[Closed] How much faster are road bikes?

Depends. Probably quite a bit. Are you able to get into an aero position on your Whippet? 🙂

Answer from this weekend is...

1 mins per 10min section on average.

I rode plenty of routes on Strava this weekend I know well and ride often... I rode them for first time on a road bike compared to my Rocket Ron shod 29er HT and was basically 1min quicker on 3-4 sections of around 8-12 mins in length.

No, not at all! If it's as dramatic as it looks I'm going to find a mate who can lend me one, or buy a cheapo maybe. Cheers.

I'm typically 2-3 mph quicker on the road with my 12 year old fairly cheap road bike compared to my new mountain bike. That said, slicks on the mountain bike would narrow that gap as would a light hardtail.

My whippet is just over 20lb but does have suspension forks.

However, if you don't fit whatever you're getting, or can't find a decent position that's relatively comfortable, then I predict all your aero dreams will vanish and by halfway you'll wish you'd taken the whippet.

I do the same 20km commute at the same steady effort level (Z1 or easy Z2) on three bikes, a hardtail with 2" summer tyres at 25 psi, a CX bike with 33 mm knobblies at 45 psi or a road bike with 25 mm slicks at 90 psi. The road bike is 1 to 2 km/h faster than the CX bike which is another 1 to 2 km/h faster than the MTB.

You can stick narrow slicks on an MTB and go fast enough—when I was 16 I could ride a slicked MTB faster over 40 miles than I can a road bike now—but that's not the whole story.

A road bike should be set up so that you can comfortably stay in one position for hours on end, because that's basically its job, whereas an MTB is more likely to be set up to be ridden as much out of the saddle as in it. I couldn't begin to imagine the discomfort I'd feel riding my MTB over the distances I've done on a road bike.

So if you're doing a 20-mile bun run, fine, a slicked MTB won't be a problem. If you're on tarmac for the whole day then rather you than me 😉

twelvety times faster

Snot just that they're faster, they're also more efficient - which means faster for longer

Don't borrow a road bike.
You'll be in agony after 5 miles. They have to be carefully tweaked to suit the rider.

I couldn't begin to imagine the discomfort I'd feel riding my MTB over the distances I've done on a road bike.

this

I once did a 184 mile road ride on a knobbly tyred mountain bike. I was young and stupid though. Think I only averaged about 13 mph (based on elapsed time, I did stop a few times for biscuits and to nab some water from a garden hose).

I'd be faster on a road bike now, but might fall over in a heap long before the end.

When I was commuting regularly by bike I switched from a hard tail with slicks to a proper road bike and on average my commuting times reduced by 10%.

I'd echo what others have said.

If your whippet is set up to be comfy sat in the saddle for ages, it's probably the best bike. If you had time to buy a road bike and get the position just so, it would be a bit faster (or easier, depending) and more comfortable. But you'd have to be used to it and have the position set up just so to make it comfy.

I think the faster you go the bigger the difference. There's a stretch of road that I often ride; 40mph zone; usually get a tail wind; can happily keep up with the traffic in top gear on the road bike. Cannont imagine being able to get anywhere close on an MTB. Obviously these sorts of speeds aren't a typical average for a ride though!

You'll always get a twisted view on here, in reality a road bike will be a lot faster, thats why people ride em.

When out on the MTB and I get overtaken by roadies, some of them appear to be going pretty damn fast by comparison.

When out on the road bike and I get overtaken by quicker roadies, I can sometimes slipstream them with a bit of effort. Some are still too fast though.

I reckon I average 25-35% quicker on the road. Latter feels a lot quicker though.

Don't borrow a road bike.
You'll be in agony after 5 miles. They have to be carefully tweaked to suit the rider.

Don't be daft!

My brother rode my road (well, CX commuter, actually) bike the other weekend. Managed the whole 7 miles without contracting worms or snapping his spine in half despite the "careful tweaking" extending to no more than dropping the saddle by a few cms.

My previous road bike was ordered online, I put the saddle at the right height and regularly rode a 35 mile round trip commute on it. I'm not confined to a wheelchair as a result.

Mainly aerodynamics and position I think though. This sort of position is fine on a road bike and no doubt makes a fair bit of differece. Dont think it's possible on an MTB

[img] [/img]

A mtb with slicks and locked out suspension is perfectly fine for the Manchester-Blackpool run. I really wouldn't bother getting a road bike just for that.

I couldn't begin to imagine the discomfort I'd feel riding my MTB over the distances I've done on a road bike.

Don't be daft! My brother rode my road (well, CX commuter, actually) bike the other weekend. Managed the whole 7 miles

*taps irony meter in confusion*

This sort of position is fine on a road bike and no doubt makes a fair bit of differece. Dont think it's possible on an MTB

It was in 1991, trust me 🙂

Pretty slow compared to a recumbent. Plus you have to wear silly padded shorts, learn about chamois cream, and your penis goes numb 😉

It's not as if you're riding any longer than a big day out off road.

The point someone made up there - and I agree with - is that on a typical MTB ride you're moving around a lot more and spending less time actually in the saddle, whereas you could easily be spending several hours sat down in the same position on a road bike.

I rode the South Peak loop recently and one section was 11km of ever so slightly uphill. Completely untechnical but was really a sit down and pedal job. It was genuinely uncomfortable being in the same pedalling position on my MTB for that long, whereas that distance/time sat on my road bike wouldn't cause me any discomfort at all. I'd never previously viewed my MTB as being uncomfy until that day and that's mainly cos I've never done a ride on my MTB that required so much pedalling in the same position for so long.

Ok - there's a good chance you'll be in agony after let's say ten miles. Try it, you might get lucky, or you might be bitterly regretting it 20 miles into an 80 miler.

Ask me why I say this, go on.

It's not as if you're riding any longer than a big day out off road.

The difference is as Bez said, 100miles off road involves a lot of standing, shuffling, cornering etc. On a road bike you're sat there not moving for the whole time.

My MTB's are where my road saddles go to die, because it makes sod all difference what saddle is on there, hence why almost everyone can be happy on a £20 charge spoon. Whereas anything other than a specific make and model on my road bike ends in blisters, numb little-spoon and sores.

It was in 1991, trust me

😀

Long and low!

[img] [/img]

MTBs in 1991 looked like road bikes with flat bars.
An MTB now looks more like a motorcrosser, but with out the comfy cushion in place of a saddle.

If the OP has a nicely racey set up on his whippet, he'll probably be fine, a road bike will be somewhat quicker.

I'd not fancy even 30 road miles on some of the MTBs i see around now.

[quote="bencooper"]Pretty slow compared to a recumbent. Plus you have to wear silly padded shorts, learn about chamois cream, and your penis goes numb 😉Ahhh, i now understand the entire recumbent market, people who can't set bikes up properly..... 😆

On my 'fast' road bike (still only a £500 job) i can tap out 25mph on the flat pretty easy for miles on end.

On my Escapade it's more like 20-22mph*

My hard tail with nobbly tyres on the road frankly it's just depressing to look at the garmin so I don't do it but it's more like 14mph and a constant feeling like i've got a parachute on my back.

*most used bike as it can take the child seat on the back of it and i pick the nipper up on the way home from work.

The difference is as Bez said, 100miles off road involves a lot of standing, shuffling, cornering etc. On a road bike you're sat there not moving for the whole time.

As I said earlier, I have done those distances on a mtb with slicks. I'm still here.

There's no doubt a road bike is quicker and comfier, but a mtb is perfectly fine for what the OP is talking about.

"[i]...and your penis goes numb[/i]"

A variation of sitting on your arm, this way it feels like you're wking someone else ?

This sort of position is fine on a road bike and no doubt makes a fair bit of differece. Dont think it's possible on an MTB

Thats assuming you can actually hold that position on a road bike for hours on end. I'm not the most flexible and I have to hang my head in shame and say my road position is awful.

If you've not really ridden a road bike I'd say stick with the slicked-up whippet, or try the road bike beforehand. Over longer rides comfort (and possibly lower gearing!) might be a better bet than some notional benefit you can only sustain for an hour.

I think the main benefit from the road bike might be the varying hand positions on the bars.

Ahhh, i now understand the entire recumbent market, people who can't set bikes up properly.....

There's no right way to set up a racing bike, there's only the least wrong way.

Road vs MTB on the road?

95% of the difference is the aerodynamic difference from the body position.

However, just jumping on a road bike set up in such a way as to make a significant difference to your aero will probably be a right pain in the neck (literally) for a one-off ride.

I’ve done the same commute for about 10 years, for the first 7 it was all various 26inch rigid or hard tail MTB’s with tyres ranging from semi slicks to 2.3inch knobblers. I reckon I averaged 32 mins to do the ride over that time.

3 years ago I finnaly succumbed to a proper bike for this commute and the improved speed was far more than I ever envisaged. I’m averaging around 26mins now.

So it’s 20% faster for me and that city streets with lots of traffic lights etc.

Thats assuming you can actually hold that position on a road bike for hours on end. I'm not the most flexible and I have to hang my head in shame and say my road position is awful.

I wouldn't say it's the sort of position you'd hold for hours on end. It's a change for flat sections of road though, especially if you have a tail wind. Don' know if it's any faster, certainly feels it though.

On my 'fast' road bike (still only a £500 job) i can tap out 25mph on the flat pretty easy for miles on end.

40kph taking it easy on a £500 bike! If I were you I'd get in touch with Sir Dave Brailsford.

40kph taking it easy on a £500 bike! If I were you I'd get in touch with Sir Dave Brailsford.

😆

Dodgy bike computer or blissfully unaware of how fit and capable he/she is? Average speed for a Tour de France rider on flat terrain is 25 - 28mph according to my quick bit of Googling ([url= http://www.bicycling.com/training/2015-tour-de-france/you-versus-tour-de-france-pro ]link[/url])

Depends on the slicks and the mtb and all that really. I replaced my road bike with a fast hybrid boardman deal and it's really not drastically slower except in bigger winds or up at the top end of speed. It's long and flat so I'm in a relatively dropped position anyway and I can squash lower for spells if I want to. OK that's not an MTB but you [i]could[/i] achieve the same sort of fit and shape on the right mtb.

OTOH, on my mtb I sit upright like a sail with my arms spread like rigging, and trying to squash for aero doesn't work that well and I can't do it for very long. Though it's probably still not [i]that[/i] different to all those folks that buy road bikes then ride around on the hoods or flats sat bolt upright anyway.

Obviously I'm not a racer, but, I'd rather be a little slower/putting in more effort, in comfort. And that might be the tradeoff you're basically talking about here, unless you can get the position right and get used to it. I'll be honest, I got this totally wrong- I really thought it'd be a lot worse and I put a lot of effort and money into trying to make drops work for me, but it turned out the drawbacks were less than I'd imagined when I gave up and went flat.

My recumbent is most definitely slower than my road bikes. Partly friction and partly position (can't get my heart rate as high). My mtb is a lot slower, largely due to it's single speed.

A correctly set up road bike with an ability to spend a third of the time on the drops, will have a CDA about 10-20% smaller - hence you will be faster for the same power or need less power for the same speed. Less power means longer endurance. I'd expect about a 10% improvement at typical speeds (say 17 vs 15 mph).

And 25 mph for miles on end - oh I wish. I'd like to go under the hour on Sunday's 25, and that's a stretch goal.

Last night's crit averaged 28 mph on a pretty flat course. Feeling it today.

I may have been a bit over enthusiastic there, strava says 22-23 :$

It is Cheshire lanes so about as flat as it gets. I'm not road KOM material round here though :/

I did a leg of the Cycle Against Suicide over here last year on my 456 Summer Season with Fox 36s over a similar distance (60m or so.) I altered it by putting on a bigger front ring (1x10) and got some road style tyres.

I was initially a little worried i'd struggle with pace [i]and[/i] distance but it was far easier and slower than i thought. Obviously it wasn't a race but i recall hoping they'd go faster as i was getting cold from going so slow.

[img] [/img]

I think it's easily doable on a mountain bike but aero is everything. Take a road bike and use a big baggy jacket an shorts and your be less better off than a bloke on an MTB in bibs and fitted jersey.

Then you have the position on the bike. What's comfy for that period of time?. I did 136 miles on a folding Dahon. It wasn't a fast ride but the bike fitted so it was ok.

I did a comparison ride to work last summer. 40+ miles from mid sussex into London, once on the road bike and once on my 29er with 2.3" tyres on. The road bike was only 10 minutes quicker and I was very surprised by that.

Where you wearing flappy clothing on both? It makes a HUGE difference.

Don't be daft! My brother rode my road (well, CX commuter, actually) bike the other weekend. Managed the whole 7 miles
*taps irony meter in confusion*

Not sure where the irony is? That it wasn't a road bike? It's a CX which people say are even more uncomfortable than road bikes. (How often do we hear the "It's built for sprinting around a field for an hour" line?)

Or the distance? No it's not far, but he hasn't ridden a bike for years and wanted to see if he could get on with drop bars so he knew what to looks for for his C2W purchase.

The point I was addressing was "after 5 miles you'll be in agony". 7>5 and yet no agony.

7>5 and yet no agony

Lol, you really thought I was attempting to be that specific?

7>5 and yet no agony
Lol, you really thought I was attempting to be that specific?

Like I said, I also did a decent commute and rides up to 100km on my Ribble with no special tweaking.

If the OP is 6'4" and can only borrow a road bike from his 5'2" mate then it's not worth doing, but if there's a bike of the right size that he can borrow for a test ride first then I'd say it was worth trying out, rather than writing off as impossible.

scaled - Member
I may have been a bit over enthusiastic there, strava says 22-23 :$

It is Cheshire lanes so about as flat as it gets. I'm not road KOM material round here though :/

That's still astoundingly fast for solo riding on crappy lanes (I know, I live there) . 37kph is a bloody fast average, it's about 1hr 4 mins for a 25mile TT on a normal road bike!!

Yeah, I assumed Molgrips' "5 miles" was hyperbolic for amuseballs effect. 7 miles on a vaguely-fitted bike isn't going to stress anything, really; it's only about half an hour. Spending all day pedalling seated on a relatively short and upright mountain bike would be a different matter. Certainly would be for me, YMMV, obvs. I haven't bothered working out how far the OP is planning to ride 😉

Average speed for a Tour de France rider on flat terrain is 25 - 28mph

TdY Stage 2 - not much up and down - 26.8mph with some fast mates and closed roads : https://www.strava.com/activities/561136295

I rode part of the Tour 2 years ago and created a segment that takes in 2 big climbs, Buttertubs and Grinton Moor. The KOM was 25mph over both climbs! I was utterly blown at a mere 15.9mph, which put me 140odd from 4540 folk so over 20 is solid!

https://www.strava.com/segments/7581128

If I could average 37kmph for a decent amount of time I'd be pretty chuffed. I can't maintain that pace for long without a following wind or a downhill.

Where you wearing flappy clothing on both? It makes a HUGE difference.

I wore the same clothes both times. Not massively baggy but not lycra either, Gore stuff that's fitted but not skin tight. I had to be seen in them at work so didn't want to cop a load of abuse!

On my road bike I can get into a pretty decent position but the mtn bike is miles more comfortable over those distances, even when you're trying to be aerodynamic. If it matters there's only 2kg difference in weight between the bikes too. I thought the rolling resistance from the tyres would be the main factor. Road bike has 110psi 23mm slicks, mtn bike Spesh Purgatory/Ground Control (the heat duty grid versions).

Anyway, as I said earlier I was very surprised at the similar times. To the point where my road bike doesn't really get used anymore.

TdY Stage 2 - not much up and down - 26.8mph with some fast mates and closed roads : https://www.strava.com/activities/561136295

...and a bucket load of Strava trophies and KOMs suggests you're possibly a little faster than most 😉

On my road bike I can get into a pretty decent position but the mtn bike is miles more comfortable over those distances, even when you're trying to be aerodynamic

No way! I find my MTB hideously uncomfortable on the road, all wrong. speed differential isn't all that big (indeed my PB up Box Hill is on the MTB) but I'd never choose to ride my MTB on the road, over any distance.

and a bucket load of Strava trophies and KOMs suggests you're possibly a little faster than most

That is the actual race you realise, not gravity-slave's own activity...

There is predictably A LOT of willy waving on the thread.

FWIW I can happily tap out a 30mph average on my hardtail in the Dales over a 190 mile road route I did in 1995. I'm sure a road bike wouldn't be much slower cos I'm awsums.

Not enough Gatsby on this thread yet, we've got a treat coming if he finds it though...

No way! I find my MTB hideously uncomfortable on the road, all wrong

Why out of interest? More limited range of hand positions but aside from that what makes the mtb significantly more uncomfortable on the road? Not poking, genuinely curious.

About 30 years ago when I was fit (and about 10Kg lighter) and had just come back from an extended climbing trip to the Alps I could manage 26-27mph on the flat for about four miles riding on my own. As the benefits of altitude wore off, the speed slowly dropped until I was in the 20-22mph range.

These days I'd be lucky to average 18mph without some serious training.

@no_eyed_deer Was it you we passed the other day when we were out bikepacking? 8)

Why out of interest? More limited range of hand positions but aside from that what makes the mtb significantly more uncomfortable on the road? Not poking, genuinely curious.

Everything to be honest. It's too upright, the hand position isn't natural (you have to hold on more than just rest your hands), it feels slower; moreso than it actually is, cornering feels odd and not as confidence inspiring (with knobblies). If you try and get aero it's too short and you end up with very bent arms which is uncomfortable . It's just unpleasant IMO.

stilltortoise - Member
TdY Stage 2 - not much up and down - 26.8mph with some fast mates and closed roads : https://www.strava.com/activities/561136295
...and a bucket load of Strava trophies and KOMs suggests you're possibly a little faster than most

I get the distinct feeling Gravity-slave isn't Bram Tankink, Pro Cyclist for Lotto NL Jumbo somehow 🙄

^lol I thought it looked impressive 🙂

EDIT: re-read gravity slave's post and realised he wasn't talking about himself and some mates. D'oh! 😳

I used to go out with the road boys at Uni on my mtb with slicks on back in the day, we'd average around 17-18 mph for ~40 miles, but I'd only sit in, taking a turn would have been yuk. This was on a far more head down, bum up mtb than modern mtbs. Oh I'd hold either side of the stem, so well away from the brakes and shifters!

You can't use TDF speeds for anything, that's bunched racing with a huge bunch, not remotely representative of what most peoples riding is like.

That's why he used it, to get Scaled to have another look at his speed. I reckon Scaled should post his ride up here so we can marvel at his velociticitousness. 😉

Although if he really is that fast maybe I don't want to look.

You can't use TDF speeds for anything

Except perhaps for highlighting why you doubt a non-pro solo rider "...can tap out 25mph on the flat pretty easy for miles on end." 🙂

EDIT beaten to it ^

I reckon theres quite a difference. My tale is as follows.

Theres a 15 minute steady road climb out of woolacombe bay. A few years ago i rode up it on my hardtail (26 with knobblies and no lycra) That evening i picked up my first road bike and did the same climb (no baggie shorts) the next day, taking nearly 5 minutes off my time.

Admittedly there might have been some new bike go faster beans in there but it was still significantly quicker.

Whilst my experience on a (shorter) and probably more shallow climb, where aero would be more of a factor is the opposite. No way is a road bike 1/3 faster than an average MTB.

regarding davidtaylforth's restrained responses in this thread; iz disappoint.

No way is a road bike 1/3 faster than an average MTB.

I dunno. Depends on what you mean by average MTB. I'm way the hell slower on my Patriot up my local climbs even compared to my other MTBs, and it's not even that heavy. On a road ride, it'd be ridiculous compared to the roadie. I think it's more difficult to get power down in the upright position as well as being much less aero.

I'm doing big miles on both road, CX, MTB and fatbike. Road average is 28-30 kph, whereas a CX with fatter, softer tyres about 24-26, MTB about 22-24 and my fatbike is about 18-20kph average on smoother trails. Flat bars can be uncomfortable for long periods due to limited hand positions. Weight and rolling resistance become a bigger factor the hillier it gets IME. Getting lower on the bars whilst staying comfortable help on the road bike too - wide bars and long forks don't help MTBs

Went out with my uncle over the weekend, me on the road bike, him on his new mtb. I was faster on the flats but he was faster on the climbs. May have had something to do with the 500 watt motor he had on his mtb though.

Well strava never lies! 😉

To be honest I might well have been trying harder as it was my first road ride but I still think the massively decreased rolling resistance of the tyres, bigger wheels and higher psi plus the stiffness and better power transfer of the road frame makes a big difference.

Plus the mtb ride I was probably in close to my lowest available gear on a triple for much of the climb. The lowest available gear on the road bike was 34/25 so there's no option other than to grind that out which means you're faster

Ps I looked it up.....

1.4 miles 428 feet

Times were 14.25 versus 9.24

It's possible the wind was stronger as well I guess

Pps I've ridden the segment quite a few times since. Mtb times are always around the 14 minute mark, road bike times vary from 8.5 minutes to 11.5 minutes depending on the day and whether it's my carbon roadie or my steel cx bike.

As an aside, I've consistently ridden my local road loops on said steel cx bike with clement ush mixed use tyres all winter. Average speed is usually around 14.5 mph give or take (lots of climbing) on my summer bike my average is almost always over 15.5 and often closer to 16mph.

It must be the bike that makes the difference since it's the same routes and across lots of different weather conditions. Whether it's the tyres (although putting 26 slicks on the cx doesn't make it much faster) the weight (about 4kg difference) the more aero position or the difference in stiffness between carbon and steel I'm not sure. It's likely they all play a part.

No strava factoids here , just personal experience riding road bikes and mountain bikes.
I would guess 25% faster on my road bike than my mountain bikes. Even a locked out full suss still bobs a touch. The tyres are draggy , the riding position not effiecient enough.
Then there is for me the biggy, psychology. Why hammer away on a 2.35 nobbly to get to a whirring 12mph , when on a Roubaix with Pacenti SL23 wheelset I would be doing 16mph/ 17mph?
So not just 25% faster , but 25% faster for alot less effort. Easier to accelerate , easier to maintain and carry speed after decents, out of corners.

I know I'm slower on my 29er on the road than know my road bike, having ridden the same segments at a similar perceived effort.

I did however hold off a pair of road bike pilots the other week while riding my 29'er on a long gradual incline that terminates in a 10% slope. All of can conclude front that is that neither of them were 'scaled' as s/he would've flown past me kicking up dust, stones and cow $h!t in their wake 😆

25% faster is about right for me based on strava differences between mountain bike and cx bike once up to a moderate to hard effort (round about threshold hr) speed. At lower speeds not such a difference

I'm with Singletrackmind on this...

My road bike is way more efficient and 17mph isn't particularily taxing whereas my lurcher on slicks was....
I live mtb but for the commute I doubt if I'd go back tbh

DOD