Should I buy a road bike?

kasattack
kasattack Posts: 18
edited June 2013 in Road buying advice
Hi everyone,

I've been doing a lot of road cycling over the last year or so and I've been seriously considering buying a road bike, more than likely the Boardman Road Comp due to its low weight and good value for money.

226816?$PDP_MAIN$

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165710

However, the only thing that is stopping me from going ahead and buying this bike is my concern that the performance of the bike won't be what I hope it is. Currently I have a Salcano Assos Mountain Bike:

Assos-Salcano.jpg

(pretty terrible, I know) but I can average around 16mph on it and hit about 35mph on it down hill. What I want to know is how much extra performance can I expect to get out of the Boardman Road Comp compared to an old mountain bike? (Obviously better performance, but any idea how much?)

Any response would be much appreciated so thanks in advance.

Comments

  • banditvic
    banditvic Posts: 549
    Approx 3-4 miles an hour faster and less comfortable.
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    banditvic wrote:
    Approx 3-4 miles an hour faster and less comfortable.

    So you're saying that an £800 road bike will only be around 3mph faster than a £200 mountain bike?
  • elderone
    elderone Posts: 1,410
    That,s about the size of it,take comfort though as a£5k road bike wont be 3mph faster than an £800 one.
    Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    kasattack wrote:
    banditvic wrote:
    Approx 3-4 miles an hour faster and less comfortable.

    So you're saying that an £800 road bike will only be around 3mph faster than a £200 mountain bike?

    That is an improvement of around 20%! Sounds pretty good to me.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    20-25% faster sounds good to me ;-)

    In reality a light road bike is way faster than a heavy MTB with knobbly tyres. Don't even think about the speed on paper, just buy one then get out and ride fast!
    The Boardman is a great bike. Join BC first and you'll get an extra 10% off.
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    Carbonator wrote:
    20-25% faster sounds good to me ;-)

    In reality a light road bike is way faster than a heavy MTB with knobbly tyres. Don't even think about the speed on paper, just buy one then get out and ride fast!
    The Boardman is a great bike. Join BC first and you'll get an extra 10% off.

    Thanks, great advice (particularly about joining British Cycling, I hadn't thought of that :D )
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    DesWeller wrote:
    kasattack wrote:
    banditvic wrote:
    Approx 3-4 miles an hour faster and less comfortable.

    So you're saying that an £800 road bike will only be around 3mph faster than a £200 mountain bike?

    That is an improvement of around 20%! Sounds pretty good to me.


    Actually, after thinking about it that sounds like a pretty good improvement :D
    Also, there's a pretty steep hill that I often ride up (not sure on the gradient) and I end up going at around 7-8mph from about half way to the top. After getting overtaken by a guy on a road bike going at what was probably more like 15mph any idea what increase in speed I can expect going uphill?
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    20%
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • JayKosta
    JayKosta Posts: 635
    Uphills on a lighter weight bike will be faster. or easier if you use low gears and go at the same pace.

    For me, part of the enjoyment of a lightweight bike is that it is more lively and responsive - that makes riding it more fun.

    On flat roads, even a heavy bike can be fast if the gearing is good, and the tires are inflated to a fairly high pressure - the main impediment to speed is wind resistence.

    Jay Kosta
    Endwell NY USA
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    JayKosta wrote:
    Uphills on a lighter weight bike will be faster. or easier if you use low gears and go at the same pace.

    For me, part of the enjoyment of a lightweight bike is that it is more lively and responsive - that makes riding it more fun.

    On flat roads, even a heavy bike can be fast if the gearing is good, and the tires are inflated to a fairly high pressure - the main impediment to speed is wind resistence.

    Jay Kosta
    Endwell NY USA


    Thanks for the advice - getting enjoyment out of going cycling is a big thing for me, not just for the fitness, so great!

    You said the main impediment to speed is wind resistance, and the wind does seem to affect me and can easily lower my speed by 2-3mph on my mountain bike. If I did go ahead and get a decent road bike would the lower weight of the bike and the more aggressive and more aerodynamic position of myself on the bike greatly improve efficiency into the wind, or will the wind still slow me down by a mile an hour or 2 if I put the same effort in?

    Thanks.
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    Just buy one. Stuff what %age people are choosing to say, its all finger in the wind number picking. It will be way faster, and more enjoyable. Try holding your mtb at 25mph on the flat and see how long you can do, not long id guess, road bikes are designed for road, loads lighter, loads less rolling resistance, and the position is way more aerodynamic (unless you have a mary poppins setup where your bars are really high like some people do, old people and injured people excused)
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    mfin wrote:
    Just buy one. Stuff what %age people are choosing to say, its all finger in the wind number picking. It will be way faster, and more enjoyable. Try holding your mtb at 25mph on the flat and see how long you can do, not long id guess, road bikes are designed for road, loads lighter, loads less rolling resistance, and the position is way more aerodynamic (unless you have a mary poppins setup where your bars are really high like some people do, old people and injured people excused)

    After all the posts on here I might just do that and go and buy one! :D
    With 10% off with British Cycling and sales in store I might be able to get the Boardman Road Comp for less than £700 so I think it'll be a good idea.

    What you said about trying to hold the speed of both bikes sounds like a good idea so if I do get the Boardman I'll certainly give that a go.

    Thanks for the advice, it's much appreciated.
  • verylonglegs
    verylonglegs Posts: 4,023
    It may not seem like it's a significant increase on paper but it will translate to something much more tangible as a physical sensation when actually riding, don't get hung up purely on numbers too much as a starter...they'll be plenty of scope for that later on if you really get the bug.
  • kasattack
    kasattack Posts: 18
    Thanks, I guess that makes sense as going just a few miles an hour faster on my current bike feels considerably faster anyway. Now that I'm getting more convinced that I should get the Boardman I can't wait to be going quicker and for longer!
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    kasattack wrote:
    banditvic wrote:
    Approx 3-4 miles an hour faster and less comfortable.

    So you're saying that an £800 road bike will only be around 3mph faster than a £200 mountain bike?

    That'll be a big difference. Don't forget that because of wind resistance the faster you do the more difficult it is to go even faster, once you start getting towards 20mph the extra power needed to gain just 1 extra mph is considerable.

    But yes, the road bike will be a lot faster than your MTB and it will feel a lot faster, both on the flats but especially climbing. As for the comfort thing, nah, the road bike might be slightly less comfortable over a 5 mile ride, but way more comfortable over a 50 mile ride.
  • pj101
    pj101 Posts: 31
    Buy one. The difference will be massive. Up until a year or so ago I was predominantly an MTB'er, owning two semi-decent mountain bikes and a hybrid for pootling round. I was getting a bit fed up with the effort required to ride an MTB on the road so I took the plunge and bought a road bike. I've never looked back and one year on one of the MTBs has been sold, the hybrid is ready for the bin and the road bike is used more than any other bike I've owned. There is no speed comparison that's relevant.
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    yes - you should always buy a road bike :)

    i must warn you though, in 6 months to a year your question will quickly turn to should I buy another road bike, then 6 months to a year after that that second question will pop up again and so the cycle (sorry for the pun!) continues!
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Chris Bass wrote:
    yes - you should always buy a road bike :)

    i must warn you though, in 6 months to a year your question will quickly turn to should I buy another road bike, then 6 months to a year after that that second question will pop up again and so the cycle (sorry for the pun!) continues!

    hehe, yes. You think at the moment "That bike is more than good enough for the next 5 years". Then it's "actually that better frame would make me faster", then "actually, I should upgrade my groupset too", and on and on.
  • pj101
    pj101 Posts: 31
    Perhaps I should add - I have upgraded my groupset. It's also had mudguards stuck on it to be used in all weathers. So now I'm on the lookout for a shiny fair weather road bike to occupy the space the hybrid will leave when it goes.
  • paulbnix
    paulbnix Posts: 632
    Yes.
    I have been cycling with a friend for a few years an hybrids.
    18 months ago my mate bought a Triban 3. Immediately I struggled to keep up.
    It was especially evident on undulating roads. The road bike enables you to keep your momentum a lot longer when you hit the up slope. The hybrid has to change down 1 or 2 gears and slows down a lot.
    I now have a road bike - a Boadman Comp when it reached its low price of £629 last June.
    We are both on the wrong side of 60 and I would say that climbing speed hasn't changed much - its just in a higher gear.
    Our average speed has increased by about 2~3 mph and the distances travelled have doubled to 50+ miles.

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