felt quite quick for a similar effort - although I couldn't really tell as I haven't put a computer on it yet. I had strava running but it doesn't seem to be doing the segments today?? Average for the whole ride was 14.5mph compared to yesterdays MTB run of 16.5mph!

    No wind.
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    According to Endomondo the wind was 11mph North on the MTB. The wind was 18mph East today. The segment in question is roughly heading south.

    It was just down to being knackered from pushing it yesterday. Today should have been a rest day
  • Twelly
    Twelly Posts: 1,437
    What did you buy?
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  • blackhands
    blackhands Posts: 950
    Well an MTB frame doesn't seem to slow Andy Wilkinson down at all - his average 22.5mph for 24 hours

    http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=49102.0
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    JamesEs wrote:
    And road bikes make you smile :)

    Yep.

    My road bike feels fast. I maybe only doing 18mph, but the wind through your helmet and the way the bike feels delicate and flickable around corners and when I'm on the drops looking down at the grains in the tarmac whizzing past, it's like the Millennium Falcon going through hyperspace.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    TwellySmat wrote:
    What did you buy?

    Just a cheap entry level 2nd hand Road bike - a Trek 1000 SL, there is a thread about it in the road buying advice bit:

    viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12868462
  • simon_masterson
    simon_masterson Posts: 2,740
    You will feel faster, as your bike will be lighter and more streamlined.

    But you can expect to see gains in speed. The small contributing factors are key. You might gain a couple of mph; perhaps more when riding into the wind, since you'll have drops. Aerodynamics are of greatest importance in cycling, save for one thing, and that is the engine. 30 years ago people were setting incredible time trial times on what we would probably now call sluggish touring bikes. Look at the average speeds for the TdF year on year; it's not like the riders of today are riding twice as fast as those of yesterday with their 531 bikes with heavy wheels and 5 speed freewheels. One of my early best times was 43 minutes on my old commute of 18 miles. I did it on my flat barred Raleigh leisure bike with 35mm tyres on steel rims.
    Retro(ish) TT 2017-
    Fixed TT 2015-2016
  • nbuuifx
    nbuuifx Posts: 302
    More of a proper test today. I did a 30 mile ride, found the bike to be excellent, unfortunately my legs hadn't fully recovered from overdoing it in the week so I didn't have 100% go in them, I found they were pretty much empty when I hit a hill.

    Anyway I rode the same 30 mile ride 2 weeks ago on my MTB (and the wind conditions felt exactly the same). I pushed it for the duration, but mainly for the middle 10 miles as it is a local TT route. I managed to get 16.1mph average last time and I got a 33 minute time for the TT segment, which was 18ish mph average.

    As I say I felt I couldn't give it 100% - last time my HR was up at 180 most of the run and I was gasping by the end. This time my HR was at 170ish for most of the run, and I wasn't really suffering with lungs etc, I just couldn't push as hard as I'd have liked to.

    This time at reduced capacity, my average over the 30 miles was 18.1mph. My TT segment time was 30 mins and 40 seconds. My first 20 miles which included the TT was done in 1 hour.

    I also got some personal records on Endomondo:

    Fastest 10 miles: 26m45s
    Fastest 20 km: 34m09s
    Furthest in One Hour: 32.27km (20 miles)

    So now looking forward to having another go when my legs are feeling better!

    Pleased with the 2mph increase on the average :)
  • ben@31
    ben@31 Posts: 2,327
    nbuuifx wrote:
    last time my HR was up at 180 most of the run and I was gasping by the end.

    When I do cardio at the gym. If my HR ever gets that high the machine automatically backs off a bit, as a HR of 180 is over doing it.
    "The Prince of Wales is now the King of France" - Calton Kirby
  • ALaPlage
    ALaPlage Posts: 732
    Similar experience to my riding buddy. He was averaging around 12 mph on his mtb over a 20 mile route. After buying a Cube Peloton Race with Tiagra triple his first ride on the same route moved average speed to 14.5 mph. He said he felt like he'd put in the same sort of effort as on the ride a few days before on his mtb.

    Now he's up to 16mph and loving the change to road biking on a road bike. Enjoy your new ride.
    Trek Madone 5.9
    Kinesis Crosslight T4
  • calbelfield
    calbelfield Posts: 59
    I've been plodding around the roads on my MTB this year, in the last month or two decided I need to get a road bike. Being young and not having a lot of money I thought it best to try and find a bargain on ebay. I think I just have: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140803164121?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_566wt_1270

    Picked it up yesterday, and just taken it out for a quick spin up one of the local hills and back down. I'm amazed at how good it felt. Feels so so much better, I love it! I'm hooked for sure. Managed to get my average speed up 4+ mph. What a difference it makes. Now I can look at anyone riding a MTB on the road and think 'How do they do it', as im sure many roadies do already.

    I'd advise anyone to buy a road bike if they have the available funds, it is totally worth it!
    YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/cyclistcallum
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    blackhands wrote:
    Well an MTB frame doesn't seem to slow Andy Wilkinson down at all - his average 22.5mph for 24 hours

    http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=49102.0

    and 26.5mph for 12hrs (317.9 miles yesterday!!)

    Not an MTB frame mind you - a custom built Dolan to Andy's exact spec.

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