100 Miles.
lodgey_3
Posts: 27
Hey all,
Looking for a bit of advice road bikes. Mainly doing long distance cycles.
I have never owned a road bike and would like to know how much easier they are to do long distance cycles and the main benefits of a road bike over a MTB?
I set out a goal this summer to do 100 miles in one cycle on my MTB, the best i was able to do for a long time was 55 miles (the pain in my bum, hands and feet would become to much) until today where i managed to reach 80 miles, a little of it was offroad but majority was on roads.
Would a road bike give me the comfort i am looking for? Do drop bars help alot? Would the position a road bike gives me help with distance?
I watch a few cyclists on youtube and see that they go riding for time rather such as 3 hour rides instead of cycling for distance however when i try this after a hour or two i dont really want to go on much more mainly due to bum pain.
Thank you in advance for an advice.
Looking for a bit of advice road bikes. Mainly doing long distance cycles.
I have never owned a road bike and would like to know how much easier they are to do long distance cycles and the main benefits of a road bike over a MTB?
I set out a goal this summer to do 100 miles in one cycle on my MTB, the best i was able to do for a long time was 55 miles (the pain in my bum, hands and feet would become to much) until today where i managed to reach 80 miles, a little of it was offroad but majority was on roads.
Would a road bike give me the comfort i am looking for? Do drop bars help alot? Would the position a road bike gives me help with distance?
I watch a few cyclists on youtube and see that they go riding for time rather such as 3 hour rides instead of cycling for distance however when i try this after a hour or two i dont really want to go on much more mainly due to bum pain.
Thank you in advance for an advice.
0
Posts
To be honest if you push your self then there’s always pain involved.
Comfort wise, the gravel machine is far ahead. On a MTB, the sit up and beg position puts all the weight on your bum, which gets sore. My gravel bike is more 50-50 and there's three hand positions (hoods, drops, tri bars). A six hour ride on the MTB would give me pins and needles down there even with a gel saddle - had no such issues after 12 hours on the gravel bike with the unyielding stock seat.
Also, stability took me by surprise. The gravel bike has a lot of trail and is very stable, all the mtb i've ridden are more flickable but you can't quite phase out to quite the same degree. Of course, not all road bikes are designed this way, criterium racers err less towards stability. I never managed to trackstand the MTB but it's doable on the gravel machine.
OTOH, I do notice reduced grip even with the 38mm tyres of the gravel bike. I've never lost the front end of a MTB on manhole covers, piles of gravel when going in a straight line, only when cornering. The gravel bike's lost traction about 4 times so far, but on the plus side, it's stability is such that i've managed to save it, whereas every time i lost the front on the MTB i'd be sliding down the road on my face before i knew what happened. Again though, this was while cornering so not apples to apples.
Finally, my thoughts on speed.
MTB, knobbly tyres - 11 mph
MTB, slicks - 12 mph
MTB, slicks and tri bars - 13.5mph
Gravel bike - 16mph
Proper road bike - 18mph
100miles is not as bad as you would think. Break it down into chunks, say 25 mile chunks. Give yourself a little reward such as a coffee stop, or lunch, or afternoon tea which breaks the ride into 4 achievable smaller rides. Pace yourself to ensure you don’t go off too quick and end up blowing after 70 miles...
If you do a heart rate test you should be able to work out your training zones - stick to the lower levels and you will soon be able to ride all day...
PP
After the 2012 Olympics some of my (quite unfit) mates took up road cycling with posh new road bikes, I used to tag along on the mtb and happily kept up with them at first but once they got a reasonable fitness level, I used to struggle to keep up after 50km or so.
I assumed they'd just become fitter than me until I got a 2nd hand road bike, the difference is night and day - it really is a lot easier. I don't know if it's weight, aerodynamics or tyres (most likely a combination of the 3).
If you're doing 80 miles on an mtb with bits of off road, 100 miles on a road bike will be no problem
Comfort on multi hour rides will come down to fine tuning the bike setup, doing little adjustments to things like saddle height; fore-aft; tilt; plus finding a brand of padded shorts that are a good fit for you.
Pacing, hydrating and refueling are key for longer rides. Not to mention tapering your rides beforehand, so your legs feel fresh.
2020 Voodoo Marasa
2017 Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc 2016
2016 Voodoo Wazoo
I agree the differences in speed aren’t quite what has been suggested here. Even without touching a road on my XC Hardtail I can average 15 mph.
Wow! That's pretty good going - a 24:30min 10m TT on an MTB - 383w according to bike calculator being generous and assuming a 20lb hardtail bike and 160lb rider - I'd struggle to do that on my road bike!!!
Sounds a bit fast for the Beginners section.
I used to ride a Giant Boulder to work (cost about £220 I think) and got about 11-12mph out of it. My mtb-road differential is a lot smaller though, usually around 15 on a road bike.