This might sound like a silly question, but I am a reasonably fit bloke who tends to do about 15-20 miles of single track once or twice a week on a hard tail MTB averaging 12mph(ish).

I rode in the Nightrider charity ride at the weekend (65miles through London at night) and although I went past a lot of people, there were a few instances where some relatively unfit looking people seemed to chug past me on a racer without too much effort!

I fitted some Continental SportContact 26×1.6 road tyres at 65psi and they seemed great. I was using flat pedals with trainers too. Does it really just come down to fitness and conditioning, or does a reasonable racer ride better than a good MTB with road tyres?

P.S Bike weighs about 13kg.

does a reasonable racer ride better than a good MTB with road tyres?

Are you seriously asking this as a question?

Yes is the answer 😉

Yes, I was seriously asking.. I mean, okay.. I guess it must be a bit easier.. but how much? Any comparisons? 😳

Wind resistance is the main problem as you get up to speed. So your tires can be as slick as you like but at 1.6″ they are still getting on for twice as wide as a road bike tire.

And everything else you look at on your bike will have the same problem.

It’s always the bike.Given your awesome training schedule I can’t imagine it being anything else.

big wheels, bigger gears, better aerodynamics, and you would be surprised how fit a crap roadie is compared to the average mtber.

You asked for a comparison:
Several years ago I did the Fred Whitton on a Specialized Stumpjumper with 1″ slicks on. The year after I did it on a £300 road bike. I was a similar level of fitness each year and was 25 mins quicker on the road bike.

I’d agree with all the other responses that a road bike is easier / quicker.

Hell ye. I rode a 90 mile charity ride on my MTB, bought a road bike the following week and I recon it was 3/4 mph faster for the same effort, plus much much easier accelerate.

It’s always the bike.Given your awesome training schedule I can’t imagine it being anything else.

😆

Faster maybe, but it depends on your definition of “easier” certainly it should take less physical input, but then you have to ride in that horrible aero position, you have to use even narrower tyres, you can’t take offroad shortcuts, you have to do the time at work to be able to afford to purchase and maintain the road bike.

Oh and you have to tell your parents you shave your legs…

It’s easier to do the same speed on a road bike and if you put in the same effort as you do on an mtb you will go faster on the road bike.

some relatively unfit looking people seemed to chug past me on a racer without too much effort!

relatively unfit looking people like this?

you can’t take offroad shortcuts

Sorry you lost me at this point? your saying i can’t try and recreate Paris Roubaix on the farm tracks of the Cotswolds?

Fit people don’t always look fit…

Fit people don’t always look fit…

Case in point aracer’s photo…

Aside from the above about road bikes, flat pedals and trainers aren’t exactly conducive to supreme efficiency on a mountain bike either.

Eddie Merckx looks like Gordon Brown in that picture.

I used to do 10 mile hilly time trials ,on an rigid MTB( my only bike at the time) with slicks ( and tri bars 🙄 ).
Because I was awesome and very fit ,I used to beat a lot of people on road bikes.
I wish I had had a road bike in those days ,but it was nice to see confused look on some of the roadies as I spun past 🙂

Why do you think 29ers have taken off quite well?

Just a mountain bike with road bike size wheels…

I road London to Paris a few years ago with a certain S Roche. He didn’t look that fit but he certainly still was!

I look like I should be much faster than I am. A massive head on a skinny body gives the no-entry sign look, but does nothing for aerodynamics.

Why do you think 29ers have taken off quite well?

is it because mostly they get ridden on roads, by people who couldnt bring themselves to buy a hybrid?

I do find my Road bike better suited to the road than a slick tired MTB, it’s not just the tires rolling resistance, but also the position(s) the road bike allows you to take with your body, long flat sections on the drops are much quicker, you can use various different hand positions to generally make riding more comfortable…

On the MTB you have one hand position (Maybe 2 if you use barends) and this is more upright and hence less ‘Aero’ (it does make a difference, Honest)…

Horses for courses though My Road bike isn’t built for handling in the same way as My MTBs and ther brakes are comparatively crap… if I was mixing it in lots of traffic I think a flat bared Road bike with discs or a 29er with slicks would make more sense…

Using the more efficient tool for the job (depending on the job) is really the trick, it’s not a stunningly new trick though…

15-20 miles and 13 mph. Yeah your awesome when you entering the ironman?

Yeah roading is easy. Its all about the bike that lets you do 100 miles at 19mph Avgs.

5 years of MTB and still 15stone, 1 year of roading with a club and I’m now 11. Work out from that which is the easiest

Case in point aracer’s photo…

Has Merckx lost weight?

To be honest 30-40 miles a week isn’t a lot of riding and at the speed you’re doing you’re barely doing 3 hours riding – not a great deal of time to get bike fit.

But yeh road bikes are quicker than mountain bikes with slicks.