100 Miles.

lodgey_3

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.

webboo

If you have your position dialled on your mountain bike then it just a case of building up. Once you can ride for 3 hours without feeling you have been beaten up, then try 4 hours and so on.
To be honest if you push your self then there’s always pain involved.

RutlandGav

I got my first drop bar bike (a gravel bike) this year after many years flogging MTBs along the road.

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

pilot_pete

Comfort is all about fit and equipment. If they are right then distance simply comes with building up your endurance. On a road, a correctly fitting road bike should reduce your effort for a set distance in the same conditions over using a mountain bike. There are a number of elements from more aero body position, and bike, coupled with less energy sapping from suspension and fat, soft, knobbly tyres. Even not having a peak on your helmet will give a little gain!

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

monkimark

I used to ride exclusively mtb, I used it off road for leisure and on the road with sticks for my commute.

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

N0bodyOfTheGoat

The aero benefits and less weight up hills should make you travel faster for the same effort (power) on a road bike compared to a mountain bike.

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.

shirley_basso

If you can ride 80 miles on a mountainbike then 100 on a road bike should be piss easy.

StillGoing

Biggest obstacle is in your head. Go at a reduced pace and you'll do your imperial 100. If you go hard or near your threshold, you'll fail.

homers_double

I've done HONC (100m) on a Santa Cruz Heckler which has 6" full suspension and multiple 100m road bike rides, the latter is far easier.

lodgey_3

Thank you all for the great advice.

webboo

RutlandGav wrote:

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

Did you put any air in the mountain bike tyres, I can’t imagine what you were doing to be going that slow. I have ridden a mountain bike at 24/25 mph over a 10 mile tt course without tri bars.

avalanche_expert

Webboo wrote:

RutlandGav wrote:

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

Did you put any air in the mountain bike tyres, I can’t imagine what you were doing to be going that slow. I have ridden a mountain bike at 24/25 mph over a 10 mile tt course without tri bars.

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.

wastelander

Webboo wrote:

Did you put any air in the mountain bike tyres, I can’t imagine what you were doing to be going that slow. I have ridden a mountain bike at 24/25 mph over a 10 mile tt course without tri bars.

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!!!

bflk

Webboo wrote:

RutlandGav wrote:

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

Did you put any air in the mountain bike tyres, I can’t imagine what you were doing to be going that slow. I have ridden a mountain bike at 24/25 mph over a 10 mile tt course without tri bars.

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.