From mtb to road bike

activeuk
activeuk Posts: 22
edited March 2014 in Road beginners
Hi guys can you give me a some advice please ?
Using a engima 26" mtb bike with slick road tryes at the min i get a avg of 11.9 mile a hour and max speed as been 28
what benefits would i get from going to a road bike?

Comments

  • Silly Old Hector
    Silly Old Hector Posts: 573
    I found three benefits :

    - less weight to carry around
    - more aerodynamic position
    - less friction from the tyres (albeit you don't say what size/width of slicks you have)

    You may get between 3 & 5 mph average benefit, depending on how fit you are.

    I find I hardly use my Mtb anymore :-( but have ordered a cyclocross instead :-)
    All the gear, but no idea...
  • activeuk
    activeuk Posts: 22
    Thanks i thought there would be a bigger differnce then that up hils and greater speed etc
  • w00dster
    w00dster Posts: 880
    Hi activeUK
    Im an ex mtb and moved over to road cycling. Obviously the biggest differences you will notice is the speed, not just up hill but over the entire course of the ride.
    To give you an example, my ride today hit a high of 38mph, thats downhill obviously. Depending on the course I do the max downhill speed does occasionally creep over 40. Todays 30 mile course was an average of 18mph. I live in bucks/northants area, so not hilly but lumpy enough for me.
    Another huge difference is how the bike reacts when cornering at speed, being able to power out of a corner at speed is an awesome feeling.
    Hills are never easy, having a lighter bike only means you get up the hill quicker, its still tough. I do notice that I can spinup a hill on my roadbike easier than the mtb. On the mtb I tended to stand more.
    I do still enjoy going off road but have to admit theres nothing better than a ride like today. Sun beating down and cruising along quiet country roads.
  • activeuk
    activeuk Posts: 22
    Yea mate really nice today got just over 14 miles in http://app.strava.com/activities/119067797/overview
    thinking about getting one of these:-
    http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... /14roubaix
    http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... /14roubaix
  • rattyc5
    rattyc5 Posts: 84
    all the above.
    I have had mountain bikes since the 90s. I have a boardman hartail pro. now ride a road bike and think its far more enjoyable than a mountain bike. wife wont let me sell the boardman otherwise I would to finance a nice carbon road bike.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    I have an XC mountain bike but only ride it once the trails dry out. In autumn last year I bought a road bike to keep me fit over the wetter colder months. My experience is the road bike is faster on road especially up hills. My MTB is a light XC HT bike but compared to the road bike on road it feels and is slower. The two things to consider on road bikes are you need to setup them up accurately to fit you or they can be torture machines over longer distances. Also rim brakes are quite poor compared to disc brakes but fine for riding in the dry.

    Took my MTB out for the first time this year and was a lot fitter than normal due to the road bike. I was even sprinting up hills.

Categories