Mountain Bike Aero Bar
What is an equivalent bike speed between mountain bike on pavement and high-end road bike on pavement?
I ride my mountain bike about 10 miles every day on the streets around my house and typically average 15-16 miles per hour. I know that the tires add a lot of drag, so I was wondering what my speed would be on a road bike that had less drag. I am thinking of getting a nice road bike, but I am not concerned with aero-bars or other drag reducing gear.
This is a really good question. I believe the answer depends on several factors.
With respect to drag, road tires will let you roll faster. However, not all mountain bike tires are created equally. In fact, some knobbies with a nice center rib roll real smoothly on pavement. On the other hand, some knobbies create horrible drag. So, your gain from tires alone will be dependent on what you are currently running on your mountain bike.
A road bike will allow you to get into a more aerodynamic position on the bar drops. How willing and able you are to get into a tuck on your road bike will affect your over all speed.
A road bike, of course, has no suspension so you will have no energy loss due to bobbing. Of course, if you lock out the suspension while on the road, this will make no difference.
A road bike is almost certain to weigh less than a mountain bike so you’ll get a gain there, especially if your ride is hilly.
A big gain, though, is going to come from the lighter wheels and tires of the road bike. In terms of the energy requirements, a gram of rotational mass is much heavier than a non-rotating gram. Thus, reduced rotational mass will allow you to go faster and accelerate the bike more quickly.
So, all in all, how much difference can you expect? On weight, aerodynamics, and reduced rotational mass I think you can expect to pick up 2-3 miles an hour. Depending on the other factors you may be able to pick up even more.
Hope this helps and I hope you have a lot of fun finding the answer to your question. Good luck to you.
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