Mountain Bike Versus Road Bike Speed

The road bike was running standard road bike tires at about 80psi.

Mountain bike versus road bike speed. The road bike vs mountain bike question has no easy answers which is why we recommend seriously considering your needs and buying the bike you like first. One can now have 18 or more speeds road bikes are made for speed with narrow tires for. Fyi over a 2 3 mile stretch of hilly curvy paved trail today an experienced road cyclist did it about 30 seconds faster than me on my mtb 26 2 2 tsali tires inflated to just under 40psi. Based on the speed test i found the road bike rolled on average about 11 faster than the mountain bike.

A general rule of thumb is that if you are switching from a mountain bike with knobbies to a road bike you will be between 15 20 faster at the same watts effort. Typically that s only a change of 2 3 mph. Less popular as difficult to film and televise and is the only mountain biking event at the summer olympics. On my reasonably flat commute i average around 16 mph on my road bike but your average speed is dependent on many different factors.

Mountain bikes are created for off road cycling in non paved rough environments. Mountain biking became a sport in 1970s and has since then diversified into cross country riding became an olympic sport in 1996. Some people call it a racing bike. This discrepancy in speed results from the weight of the bikes the position of the riders and other basic differences in construction.

Mountain bikes can scramble over roots and rocks that would stop a road bike in its tracks but when it comes to pavement a road bike will take the lead every time. However if you put the mountain bike on the same touraine i e a smooth paved trail the difference in speeds between mtb and road bike should be closer.