georgev Posted March 11, 2012 Share Hi guys. I would appreciate a bit of advice from you seasoned roadies out there. I do all my riding on an MTB and have done 2 Argus' now because it is just such a beautiful and festive ride. Last year took off unseeded at 10am and managed to cut my way though the traffic to get 3h45 in perfect conditions. This year I got a Q batch seeding and with my Anthem X2 down to 11,2kgs with slicks, front lockout and 130psi in the rear shock managed 3h38. Most of the time I could hang on but on the straights after Smits and the fast run from Lundudno I got left for dust. Also noticed that the roadies streamed past up Chappies but not up Suikerbossie? My question is twofold - firstly, by how much could a reasonable roadbike improve my time and enjoyment on this ride and secondly, if it's worth it, what spec bike is reasonable for a guy who is going to dust it off and ride only one or two races a year? Any comments or personal experiences would be much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted March 12, 2012 Share Hard to quantify improvement.But lots of improvement - aerodynamics, weight, rolling resistance - can be expected. Be careful now...Once you buy a roadbike, you might never wanna wander into the bushes again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Legs Posted March 12, 2012 Share Hi guys. I would appreciate a bit of advice from you seasoned roadies out there. I do all my riding on an MTB and have done 2 Argus' now because it is just such a beautiful and festive ride. Last year took off unseeded at 10am and managed to cut my way though the traffic to get 3h45 in perfect conditions. This year I got a Q batch seeding and with my Anthem X2 down to 11,2kgs with slicks, front lockout and 130psi in the rear shock managed 3h38. Most of the time I could hang on but on the straights after Smits and the fast run from Lundudno I got left for dust. Also noticed that the roadies streamed past up Chappies but not up Suikerbossie? My question is twofold - firstly, by how much could a reasonable roadbike improve my time and enjoyment on this ride and secondly, if it's worth it, what spec bike is reasonable for a guy who is going to dust it off and ride only one or two races a year? Any comments or personal experiences would be much appreciated. No doubt that your time will improve. I have a low spec Trek road bike that I use about 4 times a year, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a significant improvement on your MTB time. Re the difference re Chappies and S'bossie: Chappies is not as steep and on my road bike I do between 16 and 20 km/h, on Suikerbossie I do an eve of 13-14 and on the steeper incline the gearing on your MTB works better, but you will do even better on a road bike. Would like to hear other opinions about me theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kandui Posted March 12, 2012 Share No doubt that your time will improve. I have a low spec Trek road bike that I use about 4 times a year, you do not have to spend a lot of money to get a significant improvement on your MTB time. Re the difference re Chappies and S'bossie: Chappies is not as steep and on my road bike I do between 16 and 20 km/h, on Suikerbossie I do an eve of 13-14 and on the steeper incline the gearing on your MTB works better, but you will do even better on a road bike. Would like to hear other opinions about me theory. I tend to agree with your theory. Chappies I can do about 13-17km/h on my mountain bike and up Suikerbossie I am doing 13-15km/h. This is of course weather, feel and mood dependent. Suikerbossie is a tougher climb than Chappies. Yesterday I ran out of gears on my 2x10, 29er with slicks when road descended and on the flats (my legs) and the gearing made me loose the bunch a couple of times. I was hoping to do a 3:10 or thereabouts yesterday, but I felt a bit pap in places after Simons Town and I thought the wind was a bit of a factor in the morning. Got to Simons Town in 1:11 which was on track, but thought the wind conditions were a bit "strange" from Smitswinkel to Sun Valley. Anybody else think so too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PET3RS Posted March 12, 2012 Share My situation is almost identical to yours, ride 11.5 months of the year on my 12.5kg mtb. Only road race I ever do is the Argus for which I manage to borrow a road bike a few days before the race and get an average speed improvement of at least 3km/h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PET3RS Posted March 12, 2012 Share Forgot to mention, the road bikes are not fancy at all, just something slightly above entry level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard the Lion Heart Posted March 12, 2012 Share yeah me too ride my rode bike twice a year for road races - makes big difference at least 5km/h, 2 different sports choose your weapon accordingly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgev Posted March 12, 2012 Share Wow! If I crunch the numbers you guys suggest then if my average speed on this Argus on a MTB was 30.1km/h for a 3h38 time - and I got that up to 33km/h on a roadbike that would bring my time in to 3h20 min and at 35km/h I could be heading for 3h07. Sounding awfully tempting. Makes me wonder how many potential sub-3 diehard mountainbikers were out there bobbing and mashing away on their FS bikes with knobblies and all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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