cycling a mountain bike on the road

mondeo

Who uses their mountain bike comfortably on the road? Just wondering if locking the suspension and putting road tyres on during the week days is a way to have the best of both worlds? I don't fancy a road only bike since I want to head for the hills now and then.

Thanks:)

Tigger

mondeo wrote: »

Who uses their mountain bike comfortably on the road? Just wondering if locking the suspension and putting road tyres on during the week days is a way to have the best of both worlds? I don't fancy a road only bike since I want to head for the hills now and then.

Thanks:)

I used to commute in a mountain bike and it was grand
What I lost I efficiency I gained in kerb jumping

biketard

Yup, lock the suspension, put fairly slick tyres on it, and you're good to do. You'll be surprised what a difference taking the knobbly tyres off does.

smacl

Only downside is that if you're riding with a group, you'd struggle to keep up. I've done some long spins with my brother in-law who is a keen mountain biker and fit as a flea, and he seemed to have so much more work to do than me to cover the same distance.

fits

My fella does this. With me on my road bike we're evenly enough matched, although he still beats me on hills. grr.

Brian?

mondeo wrote: »

Who uses their mountain bike comfortably on the road? Just wondering if locking the suspension and putting road tyres on during the week days is a way to have the best of both worlds? I don't fancy a road only bike since I want to head for the hills now and then.

Thanks:)

It's very simple, you need 2 bikes. Then you'll find you need a 3rd and so on.

I feel the right balance is:

2 road bikes, winter and summer.
1 TT bike.
1 CX bike.
2 mountain bikes, cross country and downhill.
1 Raleigh chopper.

Daroxtar

Brian? wrote: »

It's very simple, you need 2 bikes. Then you'll find you need a 3rd and so on.

I feel the right balance is:

2 road bikes, winter and summer.
1 TT bike.
1 CX bike.
2 mountain bikes, cross country and downhill.
1 Raleigh chopper.

No BMX?

.ak

I use my MTB on the road to commute, but I don't lock out the suspension or change the tyres. Mostly because I find that the inner city roads are bumpy enough, that bit of suspension helps... and I'm too lazy to change the tyres!

T-Maxx

Brian? wrote: »

It's very simple, you need 2 bikes. Then you'll find you need a 3rd and so on.

I feel the right balance is:

2 road bikes, winter and summer.
1 TT bike.
1 CX bike.
2 mountain bikes, cross country and downhill.
1 Raleigh chopper.

Daroxtar wrote: »

No BMX?

No unicycle either?

T-Maxx

Rolling resistance can be minimized by fitting road tires but the gearing is still going to get at you. For short commuting though you'll be ok.

Trollhättan

mondeo wrote: »

Who uses their mountain bike comfortably on the road? Just wondering if locking the suspension and putting road tyres on during the week days is a way to have the best of both worlds? I don't fancy a road only bike since I want to head for the hills now and then.

Thanks:)

I used to commute on a mountain bike for a while. I locked the suspension and fitted a second wheel set with slick tyres. The second wheel set allows a quick change over if you wanted to. I found the slick tyres made a big difference speed wise over the off road tyres. But then after a while I bought a road bike and retired the MTB from commuting.

Tenzor07

Brian? wrote: »

I feel the right balance is:

2 road bikes, winter and summer.
1 TT bike.
1 CX bike.
2 mountain bikes, cross country and downhill.
1 Raleigh chopper.

If I had the money/space, I need 11 bikes:

2 x Road bikes - Winter/Summer
2 X CX bikes, training(pit bike)/racing
4 x Mountain bikes: XC race/Trail/Downhill/Enduro
1 x Pub bike(junker)
1 x E-Bike with 300w motor
1 x Cargo bike

tacklemore

Tenzor07 wrote: »

If I had the money/space, I need 11 bikes:

2 x Road bikes - Winter/Summer
2 X CX bikes, training(pit bike)/racing
4 x Mountain bikes: XC race/Trail/Downhill/Enduro
1 x Pub bike(junker)
1 x E-Bike with 300w motor
1 x Cargo bike

You can only ever cycle one at a time though!

rubadub

I also put narrow slicks on a MTB and saw a huge difference.

Tigger wrote: »

What I lost I efficiency I gained in kerb jumping

+1, I am now on a hybrid and like it. I had to use a roadbike once on my commute and hated it, the route is in bits and I do stick to cycletracks, which are more like off-road courses. I had to slow down a lot on the roadbike, the usual kerbs I ramp off and go up would slow me down greatly. I am often passing out lads on roadbikes having to go slow or carry the bike over glass or rough spots. I have marathon plus tyres, no puncture in over 2 years, I don't even bother trying to avoid glass nowadays.

Lyaiera

T-Maxx wrote: »

Rolling resistance can be minimized by fitting road tires but the gearing is still going to get at you. For short commuting though you'll be ok.

When you say road tyres do you mean just the tyre, or the entire wheel? Would a hybrid be able to be fitted with road wheels (the tyre isn't that nobbly) and would it make much of a difference going from 37c wheels to 25 or so?

tomc

I have an MTB with two wheelsets, 1 set equiped with tubeless knoblies for offroad and 1 set with superslick roadies......best of both worlds and only takes a few minutes to swap out.

Road tyres make a huge difference for commuting and the like.