Jump to content

MTB vs Road Bikes


davetapson

Recommended Posts

One of my mates reckons that a roadbike takes a 1/3 less effort to ride than a MTB.

 

Is there a rule of thumb that says 'if you do a race on an MTB in so many hours, you'd take this many hours on a road bike'?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my mates reckons that a roadbike takes a 1/3 less effort to ride than a MTB.

 

Is there a rule of thumb that says 'if you do a race on an MTB in so many hours, you'd take this many hours on a road bike'?

 

Your mate isn't peddling hard enough on his road bike.

 

It's a bull***t comparison.

Think about it, if you are peddling at 100% intensity for a period of time it really doesn't matter if you are on a road bike or MTB or what ever. The fact is your HR and intensity is at max. So it's not about the vehicle, but the engine...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

trying to do the single track while on the aerobars of a tt bike. ;)

 

Therefore: The rider of a TT bike will require more effort!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I'll refine the question.

 

If you can do 94.7 in 4 hours on a MTB with knobblies, what would your time be if you used a road bike? Same engine, same intensity.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Define - effort -

 

Power? for a given power output you will go faster on a road bike than on an mtb (in general) For me that reflects in the awesome sub-5 times I cracked in the Argus on a roadie which are (generally) 70-80% the times I have done it on a mtb (excluding South Easter conditions)

 

It also 'feels' faster: the position, the slinky saddle, the drops, they limited gears mean no taking it easy up the hills in a granny. Cue "Strike the pose"

Edited by kosmonooit
Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I'll refine the question.

 

If you can do 94.7 in 4 hours on a MTB with knobblies, what would your time be if you used a road bike? Same engine, same intensity.

 

Same tooth count?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To try compare the effort of cycling a mountain bike to that of a road bike has a large number of variables such as:

terrian

weight

rolling resistance of tyres

gearing

opportunity for drafting

rider position wrt wind resistance

ext.

 

In fact there are so many variables which cannot be logically isolated (within good reason, as no mtbker would willing cycle on tar for instance) that such comparisons are senseless and plain stupid.

 

Which probably why roadies have such a infatuation on trying to make such calculations.

 

THe best solution is to take your road bike to groenkloof or tokia and ride some single track.........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well it depends if your buddy is cycling offorad or on road. Rule of thumb for a newbie, on road stay with a road bike and visa versa for off road and mountain bikes.

 

Although I cycled with some guys on MTB's and running knobblies and they were leaving some road guys behind on the flats!! Those guys were machines!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I'll refine the question.

 

If you can do 94.7 in 4 hours on a MTB with knobblies, what would your time be if you used a road bike? Same engine, same intensity.

2:48

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I'll refine the question.

 

If you can do 94.7 in 4 hours on a MTB with knobblies, what would your time be if you used a road bike? Same engine, same intensity.

 

Ah - "A well defined question is already half answered"

 

Now the question again is are you talking a R700 Game MTB and a R50k roadbike or a R50k MTB and a stuffed road bike.... So many variations, thus not easy to estimate.

 

But you can look at roughly 15 - 25% improvement on your time (for a same 'price/level' of bike switch).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I'll refine the question.

 

If you can do 94.7 in 4 hours on a MTB with knobblies, what would your time be if you used a road bike? Same engine, same intensity.

 

 

Better question

 

If you can do a MTB cross country lap race (8 laps) at fountains, on your road bike? What would your time be if you used your 26" hard tail? Same engine, same intensity?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout