Mountain Bikers Who Ride Road Bikes

Got a fixed wheel for fun and to push up the fitness

I feel the need to draw the line somewhere, and that's just wrong! 😉

I'd describe myself as a roadie who mountain bikes – but actually others are spot on and I'm just a cyclist. In reality I actually compete more seriously on my MTB, but still like others spend more time riding on the road – far easier to get the training in (not because I can't MTB from my door, as it's only a 3 mile ride to get to the hills, or a couple of hundred metres at lunchtime from work, but riding the road just makes for a better training ride). Probably even enjoy riding an MTB more nowadays, but I'll always be partly a roadie at heart.

Do seriously consider some lycra for the road – it really does work better, and what's more the real reason most people really wear baggies on a MTB (even if they're not willing to admit it), in order to look right, is inverted on the road. You look silly riding a road bike in baggies, and no real roadie worth his salt will wave at you 😉

Road biking is good and all. I have just completed Lands End to John O'Groats for Charidee and by the time I had finished the bike had doubled in weight from road kill. After 10 days in the saddle it lost its appeal.
However I found it great for training and even bought a turbo trainer. This in effect has bettered my fitness for mtb'ing.
On the trip I found myself loking longingly at the hill and especially when passing the Nevis range.

Right just out for a ahem road ride.

Lands End to John O'Groats for Charidee

Congrats, thats a nice road ride there. One day i'll do the same

I am considering getting a road bike myself.I would like to try and keep/get fit over the Winter.Im thinking a CX bike would be handy as I can then link up some trails on a commute to work.Id also like to do some 3-4 hour rides at the weekend. "Cheers Drive" Why did you regret getting a CX bike? Err, can anybody tell me the differences between a road bike and a CX bike? (Yep complete noob) Ive also read elsewhere that you should avoid getting a bike with Sora gear on it.However,Im not that fast/fit and dont want to race or join a club etc so I presume that it would be Ok for me? Anybody any advice/experience riding their road bike at night during the winter? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

i just like bikes, and whatever bike takes my mood when i get up (today it's the road bike in the morning, mtb in the evening when the dogwalkers have departed)

road biking in winter? lots of light – road bike lights are atrocious. and pick your route carefully, car drivers are even more bike blind at night!

foolishmiracles.
If you've not had a modern lightweight roadbike before, then getting a cx bike for some road use will be a revalation. However if you do a stint on a 'proper' road bike you'll notice the cx bikes shortfalls.
The cx bike is a good idea for winter rides linking tarmac and mud.
As for Sora it's fine for youre intended use.
I still manage to balance up road and off road, though I find it easier to train harder on road, you know the sort of hard training that leaves a trail of dribble from your mouth to the top tube.
I also find road work helps with xc/cx racing but off road work doesn't help with road racing.

Thanks oldgit.

Last time I had a road bike was about 25 years ago and it was the dogs bits due to it having 12 gears to everyone elses 10 🙂

What are the shortfalls of a CX bike then? Are they a bit heavier to withstand the off road abuse?

"you know the sort of hard training that leaves a trail of dribble from your mouth to the top tube." Sorry I dont know that sort of training.Last time I dribbled that much was looking at bling bike parts not riding 😳

At my beginner/novice level would you advise 2 or 3 front rings? (I have 3 on me MTB if that makes a difference)

One more question if I may – I ride flat pedals on me MTB as I have an irrational fear of clipless pedals.Are there any other options available or is itime to MTFU? If I did go clipless are there any available that could be transferred for MTB use aswell inc shoes?
Thanks for your help.

A modern off the peg CX bike like the Giant TCX which I think is fantastic VFM will probably be faster and lighter than your bike of olde.

I get flamed on the subject of chainsets. However I'd say a double compact, as the small on a tripple is too small and the inner a bit too big! for trail use anyway.

And yes MTFU clipless, you are missing out.

A cx bike set up right will be almost as fast as a "proper" road bike. I have several of both and have just finished a week of riding in the French alps on my current cx bike. It was just fine for doing days with 2 or 3 climbs (and descents) although not quite as resposive as my road bike which weighs less but cost about 3 times as much. Oh, and a day involved about 3000 metres of climbing. One of the things about cx bikes is that if you choose carefully they can be very versatile – my previous cx bike (admittedly a frame built for me) I've trained on, done day rides on, raced severalseasons of cx, ridden the SDW in a day on, toured with panniers on and just ridden out on singleyrack on the North Downs on.
Several years ago Roger Hammond came over to ride my club's cx race and on the Saturday rode against the local boys on his cx bike – he rode away from them (including Tony Gibb).

nought wrong with a bit of road work, particularily if
1) you're short of time
2) you live somewhere where the trails get silly muddy in the winter( or summer)
3)you want to get fitter.
and many other reasons besides as above
Me, got a second hand Jake the Snake CX bike for fast commutes and rides. 2nd set of wheels is the way forward, one with slicks and one with cross tyres. Just completed my first sportive on it today as well.
Having said that, given the chance, I'll take the mountain bike into the woods or up a hill for the main fun fix 🙂

""You look silly riding a road bike in baggies, and no real roadie worth his salt will wave at you ""

what a load of old **** !!!
and for the record i ride road in baggies as lycra is just wrong …

Have always had a road bike but my knackered back just wont let me ride it much and rise bars look fooking stupid on a road bike. So I compromised and got 1.5 slicks for my hardtail best of both worlds can average 20mph plus on the road and I have lots of low gears for when the road heads up.

lycra is just wrong

You should tell that to Bradley Wiggins – or maybe even just Liam Killeen.

I'm guessing that given that comment you think riding a MTB in lycra looks silly – well trust me as somebody who certainly started as a roadie, you really do look silly riding a road bike in baggies (rather like somebody who simply can't be bothered to buy the right kit).

can average 20mph plus on the road

Sitting up with risers? Very impressed if that's really the case.

Only women or professional male athletes should ever wear lycra

Nearly died last time I road on the road, not ridden my road bike for over 10 years 😳 Only gets used on the turbo.

I'm buying another computer, I only average 17.8MPH fully shaven and lycra'd up.
Touching 26MPH average in a crit mind you 8)
I'm getting TO old obviously 😥

I dont have a road bike but I do over half my riding on the road at the moment and its good fun. Havent done any long rides but usually go out for an hour or two and just go as fast as I can.

How much quicker is a road bike than my mtb with nobbly tires? I have done an 18mile loop of coniston lake in 1hour and 2 mins so thats about an 18mph average speed

rOcKeTdOg – Member
i refuse to catergorise road and MTB, to me it's just cycling and all fun

Absolutely! Just ride whatever you can whenever you can.

I love MTB for the technical and challenging side of riding. I love road riding for the speed, distance covered and precision of it all. An I love commuting because I love riding bikes.

+1 with rocketdog.

However some ****t today had other ideas – I was out on a road ride as I dont have my MTB right now & some **** idiot rode up beside me and snarled "Mountain bikers on road bikes – get off the **** road". To start with I just laughed & thought he must have said something else but once my O2 starved brain had had time to process the words properly I was stunned & couldnt decide whether to roast the c*nt or stay away from him as he was plainly nuts. Anyway I caught him later on another hill & followed him down the other side thinking Ill just follow this guy down & forget about it but hes going so slow I decide to pass him. At this point he hauls on his brakes & starts yelling "woh woh your not following me down – I had an accident once etc.." So, I pulled past him apologising for freaking him out (though quite how I did this Im not sure as I wasnt riding at all aggressivley & was going to give him a shout when I was going to pass him). Later on the same hill I sense someone behind me & lo & behold its Mr Nasty zipping by with a sh1tty sneer on his face! What gives?

If the guy had been seriously good I would have thought "ok your sh1t hot you have the talent to back up the attitude" but he was cr@p..

Seriously we are all just cyclists here who gives sh1t if its on a penny farthing, a bmx or whatever! Grr rant rant.. 👿

Good grief that's some weirdo there RepacK. You get some strange folk out there quite obviously.
The other week a group of old roadies applauded me as I got to the top of a certain climb, and I'm not kidding it's really not that hard that was weirdly embarassing.
Anyway I always assume I'm the slowest least able rider on the road until proven otherwise.

sorry – just jumped into this a bit late.
I got my entry level road bike 2 years ago and love it, experience along the lines of what others have said and it's great soaking up the kms going past the world. I'm probably using my road bike more at the moment.
I still only use this mountain bike forum though – weird.

aracer – Member

can average 20mph plus on the road

Sitting up with risers? Very impressed if that's really the case.

Whats so impressive about 20mph on a MTB with slicks on I can do a road average of 17 mph on the same bike with 2.0 maxxis ignitors and I can do 22mph on the racer. I am slow and fat my mate George who is 65 kicks my arse on the road.

you'll start off on your road bike wearing your baggy shorts, camelbak etc..

then one day you think 'you know what… i think i'll just wear the liner short' then you are on the slippery slope to water bottles, shaving and skinsuits…..

having said that I had a single speed road bike – great for fitness though busy roads are not fun

Whats so impressive about 20mph on a MTB with slicks on I can do a road average of 17 mph on the same bike with 2.0 maxxis ignitors and I can do 22mph on the racer.

Well I suppose it depends on the context – how far, how flat, how much are you hammering? I was kind of assuming average for a normal longish steady ride, but I guess that's not actually the case. I have after all averaged over 22mph on my MTB with off-road tyres on 😉

can average 20mph plus on the road and I have lots of low gears for when the road heads up

If you can average 20mph on a slicked up mountain bike I'm surprised you need 'lots of low geras' for the climbs.

I can't average 20pmh on my road bike so I must be doing something very wrong.

I can't average 20pmh on my road bike

Given the times I thought you were doing on sportives, that surprises me even more than pof being able to do 20mph sitting up in the wind with risers. Surely you can go that fast over a shortish flattish ride?

Given the times I thought you were doing on sportives, that surprises me even more than pof being able to do 20mph sitting up in the wind with risers. Surely you can go that fast over a shortish flattish ride?

That's not average speed though is it? Maybe I'm being pedantic but to me average speed is the average speed reading on my speedo when I get home, and I'd be very happy If I could keep that over 20.

I'm definately a mountain biker however I too own a road bike which started life on a static trainer then progressed to being used on roads for a triathlon I entered.

I am now of the same mind to buy a better £1k upgrade from my £350 stead purely to help improve my times in future tri events but also as I actually enjoy road riding too now.

Only thing that scares me about road riding is the cars who actually drive way too close to you when totally unecessary to do so and of course idiots like that 'celebrity' chef James Martin who think its a fun sport to injure cyclists and for sure he's not the only one out there.

One thing though that has helped me on my road bike is my mountain bike skills (limited as they maybe) especially when I've overcooked a sharp turn its the gnarly type of MTB riding thats kept the situation on the road in perspective and I've been able to ride out of impending doomful crash (so far)

Well it is if you just go out for a shortish flattish ride.

I've enjoyed getting out on my road bike mid-week after work over the summer, it has definately helped with fitness as I ride more, even if its just for an hour a couple of times a week. It just seems easier to grab a bottle, change and head out for a ride, for some reason getting ready to head out on my MTB just seems more faffy.

I really struggle when I ride with my other half on the road, I much prefer road riding alone (which won't make me push harder I know) – I have no problems keeping up when mountain biking though. It would be nice to ride with someone a bit more matched up.

Am now trying to work out how to keep this up in the winter (I can't stand the turbo). Last winter I put my road bike away and only rode on dry weekends (few and far between).

I now wonder about average times. I always assume they're based on something like a four hour ride with about four hard climbs at least.
As I've said mines low at 17+MPH average, and that allows me to hang on in a road race.
My mate averages 21MPH and is a bunch finisher and can always clear a sub hour 25.
We had the honour some time ago of riding with the current USA Elite road race champion and 2008 world masters TT champion. On long rides he was happy with 17/18MPH and a bit faster than 21MPH for shorter outings.
If this is the case then surely some of you guys are serious contenders.
(Mike Olhieser if you want to google his credentials) we rode xc for two years with his brother **** me he was good.

Whats so impressive about 20mph on a MTB with slicks on I can do a road average of 17 mph on the same bike with 2.0 maxxis ignitors and I can do 22mph on the racer.

Well I suppose it depends on the context – how far, how flat, how much are you hammering? I was kind of assuming average for a normal longish steady ride, but I guess that's not actually the case. I have after all averaged over 22mph on my MTB with off-road tyres on

Regulary do a ride from Ainsdale near Southport to Glasson Dock near Lancaster with my mate George. Stop off for ice cream and coffee and home again via the chippy near my house. Round trip of 80 miles. Yes it is flat but we have to ride round the Preston ring road which slows us down a bit. I have regulary done it pushing hard and I can do it at around 22 mph on the road bike and 20mph on the slicked up scandal. I am not fast by any stretch of imagination George who is 65 has to stop and wait for me sometimes.

Chain gangs from the Liverpool 100 used to do the same route as a warm up ride starting from Liverpool at speeds nearing 30 without a coffee stop.

Surely you can go that fast over a shortish flattish ride?

Posibly but I don't do any shortish, flatish ride. If I was riding purely to have a high average speed then I might do that. On this mornings 20 mile commute on my cx bike with road tyres I average 19.6mph but that was with a strong tailwind – no way I could have got anywhere near that on an mtb with risers.

Given the times I thought you were doing on sportives

5.5 to 6 hours for a 100mile sportive is hardly a big deal. I don't remember giving any sportive times on here anyway.

I am not fast by any stretch of imagination I think if you can average 22pmh on an 80 mile ride then you are fast, by my standards anyway. Of course you're not as fast as last weeks super commuter who was averaging close on 25mph on his 30 odd mile commute.

There are obvioulsy a lot of serioulsy fast folk on here.

I think there's a fair bit of "inflation" goes on with average speeds TBH. Most computers will only record the actual moving time so it should correctly be claimed as a "moving average".
As an aside simonfbarnes quotes his average speeds based on total time out (inc lunch stops etc) so the "true average" is substantially lower.

The best I've ever been on the road is as a mid-pack 2nd Cat racer and my training rides would be about 16-17 on my own, 17-18 with the club. A typical 2nd/3rd Cat race would be about 23mph average, about 24-25 if it was an E/1/2. Some of the crit races would be a bit faster.

I think it comes down to what people define as a "ride". 40mins on a slicked up MTB/flat course and yes, 20mph average is possible, the slight issue is that a 40 min ride would be called a warm up by any serious roadie…

That's the kind of speeds I'm doing crazy-legs around the 17-18mph mark for a decent hilly ride. Thanks, you've made me feel a lot better about myself.

Regulary do a ride from Ainsdale near Southport to Glasson Dock near Lancaster with my mate George. Stop off for ice cream and coffee and home again via the chippy near my house. Round trip of 80 miles. I am not fast.

Nope, you're quick if you can do that lot in four hours or less. Respect.

Jesus, just **** ride your bikes and stop anal-ysing it!

🙄

Kit I do actually ride a fair bit, if I want to analyse it then thats up to me. Out of interest how much riding do you do?