I went for a ride with our local triathlon club yesterday and that brought up yet another question about bikes. It was everyone's first outdoor ride and we went about 30km. I was on a decent mountain bike (Specialized Myka FSR Comp) and everyone else was on a road bike. I could not keep up! And when my friend rode with me for 10k or so, it seemed like I was working WAY harder to maintain the same speed as her. Is a road bike that much faster? Or do I have a lot more work to do... Please say it's the bike :)
We have a great guy to talk to at our local Source for Sports store, but I'd like the opinion of someone who is not trying to sell me a bike too.
Compare the gears, you saying looks you need to work harder then your friend . Probily the mountainbike has the smaller gears, just count .And the road bike is for sure more comfi.
There are a couple of good earlier threads on this board by Psycho Mike and others that discuss the pro's and con's of mountain bikes for the ride (see "Will I make it on a mountain bike" and "Mountain bike again")
If you haven't already, try switching to a set of high pressure slick tires for your mountain bike and you'll notice lower rolling resistance.
A road bike is more of a personal preference for the ride (after all, it's not a race!). Some people are more comfortable with the upright position and lower gears on a mountain bike. A road bike will be lighter, have less rolling and wind resistance, and have higher gears, so it's possible to ride faster.
A road bike may be more comfortable on longer rides if you're used to riding one, but, on the other hand, there were many people riding mountain bikes last year as well.
Ok Tacha as well as putting as smooth tires as you can on your mountian bike-and pumping them up hard-the next thing is your peddles. "Clipless" peddles are the most efficient-where peddles attach to your shoes. That way you can push down AND pull up-2 different sets of muscles-twice the power.
I f you don't want to be attached try the toe cages-almost as good and lots more power!
I have slicks on the bike (probably not a high enough pressure slick though) and clipless pedals. I was really amazed at how much harder I was working to maintain the same speed as my friend on the road bike. While I realize this is a ride, not a race (LOL) I'm not sure I want to feel like I rode an extra 50km because of my bike. Still debating what to do...
Here's my 2 pennies. A road bike is that much faster, period. You will work more on a mountain bike without doubt. As for your first question, yes it was the bike. Road bikes are made for riding on the road, yes it may seem dumb to say, but after years of commuting to work and never leaving the pavement on my mountain bike, I finally figured that out. I bought a decent aluminum road bike, Giant OCR 2, $1500, in 2007 and have been using that for training and commuting and nothing I have ridden before even compares to the speed of the ride, thoroughly enjoyable. This week I did purchase a commuter bicycle which is a nice compromise between road and mountain bikes. It has 700 cc tires, a little wider and larger than the road bike, and of course a straight handlebar, and I love it. It is a Kona Dew plus. $600. I was tired of taking the rear rack and lights on and off the road bike all the time. I put my computer on the Kona and averaged a nice 28km/h on it, not bad for a commuter bike. If you are going to ride the road bike a lot then the price of one is worth it. If it is going to be something you do occasionally then either stick with your slicks on your mountain bike, or opt for a commuter type of bicycle. Canadian tire has a yellow CCM I think, for 300 with the same type road bicycle tires and a straight handlebar for a more upright position but you will work less or go faster for the same amount of effort.
Hope this helps and Cheers,
-- Edited by Bryce on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 06:38:19 AM
-- Edited by Bryce on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 06:45:06 AM
Ok...I'll add my pennies too. Tacha, I've done numerous long distance rides (200km in one sitting, several 100 mile/160 km rides) on a mountain bike with high-pressure slicks. The riding position is a lot more relaxed and if you're dealing with a lot of hills, the lower range available on a mountain bike can be an asset. You will go through more energy than on a road bike, but you'll also not be punished quite so much by the riding position or if the road is rough.
You WILL NOT keep up with a group of road bikes for any substantial time/distance when riding a mountain bike...the riding position and gearing are simply not made for that sort of riding. That being said, someone on a road bike can have a bugger of a time on long steep hills while you're comfortably seated and pedalling fairly easily....the bikes are designed for different purposes.
If you want to use a mountain bike for the Ride, it is certainly an option. Get the higest pressure, narrowest slicks your rims will permit (both in terms of pressure and width), run them at the highest pressure you can (rims or tires permit) and if you've got suspension, firm it up as much as possible. The ride quality will suffer a bit (it'll be more harsh), but as long as you're not trying to keep up with the road bikes, you'll finish just fine.
A commuter or hybrid bike is one of the the "in-between" bikes....relaxed riding position of a mountain bike with some of the features of a road bike, plus rack mounts for hauling stuff around while you commute. There were a lot of hybrids on the Ride last year.
A pure road bike will make the ride the easiest, but as Bryce said, unless you're going to do a lot of just road riding, it may not be worth running out and buying one "just because." In my case, I went to a cyclocross bike (think of a road bike with some modifications for light off-roading) so I can commute, go off road a bit or put slicks on and have a heavier road bike for my not-so-svelte body ;)
Regardless of what you choose, just remember this ride attracts a wide variety of riders....everyone from the hardcore racers on time trial bikes (the fastest of the fast road bikes) who average >40km/hr to folks who only ride once in a while on whatever is in their garage....unless you're a pro-level racer, you're not going to be at the front of the pack, so do the ride at your own pace and enjoy the experience. :)
-- Edited by Psycho Mike on Wednesday 7th of April 2010 05:01:13 PM
Well said Mike! I rode a hybrid bike in last years ride. I am not a speed rider but I made it . I wished I had gone with a 27 speed instead of the 21 speed. Different gear ratio. I loved the ride! I wasn't first ... but I wasn't last either! Remember it is just a great ride! Tammy
Hey, speaking of gears. I have 21 speeds on my mountain bike. Could I add more gears for an even greater spread? I'm a slower cadence diesel pusher rider and usually ride in 2-5 (1-0 being lowest and 3-7 being highest).
Also someone told me the other day that I should try to keep my chain straight when using my gears in that I should use 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 ... 2-3, 2-4, 2-5 ... 3-5, 3-6, 3-7.
Anyone have an opinion on that? Can you follow what I'm meaning?
I was told to stay out of anything 7 unless it was 3-7 because it stretches the chain I was told ... that if you were in 1-7 that you might as well be in 2-1 ... that is all I have heard or know...I generally ride in 2-5 or 2-6... and on hills I try not to go lower then 1-3...lol... like I said try....
Changing gearing components on a bike can be complicated! It depends on what your bike already has installed. Some general comments:
- If you have indexed (or "click") shifting, it may be difficult to change the number of cogs in the rear without also upgrading your shifters. Also some older wheel hubs won't allow changing from 7 to 8 sprockets.
- It's possible to change the range of gearing (within limits of your rear derailleur in the back and some other factors!) by changing the sizes of the different sprockets in the back - e.g. to get higher or lower gears, or more gears in a certain range.
- In general try to avoid gear combinations that make the chain criss-cross at an angle -- e.g. avoid the small front / small rear and the large front / large rear combinations. These angles are noisy and cause excess wear on the chain.
When it comes to switching gears, most folks will advise you not to "cross chain" which is using the innermost/smallest chainring (the ones at the front) with the outtermost/smallest cogs on the cassette (the gears at the back)...what you'd call 1-5,6,7... or the biggest with the biggest (3-0,1,2). The reason for this advice it that these gear combinations cause your chain to have to contort the most and can contribute to premature chain wear/stretch as well as cassette and chainring wear. The middle chainring should be able to handle the full range (2- 1 to 7) just fine....and if 2-5 is "you gear" than so be it :)
In terms of gears...most 7 speed rear ends (3x7 = 21) have a range reasonably close to modern 3x9 gear set-ups...the difference is in the spacing. It's a bigger step between gears on a 7 speed cassette than it is on a 9 speed.
As nice as it would be to put a 9 speed cassette on your bike, there are a lot of factors that can make it impossible without some pretty extensive upgrades. Worst case scenario you'd need to replace your shifter, the hub (the central part of your wheel where all the spokes go into) and the chain in order to go to a 9 speed rear. Depending on the gear range you have, you may even need to change derailleurs (the parts that actually move the chain between gears). In some cases, the upgrades are more expensive than the bike was. :(
Personally, if the bike works for you as it is, then ride it as is :)
-- Edited by Psycho Mike on Wednesday 14th of April 2010 09:31:03 PM
Been training with mountain bike, knobbies, chariot and 3 year old behind. I should be able to fly if I pick up a road bike, get slicks, or just lose the trailer....
Hey the trailer helps with endurance ... I should know alot of my rides last year were with a trailer and a 2year old yelling ... "WEEEEEEE, FASTER NANA!!!!" lol .. it was great!
I just changed from a Cyclecross (Vittoria Cross XG 700x34mm) Tires to a Bontrager (Race Lite Hardcase 700x28mm) and can't believe the difference. The road tire I have are Kevlar belted and hopefully I will have no flats.
-- Edited by tthomsen on Thursday 6th of May 2010 05:28:07 PM
Yeah, I noticed the same thing when I hauled off the Cx knobbies for this year. Between my hand-built wheels with better hubs than the stockers and the change from Maxxis Locust and Conti Speed King Cross (700x35) tires to Conti Ultra Gatorskins (700x28), the difference has been huge.
Well, I've been going in steps. Dropped the chariot with 3 year old, then droppped the mountain bike for my 20+ year old roadie. Picked up the pace by 40%. I'm a full 20% faster on the roadie than the mtn (w/o the kid). Not only that, I find the riding position is much more comfortable on the roadie during longer rides. Not ready to switch from my mountain bike for my commutes yet though.
You'll also find that the taller gearing on the roadie will help with your commute. I hopped on my mountain bike the other day after doing some servicing (it had been sitting for a little while waiting for me to get what I needed together to do the servicing it needed) and on the road/paved trails I'd added a good 15% to my speed.
Keep on pedalling and you'll keep noticing the improvements :)
Just changed the gearing on my bike to give me 1.something gears lower. I need the help getting up the hills. Changed the Cassette from a 12-25T a 12-27T and the little chainring to a 34t ring from 36. Seams like small changes but I hope it helps.
My old road bike has a one piece freewheel (as opposed to a cassette), so I really don't have many gearing options. I hope I can cope with the climbs as-is. I'm not sure of the teeth on my current set up, but I can tell you it looks small.
Oh, and i don't know if any of you remember this, but my old bike has Bio-Pace chainrings. You know, the oval ones. Feels strange after riding on rounds for so long.
There were a lot of questions earlier on in this tread regarding gearing so I have a spreadsheet I made up for my own bike. My bike is a Rocky Mountain SOLO CXR with Compact Crank (46/36) and 10 speed Cassette (12-25T). Since buying the bike in Jan/10 I found that I am older that I thought and my legs are not made of steel anymore. so I have changed the small crank to 34T (the smallest I can put on at Compact chain crank) and the Cassette to 12-27T. This gives me about 1.5 gears lower and cost about $150. Luckily, I got one steal of a deal on the bike. Effectively the bike now has 15+ a little bit, gears due to overlap (before the modification it had 14 gears)
Now for the triplet, I used a Kona Jake with a chainring 50/39/30 and a 12-25T 9 speed cassette. If you ride on the middle chainring the the large one has an additional 3.5 gears (I call it .5 because there is little diff between the gear on the middle and large chain ring) small chain ring has 3 lower gear. This means that your 27 speed bike effectively has 16 gears the rest is overlap.
Here is a site to calculate your gearing http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/ this site will give you a print that you can tape to your bike as a reference.
It's not just the overlap, but also the overall range too. I modified my Jake to have an 11-32 cassette from a mountain bike...it may only be 16 distinct gears (with 9 that are similar to others), but with the wider range, I know it'll handle this route with ease.
