Trust Issues - MTB vs Road Bike

[TK-Sp3cialiSt]

Need a third option on the poll... Comfy on both... Have done 80 on road on the mtb, and 60 offroad, and a touch over 90 once on the road bike...

 

I find it is more of a mental issue regarding trusting your equipment... Thinner road tyres allow for higher speeds, but harder tyre makes the ride more jittery and makes you feel out of control, can run them a little softer, although you will then possibly get more snake bite punctures, but as time goes on you can increase pressure

[flat29]

I have done 103km/hr with road bike on road and 89km/hr with mtb on road. 60 km/hr mtb offroad.

 

If in doubt go flat out :thumbup: :thumbup:

['Dale]

Lightness (less secure) vs robustness of MTB (more secure)

 

Understandable hey

 

That's why roadies are so tough to go like faaaast on that small rubbers and light frames.

 

 

[Raydek]

Need a third option on the poll... Comfy on both... Have done 80 on road on the mtb, and 60 offroad, and a touch over 90 once on the road bike...

 

I find it is more of a mental issue regarding trusting your equipment... Thinner road tyres allow for higher speeds, but harder tyre makes the ride more jittery and makes you feel out of control, can run them a little softer, although you will then possibly get more snake bite punctures, but as time goes on you can increase pressure

 

added

[Rocket-Boy]

Im definitely more comfortable on my roadie, it just feels like it was meant to go fast.

[Stevief]

JUst plant your weight further back on the bike and grip the road bars at the bottom where you can rest your fingers on the brakes . This allows you to get into a nice aero position and makes the bike feel a lot more stable.

[Raydek]

Update: things are looking up, a lot more time in the saddle has made me feel more relaxed on the bike and I guess trust it more.

 

Went done Ntida hill today near the end of a ride and hit just over 70kph, not sure if it is fast for that section of road, but it was for me. I also feel that next time I could probably do faster as well!

[ryanbritchford]

Also recently changed over and was the same. But 4 rides In and I feel much better,hammering down hills on the drops. Just trust ur bike and go big.

['Dale]

The irony is that the more tense one is, the more likely one is to lose control of the bike.

 

Relax

Do what you would do if you were 5 years old :-)

[droo]

Wait for a summer's day with a howling south easter, then do a peninsula loop that takes in Ou Kaape Weg from the Sun Valley side. On the descent into Steenberg you'll be doing 90 by the time you get out of the top hairpin. Relax and go with it, and you'll find you don't even need to hit brakes for the hairpin at the bottom.

 

It'll scare the crap out of you, but you'll understand just how much control and grip you've got on them skinny little tyres.

 

Also, + 1 000 000 on not gripping the bars too tight, it's the fastest way to a speed wobble.

[Raydek]

Wait for a summer's day with a howling south easter, then do a peninsula loop that takes in Ou Kaape Weg from the Sun Valley side. On the descent into Steenberg you'll be doing 90 by the time you get out of the top hairpin. Relax and go with it, and you'll find you don't even need to hit brakes for the hairpin at the bottom.

 

It'll scare the crap out of you, but you'll understand just how much control and grip you've got on them skinny little tyres.

 

Also, + 1 000 000 on not gripping the bars too tight, it's the fastest way to a speed wobble.

 

One day! But ja, did realize that a loose grip is much better!!

[Kranswurm]

Wait for a summer's day with a howling south easter, then do a peninsula loop that takes in Ou Kaape Weg from the Sun Valley side. On the descent into Steenberg you'll be doing 90 by the time you get out of the top hairpin. Relax and go with it, and you'll find you don't even need to hit brakes for the hairpin at the bottom.

 

It'll scare the crap out of you, but you'll understand just how much control and grip you've got on them skinny little tyres.

 

Also, + 1 000 000 on not gripping the bars too tight, it's the fastest way to a speed wobble.

 

He he.....I used to be pretty fearless but I have never hit that bend at 90....too tight

[Lurch the stalker]

I've always felt that little bit more comfortable on my MTB than on my road bike, but MTB is where I started.

Ironically I've had much worse crashes off the road than on it (well, so far at least).

[Ween]

Basically everyone is missing the the facts. It has very little to do with tires or handlebar widths and everything to do with head angle. Your top tube length and head angle determine what your your bike will feel like and how it will handle, climbing and descending more than anything else.

A road bike typically has an agresssive (steep) head angle while many MTB's have a slacker more relaxed head angle.

The slacker the head angle, the more stable (and confident) it will feel be coming down, but it will be inefficient when climbing. The opposite is true for road bikes. Steep aggressive frame geometry = fast climbing and twitchy steering.

[BigDL]

There is a steep, windy downhill on my way to work. I can comfortably get 80km/h + on it on the mtb, but for some reason struggle to do much more than 65 on the road bike. I just don't feel as confident on the tight corners on the Road bike. Will try the HTFU method of dealing with it and see how that turns out

['Dale]

They are two different animals

 

Treat them differently and aim not to compare

 

For both, take it easy for the first ride if you haven't been on it for a while and allow for ADJUSTMENT ????????

Above all else, relax and let the bike do what it's designed to do