How much easier is it to Climb hills with Road bike than MTB?

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Brucey
Posts: 44517
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: How much easier is it to Climb hills with Road bike than MTB?

Post by Brucey »

a few points;

first it is worth mentioning that pedalling swiftly and smoothly on good quality fat low pressure tyres puts you at little disadvantage. But pedalling slowly and less smoothly (common when climbing aggressively) on such tyres can be rather lossy; the tyres see extensive deformations that may consume more of your energy than normal.

second; the MTB is obviously likely to be heavier than a typical road bike, and may or may not respond well to being ridden out of the saddle, if you climb like that. If you have suspension on your MTB, that will make a difference too!

third, the gears on an MTB usually go lower than on a typical road bike. Provided you are not in a hurry, you can find yourself working less hard, but for longer, when climbing on an MTB.

FWIW I have seen folk fit skinny tyres and different (e.g. more aerodynamic) handlebars to rigid MTBs and ride them very swiftly indeed; maybe they were super-fit anyway, but it is another route to consider. I have a (folding, heavy) touring bike that uses 26" MTB wheels with such skinny tyres (actually 1-1/4" section) and it isn't a whole lot slower than a full-on road bike, 1-2mph difference or so is about it.

cheers
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sbcoombs
Posts: 171
Joined: 24 Dec 2015, 8:21pm

Re: How much easier is it to Climb hills with Road bike than MTB?

Post by sbcoombs »

With the same effective gearing, there will be a lot of difference between a cheap MTB and a road bike.
Changing the tyres will help but the frame and wheels will be very heavy. The front forks will absorb energy bouncing as well.
Even on flat roads there is a difference, which is compounded by wind resistance increases with the wider more upright position in MTB.
On road bike, I average 18mph, in hardtail, nearer 15mph and in the 160mm rig, closer to 12mtb. Main difference between the 2 MTB is weight, extra suspension and chunkier tyres.


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