MTB to Road

tonkpills

I had a quick search on boards but I couldn't find an answer. I have a MTB (hardtail) that I use to commute in and out of work on the N11, I've added semi-slick tires (Schwalbe Hurricane Tyre - Performance). They help abit but still I'm killing myself to catch up with anyone on the way. Unfortually the bike to work scheme wont be beneficial for me ATM. I'm a novice in regards to bikes so I was wondering what else could I get for my bike to aid in the commute and for me not to feel like the tortoise!!

mickeycav

in the exact same boat as you re mtb commuting, you get used to it, though i'm occasionally envious of my faster road bike commuters

colm_gti

tonkpills wrote: »

I had a quick search on boards but I couldn't find an answer. I have a MTB (hardtail) that I use to commute in and out of work on the N11, I've added semi-slick tires (Schwalbe Hurricane Tyre - Performance). They help abit but still I'm killing myself to catch up with anyone on the way. Unfortually the bike to work scheme wont be beneficial for me ATM. I'm a novice in regards to bikes so I was wondering what else could I get for my bike to aid in the commute and for me not to feel like the tortoise!!

Do you use your bike for MTBing? Is selling it and buying a road bike an option?

Tenzor07

tonkpills wrote: »

I get for my bike to aid in the commute and for me not to feel like the tortoise!!

A bit of sneaky training at the weekend on your bike so your a bit fitter for the commute? :rolleyes:

tonkpills

colm_gti wrote: »

Do you use your bike for MTBing? Is selling it and buying a road bike an option?

I don't think so, I'd be luckly to get €60 quid for it because it's way past 3yr old. Currently saving really hard so I don't have many options.

tonkpills

Tenzor07 wrote: »

tonkpills wrote: »

I get for my bike to aid in the commute and for me not to feel like the tortoise!!

A bit of sneaky training at the weekend on your bike so your a bit fitter for the commute? :rolleyes:

:-) I can make it to work in 40mins and I'm fit enough, recently did a charity 100k charity cycle on my hard tail. I noticed I couldn't keep up with with most of the guys on road bikes. I was peddling quick enough and they were bearly peddling yet going faster than me.

tonkpills

Anything cheap and chearful that I can do to my bike to aid with speed.

Outkast_IRE

yes

Lumen

Aerobars!

Hmmzis

Check the drivetrain. Anything from bearings to derailer puleys and chain. Most important would be wheel bearings. If they don't allow the wheel to spin freely then all your efforts are going into heating the hubs.

Also, check your position on the bike. Saddle hight, reach and your body angle when pedalling. Also on a mountainbike fit and positionig is very important.

cdaly_

Lock out any suspension.

studiorat

A track-pump to get tyres rock hard.

Outkast_IRE

studiorat wrote: »

A track-pump to get tyres rock hard.

If doing this also use good tubes, i had to use a cheap spare tube last week and it developed a pinhole along the seam withing 2 days of use , whereas the good brand ones had been 9 months at the same high pressure not problem .

colm_gti

The money you will spend on making your mountainbike faster would be better off put in a savings jar for a used road bike...

Tonyandthewhale

Do a montage. Find yourself some 80's rock music (maybe 'gold' by spandau ballet) and some stairs to run up and down, three minutes of serious looks and grimacing and you'll be super-pumped and won't need a road-worthy bike to make you go faster.

Replacing the suspension fork with a rigid one might also help.

julio_iglayzis

Tonyandthewhale wrote: »

Do a montage. Find yourself some 80's rock music (maybe 'gold' by spandau ballet) and some stairs to run up and down, three minutes of serious looks and grimacing and you'll be super-pumped and won't need a road-worthy bike to make you go faster.

Replacing the suspension fork with a rigid one might also help.

I've yet to encounter a problem that couldn't be solved with a montage.

Don't make the same mistake that I made when I switched from a hardtail with slicks to a road bike for my commute - namely assuming that it will automatically make you a much faster cyclist...it won't. The guys who are flying past you on a road bike usually are doing so because they train very hard and put serious miles in.

AltAccount

Make sure you're comparing like with like too.

If they're flying past you in proper gear on €2k road bokes and you're on a POS, heavy as fcuk MTB, there's no amount of gubbins or slick tyres you can buy to make you keep up with them.

Are you being fair on yourself?

Keep_Her_Lit

OP, as pointed out earlier, the pace you can handle is determined more by your fitness than by your choice of bike. That said, there are certainly some things you can do to get more bang for your buck when it comes to commuting on an MTB.

You haven't said if you also use the bike off road. I'm assuming not, since you have fitted semi-slicks. In that case, you can make various other tweaks without needing to worry about compromising your bike's off road capabilities.

Some improvements can be made easily and cheaply. Others cost a little more time and effort but still work out a lot cheaper than investing in a half decent road bike. You could pick from this list. And here are a couple of threads on choosing MTB slicks, worth reading because of the significant influence of tyre choice on your MTB's road performance.

Bottom line: don't be disheartened because you're "stuck" with an MTB for commuting. With a modest amount of effort and expenditure, you'll be able to squeeze a surprising amount of performance from it.