went out on the newly acquired road bike again yesterday afternoon, and did a 50 mile hilly ride in just under 4 hours and i was completely shagged, really struggling in the last 5 miles. Only 1300m of climbing as well 😥

I often do mtb rides with the same amount of climbing, although over less distance but feel ok at the end of these! I wonder if it was just because it was so hot yesterday and not having a camelback just a water bottle (although i refilled it halfway round). Or maybe the higher gearing of the road bike on the steep climbs or different riding position. Anyway i'll keep at it, no pain no gain as they say 🙂

In my experience road riding is harder as you hardly have any stops compared to the constant stop/start nature of mtb'ing.

50 miles – 4hrs?

I'm guessing it hurt so much because your brakes were binding 😉

12.5mph average on a road bike, are you very unfit?

I guess you've never done an MTB race?

I find the road bike much easier to do long distances and climbs? Maybe it's your position/setup?

Hummm having also aquired a road bike recently I wouldnt really aggree, not really harder just different. you just cant compare distances and climbing figures though. Its much more sustained and constant effort but I find its lower intensity.
One thing that got me is Mountain biking i just drink water, road biking ive found that its not enough and you need something with carbs in otherwise its far to easy to bonk a long way from home. that might help you out.
The feeling i love is puttin it in little ring and mid block, sitting back on the saddle and ripping up hills, feels so light 🙂
How scary is downhilling at first though??!!

it was only 3 hours riding time, i stopped at a pub for half an hour or so and a few other times to ahem 'admire the view' at the top of some of the really steep bits

dh at first on a road bike is so scary esp on the drops… but then when you realise actually there's a hell of a lot of grip from those skinny tyres you can really fly and actually the drops is the more confident position for descending for me now. love it.

still love mtb too though 🙂

what gears you got?…my first proper road bike had a 42-21 easiest gear..that was tough round Leek and Buxton 😆

Stick with it it's a great way to get fitter for the MTB

I just find it hard to drink enough on the road bike in the heat at the moment. 2 bottles are not enough even if I stop and refill them half way through. I'll prob end up taking my Camelbak along if its hot and sunny out from now on.

Definately not harder or easier, just different. You are obviously not conditioned to it yet. In a similar way it'd be like cycling for 20 years and doing no other sort of excercise and then out of the blue sticking some running shoes on and running 10 miles, and then immediately after saying "Runnings way harder than cycling" its just what you become used to. Agreed road riding is a consistent effort for extended periods with the very occassional anaerobic effort, without the luxury of immediately stopping after that effort. MTB'ing (particularly trail riding) is 2 min lactate effort….stop…..2 min lactate effort…..stop and repeat for 3 hours ! I find that hard, which is why I am working on it. I consider myself a much better road rider than a mtb rider, which is why I am working at the MTB more at the moment. Stick with it, and your body will become used to it.

my first proper road bike had a 42-21 easiest gear

If you've still got that 42-21 bung it on the Dale, and we'll go up the old Bwlch, I need a laugh 😉

Some real charmers here.

Sorry to be a killjoy but YOU have decided Road riding is harder for YOU.

They are both hard if you push it IMHO 🙂

Some real charmers here.

Sensitive soul are we? 😀

When I first started on my road bike, I found climbing much more difficult. The road climbs around Matlock in Derbyshire were easy on the MTB compared to on the road bike. The reduced weight of the road bike didn't make up for the loss of the bigger rings on the back.

When I ride the MTB now though, its always on the big ring as all the others I just spin madly now.

I find whenver I take my bike on the road for some training that I get into a rythmn/pace/intensity or whatever and sit there. It's hard, but sustainable.

On the mountain bike, I find the constant changes in effort harder to deal with and often knacker myself out quickly and then take a long time to recover. Purely as I am an unfit git at the moment, but I find the stop/start efforts when off road harder to deal with.

road bike = sit at a constant heart rate and suffer.

mtb – heart rate goes up and down more and is probably, on average, significantly lower.

the thing with road riding is there's nothing to stop you pedalling all the time off road you stand for descents, stop for gates etc.

Persevere – it'll get easier and you'r mtbing will benefit too.

yeah i'll keep at it, although it was hard at the end (i think it was the climb up Gummers how near windermere that did me in) i enjoyed it so will keep trying 🙂 Great fun going downhill at speed, although some of the roads are pretty bumpy and i nearly had a nasty off as i was reaching down to get a drink on a steady descent (prob at about 30mph) when i hit a ripple in the tarmac that i couldnt see because of the trees shading it. Just managed to hang on though.

>constant stop/start nature of mtb'ing.

??

Not my experience but I guess depends on your riding style/companions/location. On solo MTB rides I rarely stop.

I got a road bike I rarely use the mtb now. I think it's because road riding has made such an improvement on my fitness and speed whereas I wasn't improving on the mtb and was losing enthusiasm. Last year was the 1st time I had a nicer road bike than mtb and I joined a roadie club; I still mtb sometimes but I don't think of it as helping my fitness.

different and they are harder in different ways.
MTB often leads to me red lining /anarobic excercise which can be hard for obvious reasons. However hours at 85% HR [or thereabouts obviously] with no rest is also hard. My legs ache more after a road ride but I ache more during a MTB ride. I never need to get off the road bike I do on the MTB
I am sure that for the average hilly ride the road involves more watts per hour due to more constant power.

tiger_roach – I personally ride for more than the physiological benefits.

Road riding is great for sitting contemplating the world and your life.

MTBing is great if you just want a couple of hours away from it all scaring/scarring yourself on the steep/fast bits.

hours at 85% HR

Are you a pro?

mtb – pedal up, sometimes pedal flat, no pedal down.
Road – pedal up, pedal flat, sometimes pedal down.
It's different, and as you're not used to it, harder for you. Your opinion may change when you get used to both.

cynic-al – Member – hours at 85% HR – Are you a pro?

Clearly not as pros don't ride at that kind of HR for hours on end.

What is it that makes a propah road bike so much faster? Do the riding position and aerodynamics make such a huge difference? Are they really so much lighter? Is it because roadies are all weight-weenie whippets themselves obsessed with pain barriers, fitness and mile-munching?

My "road bike" is a Cotic Roadrat with a fairly high-end component mix, flat bars, road wheels and 700×23 Bontrager Hardcase tyres. If I really bust my baws on it I can get an average speed of just over 15mph over a couple of hours. I don't consider myself to be that unfit, compared to other folk I go out riding with. I simply cannot imagine where I would get a 50% increase in my average speed from on the road.

cynic-al – Member

hours at 85% HR

Are you a pro?

No I am SMEE ..sorry thought it was evident it was BS I dont even have a HR monitor My average mph last night was 17.6 mph on a hilly ish route [rivvy] but that is quite a good speed for me over 50 miles

Faster as more aerodynamic. lighter and less rolling resistance

I simply cannot imagine where I would get a 50% increase in my average speed from on the road.

I can manage a 17mph average on the roads around Brighton (ie. fairly up and downy). I can't imagine having the legs and lungs that would give me a 25mph average.

I think I should have chosen my parents more carefully.

The power thing is difficult to quantify though, MTB stuff is like an interval session, lots of explosive efforts, whilst road riding is generally much more steady state.

They achieve different things. If I go out for 4 hours on the MTB on my own I don't usually stop at all, maybe to top up drink. If I do a social ride it's much more stop start and slower. On the road in a group you can draft, and if you're riding with a group slower than you it's much easier than riding on your own.

The hardest ride I've done this year was at Afan early in the year, I was with 4 guys much quicker than me, I just got my legs ripped off for 5 hours! I've done 5 hour road rides that are easier than 2 hour MTB rides.

It's not the terrain, nor the type of bike that makes the ride hard/easy, it's how you approach it!

I agree 100%

road riding is infinitely harder due to it's terminally dull and soul destroying nature…

I simply cannot imagine where I would get a 50% increase in my average speed from on the road.

22mph average speed on a solo ride would be pretty exceptional, although you usually get a few folk on here who claim to regularly do this sort of average I don't think this is something us mere mortals will achieve.

I did an 80 mile ride on Friday at 17.6mph and the same ride in reverse on Saturday at 18.5mph average, which was very good for me.

I don't like bontrager hardcase tyres, tried them on my commuter and they felt slow and heavy, I'm using vittoria evo cx tyres at the moment and they are fantastic.

simply cannot imagine where I would get a 50% increase in my average speed from on the road.

Your bike won't be significantly slower than a road bike, but you'd be amazed at what training can achieve in terms of pedalling hard & constantly becoming subconscious, and how much your fitness can improve.

Takes a lot of hard work mind!

People quoting averages over 20mph are probably referring to their avergage in a bunch.

<waits torrent of I'm sooooo fast posts> 🙂

I normally average 24.5 kph (just over 15 mph) but I'm not very fit at the moment, certainly not proper roadie fit.. weekly club runs in a chain gang would beat that figure up I'm sure. I cope far better on the mtb as most of my years of riding have been long rides with sharp efforts and then recovery, which is a common pattern for mtb rides just because of the variability of terrain.

I used to regularly do training rides with Sam Gardner (pro triathlete) and Dan Lloyd (Cervelo Test Team rider, riding the Tour de France on Saturday). We would do hard, hilly rides, attacking the climbs (I'd often get dropped!) and would maybe do 17-18mph for 3-4 hour rides, certainly no more. The folk who claim to be able to do 22mph+ on solo rides are either liars, ride down hill a lot, have a permanent tail wind, or are Alberto Contador's fitter cousin.

Don't forget that "fun" often takes away some of the "pain".

Off-road riding is more fun. = ;87)

With road the fitter you get the faster you go so it never feels like it's getting easier, sort of!

My averages are well sub 20MPH, I can task myself to go faster conditions permiting. Though race averages are far higher.

This guy http://www.mikeolheiser.com told me 26MPH average for 11/2 hours and about 20MPH for longer rides.

Well, I averaged 15.9mph on my Monday road outing on my Inbred with slicks – 1hr 23mins to cover 22 miles dead.

I thought that was slow, but am quite pleased now I've read some of the above speeds. I consider myself pretty unfit at the moment, being lucky if I get out once a week. Boo hoo.

I reckon I could have gone for another 5 miles or so at that pace without too much bother, but I do live in the flat as flat fenny fens of East Angular and there wasn't much wind about.

just so everyone feels slow.. 25mile TT times

Chris Boardman – 45.57 on 29th May 1993 – Course: H25/13
Average Speed = 32.644mph!!

Michael Hutchinson – 46.21……7 July 2002………..H25/13
Sean Yates – 46.57……28 Sept 1997……H25/13