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Currently use a hardtail on slicks for commuting but am thinking a road bike will make more sense. How much faster would a road bike be (generally speaking) and does anyone agree that it would make more sense?
A lot and yes. Get an old roady or a single speed. They run for ever and are cheap to fix.
But you can't do all the cool stuff on a manky racer that you can do on a ATB... It's not about speed, it's about fun!
And MTFU FFS.
If your commute is on road, then road bikes do this very well, the clue is in their name. MTB's are great for not riding on roads. The commute for me is about efficiency.
I have 2 roadbikes (one for winter)
I use a mtb for short commutes for the handling (jumping on to kerbs, wet slippery roads, comfort and weight carrying (me, shopping/via rack on the back and work gear) plus disc brakes so I can stop in the wet.
It's fun!
Only 10 miles round trip on 1.3" (x26") slicks-I go around 14mph as my commutes are recovery rides.
The roadbike or tourer would be better for longer distances upping speeds to 18mph easily.
I love the road bike too.
How much faster would a road bike be?
[b]Alwyn[/b] says... "a lot"
Bizarre answer, Alwyn.
I've commuted on road bikes and MTBs with slicks, both with gears and singlespeed/fixed. At the moment my commute bike-of-choice is a road fixie. It's probably [i]slightly[/i] slower than my geared MTB commuter with slick. But I enjoy the ride more.
I doubt any road/HT geared/fixed combination would be "lots" quicker than another.
I'd say a fair bit quicker. I can get a hardtail with MTB tyres pumped up hard to about 18mph on a flat stretch of road. I can get a roadbike up to 23-25mph without trying too hard on the flat. The difference probably being I can keep the roadbike at 23 on the flat for 50 miles. I'd run out of steam on the hardtail quite quickly.
But as above, you lose (a bit of) fun, the obvious answer is get a crossbike. It goes almost as fast on the road and you can bunnyhop over the kerb, whip down some singletrack and have a good laugh on there too.
If your using it purely on the road i'd get a road bike. I use my cx bike on the road with slicks and it's hell of a lot quicker than my P7 with slicks. And as samuri says they are a good larf on singletrack.
How long's this commute? I can do mine in about the same time on my brother's proper road bike, or on my mtb with slicks, but I'm much more tired on the mtb when I get there... If it was much longer that'd definately slow me, I wouldn't be able to push the same pace for much further.
What samurai said ...well except the bit about 23 mph averages...what a lazy slow coach he is I mean not even looking like he will hit that 100 mile a week target 😳 😉
About 15-30 % quicker depending on terrain /distance /wind/effort/quality of bikes/number of cars/busyiness of road.
Road bikes are loads of fun and it'll give you something else to tinker with in the garage.
Samuri, that's a super fast average speed!
after getting a road bike at the start of this year I resent riding my MTB on roads. its too slow. Not only the tires but the position is too upright for fast riding, so you'll put a lot more in to get the same, or slower speeds. and i agree with Sponging-Machine road bikes are a blast, you really start thinking about entry points and apex's in corners, and before you know it you're flying around corners at daft speeds