Ryan Posted September 15 Share Probably a dumb assumption...A couple months back I changed my mid week mtb training rides (on the road) to road bike training rides. The mileage and climbing are virtually the same but I seem to have gotten slower on the mountain bike. Anyone had a similar experience or am I missing something? Basically my weekend mtb rides are tougher over same route.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HdB Posted September 15 Share If your weekend MTB rides are pretty technical, then perhaps; not really that road riding is making you slow, just missing the specificity. If your MTB rides are not technical, and it it just the legs doing the talking, then it shouldn't be making you slower if you are riding at the same effort level. ChrisF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted September 15 Share Thank you... I should have been more specific...its the hills where I am losing ground mostly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bike Dewing Posted September 15 Share 6 minutes ago, Ryan said: Thank you... I should have been more specific...its the hills where I am losing ground mostly You’re on a mountain bike.. tyres are larger and more traction so you’ll always be doing more work to keep up with someone on a road bike with skinny slick tires🤷🏼♂️.. more aerodynamic riding position on a road bike.. there’s probably other factors but yeah this doesn’t surprise me.. road bikes probably lighter as well.👍🏻 Edited September 15 by Bike Dewing Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newbie321 Posted September 15 Share Just up the intensity on the road bike, IE go faster. Ryan, DJR, JohanDiv and 1 other 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted September 15 Share 5 minutes ago, Newbie321 said: Just up the intensity on the road bike, IE go faster. That there is the issue methinks. Do some short very high intensity hill repeats / intervals on the road bike and it will make you FASTER up the hill on the MTB. It is just too easy to sit on the road bike and roll along and then feel good about the time and the miles you covered. It is also much easier to do those short sharp painful intervals correctly on the roadbike. Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted September 15 Share 26 minutes ago, Ryan said: Thank you... I should have been more specific...its the hills where I am losing ground mostly What is your road rides like, hill wise ? When I spend too much time on the trainer and road rides It takes 1 or 2 rides to get the "flow" back for MTB. Our roads have enough hills, so no issue with this. But yes, 20km MTB trails takes more out of you than 20km road. Anything from the increased tyre drag, to constantly slowing down and accelerating again on technical terrain ..... Identify your weaknesses .... and you can target it and improve on either road or MTB HdB and Bike Dewing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted September 15 Share 4 minutes ago, ChrisF said: What is your road rides like, hill wise ? When I spend too much time on the trainer and road rides It takes 1 or 2 rides to get the "flow" back for MTB. Our roads have enough hills, so no issue with this. But yes, 20km MTB trails takes more out of you than 20km road. Anything from the increased tyre drag, to constantly slowing down and accelerating again on technical terrain ..... Identify your weaknesses .... and you can target it and improve on either road or MTB Thanks Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bike Dewing Posted September 15 Share There’s a good reason the mountain bike 947 is 50km 🤷🏼♂️.. you’re basically discovering it. You’ll find your vibe, don’t worry.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titleist Posted September 15 Share If you do road right then it will make you a better mountain biker. The secret is to never stop peddling. Don’t sit at the back smelling the roses. ChrisF and Chumi 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandatron Posted September 15 Share 3 hours ago, Ryan said: Probably a dumb assumption...A couple months back I changed my mid week mtb training rides (on the road) to road bike training rides. The mileage and climbing are virtually the same but I seem to have gotten slower on the mountain bike. Anyone had a similar experience or am I missing something? Basically my weekend mtb rides are tougher over same route.. Need to up your intensity factor on the road bike to match your training ride or double your road training distance roughly in my humble opinion ChrisF, Ant in the NL and Ryan 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveno7 Posted September 15 Share as some one who does both types of riding...I find in my experience that getting on the road bike makes you stronger on a bike after a block of mtb.. create blocks for your riding maybe...2 x days road ...a days break and then return to mtb.. use the road bike for endurance rides...monitor how you feel.. and don't move tire yourself... Edited September 15 by daveno7 DJR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORNE Posted September 16 Share Yep, i find groady fun rides like around-the-pots or karoo-to-coasts take a bit more doing than the CTCT as an example(for me). Also, when you can haul a 16kg enduro bike around 30km and 1000m of climbing every weekend….rolling road hills are a joke lol. Ryan, El Duderino, Robbie Stewart and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSCC Posted September 16 Share 14 hours ago, Ryan said: Probably a dumb assumption...A couple months back I changed my mid week mtb training rides (on the road) to road bike training rides. The mileage and climbing are virtually the same but I seem to have gotten slower on the mountain bike. Anyone had a similar experience or am I missing something? Basically my weekend mtb rides are tougher over same route.. You’re doing the same mid week rides on the same routes (road) just switching from MTB to road bike? If that’s the case then the answer is no. If you were switching mid week actual MTB rides for road rides then the answer is perhaps, maybe. Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted September 16 Share 8 hours ago, daveno7 said: as some one who does both types of riding...I find in my experience that getting on the road bike makes you stronger on a bike after a block of mtb.. create blocks for your riding maybe...2 x days road ...a days break and then return to mtb.. use the road bike for endurance rides...monitor how you feel.. and don't move tire yourself... Me thinks the difference in cadence is what gets to you. On the MTB you should typically be doing a higher cadence than on the roadbike. On the roadbike most riders tend to push bigger gears, hence you gain muscle strength as @daveno7 says - BUT you lose "steam" in terms of cardio. Try to increase your cadence intentionally when on the road bike. Try to mimic your MTB cadence, while working in some high intensity, low cadence, intervals in between. I've had this very same experience when switching between MTB and road bikes. Edited September 16 by Mook Sandro and DJR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted September 16 Share Yup - for the cadence thing as Mook said above Ryan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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