Trust Issues - MTB vs Road Bike

[Raydek]

Okay - quick question - what width are your MTB bars, and what length is your MTB stem? Now comparatively, how wide and long are your bars & stem on the roadie?

 

Part of the reason may be that. I know it's a very different feeling going from my MTB's 750mm bars to my road bike's 420mm bars (yes, I need to get wider ones - just now) and my Roadie stem is 20mm longer than my MTB stem, so the feeling is intensified somewhat. It's also a very different feeling getting down into the drops versus sitting pretty on the bars, 'cos often the brake levers aren't as easy to get to as the MTB's brakes. All factors which could influence your feeling of instability.

 

Also - the thin wheels / tyres give you a LOT more feedback from the road, so your hands feel a lot more connected, and any sense of speed is magnified accordingly.

 

So - step one - widen your bars, shorten your stem. Same concept as in MTB. Step 2 - ride more! Practice! That's the only way you'll get used to the speed...

 

MTB - 700mm / 70mm

Road - 420mm / 50mm

 

I think the fact that the road bike is so twitchy is a big factor... and the brakes (or lack thereof) compared to MTB.

[Raydek]

I guess you don't own a motorbike then..

 

Not for a while, used to many years ago??

[Raydek]

I only begin to get doubts when using road bike on trail!

 

Aaah... just realised thats the problem all along...lol :ph34r:

[Paul Ruinaard]

When you go high speed look further down the road.

 

You will get less of a sensation of speed.

 

I agree about the bars and control.

 

Also relax your upper body.

[CASSIE1975]

I have exactly the opposite problem. Despite having experienced some really bad high speed wipeouts both on the road and the dirt, I feel much safer on my road bike. I.e. I'll pedal down most downhills on the road till I basically run out of gears/rpm's, but I seldomly if ever pedal down a downhill on a MTB race.

 

+1

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

MTB - 700mm / 70mm

Road - 420mm / 50mm

 

I think the fact that the road bike is so twitchy is a big factor... and the brakes (or lack thereof) compared to MTB.

 

There ya go. Your shorter stem on the roadie is doing you a favour, but you could do yourself a bigger favour by fiitting wider bars as wel. AFAIK they go up to 480mm if you look hard enough...

[Escapee..]

There ya go. Your shorter stem on the roadie is doing you a favour, but you could do yourself a bigger favour by fiitting wider bars as wel. AFAIK they go up to 480mm if you look hard enough...

 

Spending money for a 0.0000324% increase in trust.

 

Not worth it, IMHO

[jimmycool]

For me it's not the speed itself but the fact that the brakes are not nearly as powerful, skinny tyres dont have as much grip/ feel less planted on the road. Plus a little worried about hitting potholes/ speedbumps etc.

I suppose being a fatty makes all these things worse!

[Kranswurm]

So having taken road cycling a bit more seriously recently and having purchased a road bike I have come across a mental block/problem.

 

I cannot seem to get comfortable with speed on my road bike compared to my mtb. I am quite comfortable doing 60km/h down a track, but come to doing the same on the road and my brain goes NOPE, and I slow down. To confuse the situation even more, if I hit the same road hill on my mtb I am more than happy to get the speed up and find myself pedaling my legs off trying to get more out the bike.

 

Begs the question, why don't I trust my road bike?

Crappy road bike?

Wrong size for you?

Tyres too soft?

Wheels not true?

 

My BMC tracks like its on rails and is as steady as a rock

[Raydek]

Crappy road bike?

Wrong size for you?

Tyres too soft?

Wheels not true?

 

My BMC tracks like its on rails and is as steady as a rock

 

Crappy road bike? - Not sure, but entry level Raleigh RC3000

Wrong size for you? - Nope IMHO

Tyres too soft? - 8 bar

Wheels not true? - all good

[Kranswurm]

Crappy road bike? - Not sure, but entry level Raleigh RC3000

Wrong size for you? - Nope IMHO

Tyres too soft? - 8 bar

Wheels not true? - all good

 

Simple then

Trust your bike and go for it.Purely confidence.

If you get a wobble grip your cross bar with you knees and it will go away

[Capricorn]

funnily enough, the old adage in MTB that speed is your friend applies to road riding as well.

those big hoops have decent gyroscopic effects at speed, making the ride nearly self-stabilising.

 

Also, you can reduce road feedback somewhat via wider tyres 25c or 28c if your frame can manage.

 

keep a light touch on the bars. Going deathgrip inhibits proper and timely control.the best thing is to just ride more, and dont think about the speed.

A little mindtrick taken from samurai culture: they didn't fear death because they came to accept its inevitability via daily contemplation. You can do the same for your fear of falling at speed: just accept it can happen, and then get on with riding.

 

As the Oracle once said to Neo: you can't look past choices you haven't yet made. Surprisingly true.

[Grebel]

If you have only recently swung your leg over a road bike, give it time. It will feel better as time goes on. As long as the sizing is correct, you have the right pressure in the tyres and the brakes work (Not as well as an MTB though) you'll get used to it.

 

Patience....

[Raydek]

funnily enough, the old adage in MTB that speed is your friend applies to road riding as well.

those big hoops have decent gyroscopic effects at speed, making the ride nearly self-stabilising.

 

Also, you can reduce road feedback somewhat via wider tyres 25c or 28c if your frame can manage.

 

keep a light touch on the bars. Going deathgrip inhibits proper and timely control.the best thing is to just ride more, and dont think about the speed.

A little mindtrick taken from samurai culture: they didn't fear death because they came to accept its inevitability via daily contemplation. You can do the same for your fear of falling at speed: just accept it can happen, and then get on with riding.

 

As the Oracle once said to Neo: you can't look past choices you haven't yet made. Surprisingly true.

 

LIKE!!

[tombeej]

For me it's not the speed itself but the fact that the brakes are not nearly as powerful, skinny tyres dont have as much grip/ feel less planted on the road. Plus a little worried about hitting potholes/ speedbumps etc.

I suppose being a fatty makes all these things worse!

 

Yes to this, and also I get a lot more 'chatter' through a stiff carbon road frame & its rigid fork. It makes 60km/h on a road bike just feel a lot faster than 60 km/h on a mtb. Making a mistake on a road bike generally ends in tears, whereas you can f~~~ up a line in a corner with a mtb or brake too late and still get out of it.

 

But the more time spent on a road bike, the more natural the feel becomes (same with anything).

 

The only thing you always have to keep in mind is knowing how much road you've still got left to stop in time, and making sure the line you choose (and weight transfer) into a corner is spot on.

[jimmycool]

Don't get me wrong. I do like to go as fast as possible on both my mtb and road bike but in recent times I have adopted the thinking of "live to ride another day" and I am pretty sure it has made me a little more circumspect - especially when I think of my wife and 2 boys it does make me slow down a bit here and there.