# Mtb vs road bike up steep climbs



## adamangler (3 Aug 2016)

What is a mtb like going uphill on the road.

I used to mtb but only on trails so never tried it. I currently ride a road bike only.

I ask because I an going to Italy next week and mountain bikes are cheaper to buy than road bikes. Already ruled out hiring as there's no where near by and I don't want to risk flying my expenice bike over.

Anyway. Considering the biggest climb I've done over here is holme moss and even the easy climbs over there dwarf that I thought maybe the lower gearing of an mtb wouldn't be so bad. I can only just get up moss with my 36/25 road bike so.

Whaday reckon? Mtb has low gears but are they awkward/heavy/wrong geometry to climb effectively on the road?


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## gasinayr (3 Aug 2016)

What about a Hybrid ?


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## Levo-Lon (3 Aug 2016)

You can ride down an Alp on a mtb..so that's one plus..


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## Oldfentiger (3 Aug 2016)

36/25 is quite a high gear for hard climbs, at least it is for me.
I have a mountain bike which is shod with road tyres so I could try it on my local climbs, and I found that climbing is easier on my road bike with 34/32 gearing.
Where the MTB suffers is weight and rolling resistance. Also the sprung fork absorbs some of the power too.
Just my own experiences.


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## adamangler (3 Aug 2016)

Yeah possibly. Was considering buying a bike over there and either bringing it back or leaving it there ( my gf sister lives there so could leave it but we only visit every few years so a waste) 

A hybrid would work just something cheap ish. Or 200 or so


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## rugby bloke (3 Aug 2016)

adamangler said:


> are they awkward/heavy/wrong geometry to climb effectively on the road?


Yes/Yes/Yes
But I guess it also depends on the tyres you are running - definitely no the knobbly tyres and how far you are riding - in my experience anything beyond 50 miles on a mtb is serious hard work.


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## adamangler (3 Aug 2016)

meta lon said:


> You can ride down an Alp on a mtb..so that's one plus..



Coming down is not my concern. There's a HC cat climb 14 miles @ 7% 10 miles from where we are staying. I've no chance of getting up it it's to hot for a start but wouldn't mind a crack at it to see how far I get


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## steve50 (3 Aug 2016)

Went on a ride with my nephew last week, him on an mtb me on my road bike, on the hills it was a case of me having to stop repeatedly so he could catch me up. mountain bikes are geared for off road cycling nice low gears to tackle steep slopes at low speed etc, on the road they are just slow.


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## SpokeyDokey (3 Aug 2016)

I can't imagine tyres making much difference at all up a very steep and long slog (I'd be down to 5mph or so) but gearing can.

My last MTB had a 24 small ring up front and 32 out back - I used to be able to twiddle away merrily up hills I can't even contemplate on my 34 x 30 road bike.


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## nickyboy (3 Aug 2016)

adamangler said:


> Coming down is not my concern. There's a HC cat climb 14 miles @ 7% 10 miles from where we are staying. I've no chance of getting up it it's to hot for a start but wouldn't mind a crack at it to see how far I get



You'll be surprised. Using Holme Moss as a common level (local to me) and a similar HC I did last year (also about 14 miles at about 6.5%) I'd say the following. Providing you use suitable gearing, have loads to drink and take it steady, the HC climb will be easier than Holme Moss.


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## adamangler (3 Aug 2016)

SpokeyDokey said:


> I can't imagine tyres making much difference at all up a very steep and long slog (I'd be down to 5mph or so) but gearing can.
> 
> My last MTB had a 24 small ring up front and 32 out back - I used to be able to twiddle away merrily up hills I can't even contemplate on my 34 x 30 road bike.




That was my thinking. I top would be down to 4-5mph at that gradient. I doubt rolling resistance would be the enemy was mainly thinking weight or geometry might be a problem


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## Drago (3 Aug 2016)

I find it easier on an MTB, but faster on my taller geared roadies. Little surprise there perhaps...?


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## adamangler (3 Aug 2016)

nickyboy said:


> You'll be surprised. Using Holme Moss as a common level (local to me) and a similar HC I did last year (also about 14 miles at about 6.5%) I'd say the following. Providing you use suitable gearing, have loads to drink and take it steady, the HC climb will be easier than Holme Moss.



Really? Holme moss to me is quite hard. It has me out of the saddle pretty much all the way once i hit the switchbacks. Im not a particulary fit cyclist i acerage 15mph ovet mixed terrain that said im a trier and wont get off. My lowest gear is a 36/25 mind.


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## Globalti (3 Aug 2016)

In the end it's about expending the energy required to raise the weight of you and the bike from the bottom of the hill to the top. How you do that doesn't matter but on a lighter, stiffer road bike without knobs on the tyres you will climb faster for the same effort.

After 21 years on mountain bikes and now 6 on road bikes, most recently on a very light stiff climbing bike, it would be the road bike for me every time. On a mountain bike you have to sit and spin but on a roadie you've a chance of attacking and going quite fast.


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## jarlrmai (3 Aug 2016)

Mtb problems for road climbing.

Heavy
Suspension, even locked
Rolling resistance
Position for climbing


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## Kajjal (3 Aug 2016)

The additional grip from big knobbly tyres, suspension and weight means it will never be close to a road bike.

Swapping out the tyres to narrow slicks will help a lot but then you still have the weight and suspension. My xc MTB is a lot slower uphill than my road bike.


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## nickyboy (3 Aug 2016)

adamangler said:


> Really? Holme moss to me is quite hard. It has me out of the saddle pretty much all the way once i hit the switchbacks. Im not a particulary fit cyclist i acerage 15mph ovet mixed terrain that said im a trier and wont get off. My lowest gear is a 36/25 mind.



Yep

The steep sections of Holme Moss are hard pretty well no matter what gearing you have. A long alpine 7% is all about the right gearing (I'd suggest you should have something easier than 36/25), hydration, eating and measuring the effort. On gearing here is my take on it; a Peak District 7% I would typically do in 34/21 but I needed 34/27 at times on the twenty odd km climb of same gradient I did last year


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## Venod (4 Aug 2016)

adamangler said:


> Really? Holme moss to me is quite hard. It has me out of the saddle pretty much all the way once i hit the switchbacks. Im not a particulary fit cyclist i acerage 15mph ovet mixed terrain that said im a trier and wont get off. My lowest gear is a 36/25 mind.



I am not surprised you find it hard, I could get up the Moss on 36/25 or similar when younger, it was never easy, its still not easy nowadays on 34/28 or 34/30 if struggling but its more enjoyable, try gearing down a bit and see how you go.


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## Nigelnaturist (4 Aug 2016)

Road bike with a triple, I have mine currently set up with a 50/38/26 front and 12-27 rear giving a range of 25-110" (10sp 105 triple) wide range pretty close rear ratios.


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## S-Express (4 Aug 2016)

adamangler said:


> Whaday reckon? Mtb has low gears but are they awkward/heavy/wrong geometry to climb effectively on the road?



Yes. Your question isn't really about 'MTB v road', it is about 'the wrong gearing v the right gearing'.


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## swansonj (4 Aug 2016)

Isn't it a it of a sad commentary that "road bike" has come to mean, not "road bike", but a particular sort of racing-derived sporty road bike? On any logical use of the words, a hybrid and a touring bike are both road bikes, but that's not how we've come to use the term. Says a lot about the dominance of current fashions.


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## cyberknight (4 Aug 2016)

nickyboy said:


> Yep
> 
> The steep sections of Holme Moss are hard pretty well no matter what gearing you have. A long alpine 7% is all about the right gearing (I'd suggest you should have something easier than 36/25), hydration, eating and measuring the effort. On gearing here is my take on it; a Peak District 7% I would typically do in 34/21 but I needed 34/27 at times on the twenty odd km climb of same gradient I did last year


Heres me grinding up weaver hills on a 36 x28 , i could have done with a bit lower.


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## Nigelnaturist (4 Aug 2016)

swansonj said:


> Isn't it a it of a sad commentary that "road bike" has come to mean, not "road bike", but a particular sort of racing-derived sporty road bike? On any logical use of the words, a hybrid and a touring bike are both road bikes, but that's not how we've come to use the term. Says a lot about the dominance of current fashions.


Its why I still ride a triple "road" bike, I just prefer the drops to a straight bars.


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## suzeworld (4 Aug 2016)

swansonj said:


> Isn't it a it of a sad commentary that "road bike" has come to mean, not "road bike", but a particular sort of racing-derived sporty road bike? On any logical use of the words, a hybrid and a touring bike are both road bikes, but that's not how we've come to use the term. Says a lot about the dominance of current fashions.



Not really - if you call all three types "road" bikes you make no distinction between them, and I own one of each type and find there is a BIG distinction in the riding of them, and what I want to do with each of them.
I love my tourer for plodding about and commuting and panniers; I even went up Mont Ventoux in it for my first time before I invested in my "road" bike which is light and equipped with a triple and made hills much easier .. 
Here's the archive shot of me on my tourer near top of MV.





But to be fair, nothing I own is as cheap as 200 euro / quid .. not at all sure what you can get for that price!
This is a Dawes Super Galaxy ... very low gearing.

I call my road bike "Skippy" cos she really skips up hills, but she cost nearer 2,000 than 200


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## swansonj (4 Aug 2016)

suzeworld said:


> Not really - if you call all three types "road" bikes you make no distinction between them, and I own one of each type and find there is a BIG distinction in the riding of them, and what I want to do with each of them.
> I love my tourer for plodding about and commuting and panniers; I even went up Mont Ventoux in it for my first time before I invested in my "road" bike which is light and equipped with a triple and made hills much easier ..
> Here's the archive shot of me on my tourer near top of MV.
> View attachment 137627
> ...


I recognise this is becoming far too political for the context of the OP ... But ....
Whenever the name for a category is also the name for one subdivision within it, it implies that that particular subdivision is normative, and causes problems. 

Thus "man" is used both as a category -humans- and a subdivision - man alongside woman. Many of us try to break away from that usage because of the problems it brings. Using "England" to encompass Wales and Scotland as well frequently causes offence. 

In this case we have several types of bikes designed for roads - tourer, hybrid, Dutch-style utility, and, let's call it, "sports" (and many others as well). My objection is that using the term "road bike" to describe a particular type of road bike normalises that particular type. The reason I object is that the particular type of bike in question, being derived from racing norms and oriented towards sporty uses, is not the best type of bike for many road users, yet is presented to them as if it should be.


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## User482 (4 Aug 2016)

nickyboy said:


> Yep
> 
> The steep sections of Holme Moss are hard pretty well no matter what gearing you have. A long alpine 7% is all about the right gearing (I'd suggest you should have something easier than 36/25), hydration, eating and measuring the effort. On gearing here is my take on it; a Peak District 7% I would typically do in 34/21 but I needed 34/27 at times on the twenty odd km climb of same gradient I did last year



I've done climbs all over the UK and I've never found one as difficult as the HC Alpine Cols.


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## srw (4 Aug 2016)

swansonj said:


> I recognise this is becoming far too political for the context of the OP ... But ....
> Whenever the name for a category is also the name for one subdivision within it, it implies that that particular subdivision is normative, and causes problems.
> 
> Thus "man" is used both as a category -humans- and a subdivision - man alongside woman. Many of us try to break away from that usage because of the problems it brings. Using "England" to encompass Wales and Scotland as well frequently causes offence.
> ...


I'm partly with you, but the term "road bike" seems to me to be a subcategory of the term "bike", along with "mountain bike", "touring bike" and "folding bike".

As ever in these circumstances I reach for my OED, because it's a descriptive dictionary. It's interesting that the definition supports you - "road bike" as opposed to "bike for riding across country or on racetracks", but the citations mostly seem geared (sorry) towards "road bike" meaning "lightweight bike designed to go quickly on tarmac".



> 1896 _House Furnishing Rev._ Jan. 25/2 This company has devoted its energies not only to the making of ‘racing machines’, but also equally as fine road bikes.
> 1949 _Chicago Tribune_ 3 June 10/2 The optimistic cycler selected a light English road bike geared to make hill climbing easier.
> 1970 _Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) _19 July 26/3 These trail bikes are definitely not road bikes when it comes to riding them on highways where traffic moves very fast.
> 1992 _Men's Health_ July 48/2 These versatile new machines combine the ruggedness and low gears of mountain bikes with the sleekness and speed of road bikes.


(I've omitted a citation to do with motorbikes).


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## suzeworld (12 Aug 2016)

swansonj said:


> I recognise this is becoming far too political for the context of the OP ... But ....
> Whenever the name for a category is also the name for one subdivision within it, it implies that that particular subdivision is normative, and causes problems.
> 
> Thus "man" is used both as a category -humans- and a subdivision - man alongside woman. Many of us try to break away from that usage because of the problems it brings. Using "England" to encompass Wales and Scotland as well frequently causes offence.
> ...



Aye. I see what you mean. I never use man to encompass all humanity, myself.
But I think general bike users go out for a BIKE! I am not sure how influenced they are by this naming. In our house are happy to call our racier bikes road bikes and our "really useful for the road in general" bikes are called the tourers, or the work-horses!


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## smutchin (13 Aug 2016)

I think it was the 2003 Giro when Cipollini swapped his road bike for an MTB at the foot of the Zoncolan. He didn't win the stage.

(I've never seen any footage of this, only heard stories, so I'm not entirely sure it really happened.)


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## Kajjal (13 Aug 2016)

Just make sure you have the range of gears you need, current trends and people telling you to man up are irrelevant unless it works for you.

My road bike has 11 speed 50/34 & 11-32 which works well for me, my mountain bike has 38/24 & 11-36 which will climb up a wall if needed.


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