On a level tarmac road, no wind, I try to keep my computer reading 19/20K/h on the mountain bike but try to keep it at 26/28 on the road bike
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Bike Forum
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mtb/roadie average speed comparison
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Im smelling a certain substance in the air for the chap who claims he can maintain a 23mph average on road on an mtb.
Sweat? Adrenaline? Testosterone? I'd have thought the implication was obvious - was done in a 10 mile time trial over a measured course, so I'm pretty confident about the accuracy.uk road RACES on full on carbon race bikles etc average 25mph ish over the course. by your reckoning you'd only be just out the back of the group!
I'm guessing you've never actually done a road race? The ones I've competed in at a lower level go rather faster than that, at least for sustained bursts - if they average less that's only because they spend some of the time pootling round. Not surprising given those at the front pushing the pace can generally all manage at least 25 or 26mph on their own for a time trial. Having said that, at the time I did that ride on my MTB I'm fairly confident I could have stayed in the pack at a road race riding it.Anyone that claims a road bike and an MTB with slicks on the road can maintain the same consistent pace is talking out of their rear parts.
Maybe you should have a chat with these two and point out to them they're doing it all wrong
Posted 2 years ago # -
as ive got a roadie type bike and an mtb, why would i ride the mtb on the road?
Posted 2 years ago # -
uk road RACES on full on carbon race bikles etc average 25mph ish over the course.
Christ, I'm not far off winning some road races, maybe I should compete
. In all seriousness though, I've no idea about competition road speeds, but I was chatting to an pro racer (when I worked in a bike shop) and he confidently told me I'd need to be averaging 30-32mph to be anywhere near the top of the field on short-ish TTs, but that you could fairly easily fall into the rear of the group as there is a large spread.
Posted 2 years ago # -
DezB - good graph but shame it can't be applied to everyone's commute! I tried commuting in Glasgow by MTB, canal towpaths are boring and flat, I'd rather get to work faster!
I guess I didn't read the OP properly either - cos my commute is no fun on an MTB either! I'll save it for another thread
Posted 2 years ago # -
'aracer' I cant really be arsed to push this much further... you just said the races you have done go faster than that for BURSTS. so thats not average is it.
then shown me a picture of a tandem. so thats two sets of legs. good comparison.
then claim that a racing roady AT THE FRONT can do 26mph average on a road bike. and that you can sustain 23mph on an mtb. right...
2008 TdF. average speed was 25.1mph...
and i know im not comapring eggs with eggs as this is an overall average. but im fairly sure that was the point. not 'how fast can you go on the flat as a maximum speed?' but how fast can you AVERAGE.
Posted 2 years ago # -
sorry double post - or rather i lost my first post and wrote something else. i realise it was inflammatry and will shut my fat trap before i spend all day in heated debate.
if you can maintain 23mph on an MTB i am more than impressed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Between 15 and 17 miles an hour average on the road bike (actual average including stops, not a moving/cheating average) on my 16 mile commute (about 1200 feet of climbing).
I can keep up about 12-13 miles an hour average on the mountain bike for an hour on the same roads (with 2.3" knobblies at low pressure though).
Joe
Posted 2 years ago # -
Average speed is totally meaningless. An average of 12 mph for 1 hour isn't 'better' than 11 mph for 5 hours, the same with comparing a flat ride to a hilly one, a technical singletrack one to a doubletracked moorland ride etc etc.
If you like to keep your speed high then don't go to any mountains, you'll be struggling to keep 10 kmh on a 15% offroad grade for 3 hour climbs. That instantly makes you crap.
A lot of pointless willy waving as well. Sticking in your average speed for a time trial for example.
Posted 2 years ago # -
'aracer' I cant really be arsed to push this much further
Well don't then - I sighed when I read your post, you seem to have so thoroughly missed the point.Races go faster in bursts because that's the way road races work (which you quite clearly don't have a clue about). If they really wanted to cover the course as fast as possible, even a 4th cat race could doubtless average high 20s mph.
The fact it's a tandem doesn't change the fact it's a roadified MTB. The only pic I could find of the bloke on the front on a solo MTB didn't work on here, hence that one. Hint: check out the pictures's URL, that might give you a clue who they are and what they've just done - otherwise the other picture is on http://robcrayton.blogspot.com/2009/03/kilotogo-uci-cheshire-cat-2009.html
Re-read my post - I'm saying that the roadies at the front can do at least 26mph for a time trial on their own - they'll be doing rather more when taking turns on the front in a road race (I should know, I was one once).
TdF has some rather big hills, which I might struggle to average 23mph over.
The 23mph I'm claiming is an AVERAGE speed for 10 miles. Not sure why you're so disbelieving - I've also given my road bike speed on that course (not a brilliant course, I've been faster on others), so what do you think I have to gain by making it up?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Nothing at all to gain... As i said I'm more than impressed by your speed. Well done. Fastest rider i've met in my life so far i think. If only i had a clue eh?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeah, need to say what kind of course/road surface/weather and what type of bike - one persons idea of "road bike" is another persons idea of "tourer".
As a rough guide, most of my road rides seem to average 16-18mph. I can get higher (my commute into work is mostly downhill so I can get 20ish if the traffic is light). I try to avoid riding my MTB on the road for prolonged periods so no real idea of average speed there - probably in the order of 12mph or so.
Road races are a completely different kettle of fish. A typical 3/4 will be about 22mph average, E/1/2 will be up at 26ish. I've done crits that have averaged 29mph and that was unbelievably fast, there is NO rest in something that quick.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I think I managed to do 18miles in about 1 hour on my dialled alpine with a 1x9 setup and 2.35 maxxis high rollers on. It was only about 3 minutes over an hour so i guess about an 18mph average speed.
Did the same route on my road bike on saturday and i got about the same time. My fitness must have dropped off i guess
Posted 2 years ago #
Topic Closed
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