New to medium-long distance cycling question

Sheepy99

As somebody who until recently would only cycle 6-7km in a cycle, how big of a difference is there between using a racer compared to a mountain bike?
I've started doing 20km cycles on my mountain bike but my times are significantly worse off in comparison to others in my area on Strava, even though the intensity i'm putting in is pretty high.
Not that beating everyone else is the be all and end all, but I was curious to find out if there was a big difference.

Currently trying to work my way up the total distance covered per cycle gradually.

crosstownk

There is a big difference between MTB and a road bike. The rolling resistance of the larger MTB tyres and the weight of the frame will have you travelling slower. The gearing on a road bike helps as it is designed for road cycling.

However, the important thing is that you are putting in the effort so keep at it despite what Strava indicates.

When you can afford a road bike and when you are sure you want one then you will notice an immediate difference in average speeds and segment times. Then when you get your road bike, next thing is you'll be wanting to upgrade wheels, tyres and other bits. Then you'll want an even better road bike. Welcome to the dark side

Just keep at it.

outfox

At least 5 km/h improvement in average speed between MTB and road bike.

cdaly_

There are things you can do with your mountain bike to improve matters on the road. It's only really worth it if it's a reasonable bike in the first place though.

1. Lock out suspension. You don't need it on the road and it just wastes energy bouncing instead of rolling.
2. Change knobbly off-road tyres for slicks. You can go narrower to maybe 1"1/2.
3. Pump your new slicks somewhat harder. They'll roll faster that way.
4. Choose good supple sidewalls for tyres that will roll faster. At the same time, look for a bit of puncture resistance. This will slow you down but is probably worth it.

Carawaystick

I've just posted about getting slicks and pumping them hard, makes a big difference to speeding up a mtb.
Schwalbe spicer tyres.

I put spd pedals on my mtb and got cheap cyclig shoes from Aldi, and got my average speed up 1.5 kmh, which might have been training but I reckon a lot of it was the pedals/shoes.

I've no idea about the boost from slicks, but it *feels* a lot just pumping them hard, from having them not pumped up hard.
I'd imagine knobbly tyres would be awful...

NeedMoreGears

I used a road bike, mob with slicks and mtb with knobblies.

The the mtb with slicks was about ten percent slower than the road bike and knobblies were ten percent slower again. I couldn't lock out the suspension, which was front only.

The mtb was very comfortable, like cycling around in an armchair

Sheepy99

Carawaystick wrote: »

I've just posted about getting slicks and pumping them hard, makes a big difference to speeding up a mtb.
Schwalbe spicer tyres.

I put spd pedals on my mtb and got cheap cyclig shoes from Aldi, and got my average speed up 1.5 kmh, which might have been training but I reckon a lot of it was the pedals/shoes.

I've no idea about the boost from slicks, but it *feels* a lot just pumping them hard, from having them not pumped up hard.
I'd imagine knobbly tyres would be awful...

I've never even pedaled a racer, never mind owned one, so i don't know any better, but from reading the posts i'm starting to see how it makes a difference.

Big Eejit

Sheepy99 wrote: »

As somebody who until recently would only cycle 6-7km in a cycle, how big of a difference is there between using a racer compared to a mountain bike?
I've started doing 20km cycles on my mountain bike but my times are significantly worse off in comparison to others in my area on Strava, even though the intensity i'm putting in is pretty high.
Not that beating everyone else is the be all and end all, but I was curious to find out if there was a big difference.

Currently trying to work my way up the total distance covered per cycle gradually.

Strava won't tell you whether others have had headwind or tailwind, whether they were drafting someone/something or even the accuracy of the measurements they've uploaded , so I wouldn't take too much notice of it.

In my experience, in similar conditions and on same road, I can get 5-10kmph faster average time than on a slicked up and MTB.