I KNOW THIS IS LONG BUT THERE’S A LOT TO TELL. IT’S WORTH READING AND THANKS FOR ANY FEEDBACK.
I know they’re of course slower but they seem a fantastic deal slower don’t know why people buy them. I have an Trek mountain bike my grandparents got for me many years ago. I’ve only ridden it long distance maybe 3 or 4 times (each couple years at most). But now I rode it for 36 miles on a flat trail (Katy Trail). I biked as hard as I could 18 miles there, took a break only when I got there and 18 miles back, toughest I could possibly bike and toughest I’ve ever exercised altogther. I had it on one of the highest gears and still chose to pedal very quick like it was a race. I’d say with the gear I was in despite it being the toughest possible gear you could ride in on flat ground lacking slowing yourself down it was unusually slow. It was maybe 3rd out of twenty something and you could still only get up to maybe 19 mph at its absolute max doubtless just under which beyond doubt seems way to slow. I pedaled extremely quick and averaged well over 15 mph (I divided the time it took me divided by the miles to figure this out); it felt like I was pushing it as quick as it could go but I knew better than to reflect that I was at complete max speed for 36 miles, it must have just seemed that way since I was pushing it to the max and the time proved this. Still I know I was wasn’t far from top speed the whole time. I know all this seems hard to believe since I don’t ride hardly ever but I’m naturally excellent (also 20 years ancient and in excellent shape) and it was one of those rare awesome touch days. There weren’t many people on the trail but I did see a few road bikers and I was quicker than all but one who was the same speed as me, the rest weren’t riding completely for the leisure of it. The quick guy I was only with for a very small part since we quickly took different paths but it was frustating to see him pedal so much slower than me and here I am pedaling like my life depends on it just to stay close behind him. I’m sure he was on a high gear of course but it couldn’t have been much higher than mine since mine was a very strong high gear like I said. And he was pedaling smooth and simple like the gear wasn’t that tough so unless he’s a pro I don’t see it. I’m not jealous of him for his comparatively effortless speed or anything but I despise how I have to place so much more energy into riding. I’d bet that even if I went singificantly slower than a excellent road bike I’d still use more energy. Could all this be a slow bike, my bike wasn’t cheap it was normal fee range. The trail was a small rocky nothing like a smooth road and I’m thinking that could help give reasons for the slower max speed. Maybe on a road it would be more like 22 but still mountain bike wheels shouldn’t slow much on the trail I was on it wasn’t too terrible at all.
Again I apologize that this is way too long but I’m wondering it it’s that vital for me to get a better bike particularly a road bike if I want to take up riding as I don’t have much money.
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Matt
Yes, it takes much more energy to ride a mountain bike than a road bike. Especially if your are on the road, and trying to race a road bike.
Reflect about your ride. It is a heavy frame, perhaps with suspension systems. It is geared to go up the sides of steep mountains and slow speeds, not race at top speed against a race bike. The suspension sucks up a tremendous amount of energy. The heavy frame, and wide soft tires do a huge amount of hurt too. So Gears, frame, suspension, tires all require as much as 20% more energy to ride.
A road bike is a set alight frame, high pressure tires, aerodynamic riding position, and road (speed) gearing. All allow for higher spin rate, more effective transfer of pedal energy to the road, less riding resistance, and much higher speed per watt of energy produced by the criterion.
It all comes down to basics. You buy a bike for where you are going to ride. So unless you want to use the mountain bike as a training and ‘get in better shape’ tool, use a road bike on the road. Don’t ever use a road bike in the mountains. It just won’t work out well for you!
Soccerref
Long question. Small answer…yes. Mountain bikes use more of the criterion’s energy on any type of surface. See link below…
if you;d place half the energy into riding that you do into typing..
a road bike is no excellent on trails or the woods
the other guy was quicker since he was stronger, and doubtless knows how to use gears
he may have a better bike but that;s only about 5% of the battle
wle
Lets go over a few things, the highest gear ratio, huge front small rear, is not always the fastest gearing. Select a gear that allows you to pedal around 80 rpm. A mountain bike in the 44/11 gears will go 28 to 32 mph at 90rpm. The tires are what slows down a mountain bike the most as they are predestined for traction on dirt not out and out road speed. A 15 mph average speed is still not that terrible, it’s even a excellent pace for a road bike ridden by a casual criterion. Pedaling makes a huge difference, smooth full circles deliver the power to the ground and is much quicker than hard mashing. A excellent pedal stroke looks effortless even when delivering huge wattage. Here’s an simple way to know if you have slow tires, the more noise they make the slower they are and the more power they eat up for a given speed.
Yes. And I agree – I don’t know why people buy mountain bikes either. I reflect it’s doubtless for the same reason people buy SUVs – they see them as rugged ‘can-do’ vehicles ready for adventure. But in reality they are usually used on the road and they make their owners look tired, ancient and out of shape.
Speed is all about weight, friction, gearing, strength and endurance. When you take a mountain bike on the road you’re accepting mediocrity in the first three of those, and even if you’re strong and have fantastic endurance, you’re not getting the most efficient ride. If you want to go quick on roads, buy a road bike.
most road bikes are lighter than a mtb and therefore have less resistance. road bikes are commonly quicker than mtb’s