best climber-mtb or roadbike?

[leyburnrunner]

a general question. i've got a heavy 24 gear mtb and i'm wanting a compact roadbike. now i like going up hills on my mtb which has semi-slicks for road use. which would get me to the top of a hill first, a heavy mtb with those low gears or the lighter roadbike with higher gears?

 

[supercooper]

If the hill is on the road then road bike all day long

 

[supercooper]

If the hill is on the road then road bike all day long

 

[PJ79LIZARD]

Depends how strong your legs are, personally there's no contest between my mtb and road bikes. The road bike will get me to the top first everytime on the tarmac.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

I have never passed a road bike going up a hill but been passed by plenty.

 

[HLaB]

If its all on road for the same engine the road bike outperforms a mtb. The generally lighter frame and narrower tyres are major factors for me. Also the low gear on a compact is low but not as low as a mtb granny so in theory you'll get up them faster.

 

[GilesM]

The decent road bike will win every time, mtbs are hardwork on the road, and very hardwork up hill on the road.

 

[marinyork]

In theory the road bike should slaughter the mountain bike.

The more nuanced view really comes down to your legs and subtle gearing. If whatever hills you are doing can cope with around 30 to 35 gear inches then the road bike will be a lot better. If you can't cope with that gearing and your knees and legs are screaming on mid 20s gear inches and you have to get to 20" or below then the MTB will be better. There are always a few ultrasteep hills where the vast majority of cyclists would struggle on a compact. There aren't many people who would need 20" for everyday, but for all I know you might be one of them. One of the people I cycle with had to get ultra-low gearing. It was very difficult for him to decide whether to get a hybrid with MTB gearing or a compact race bike. He went for the former. That's also not the long term view, if the gearing is too high for you, you may improve and get used to it in a year or two.

My tips would be to really note down what gears you use, work out the gear inches and then compare to the lowest gears on a compact bike. I got a single speed recently and I found that even on the 20% on the hill on the way home I can just about cope with a 69" gear. The bike is so damn light that it's not quite as hard as it sounds. Not that I'm recomending that.

 

[PK99]

a general question. i've got a heavy 24 gear mtb and i'm wanting a compact roadbike. now i like going up hills on my mtb which has semi-slicks for road use. which would get me to the top of a hill first, a heavy mtb with those low gears or the lighter roadbike with higher gears?

I've got a mountain bike, Tricross and a recent Van Nicholas Yukon - the difference between each on hill climbing is amazing. When i got the van nic, i expected it to be better than the Tricross on the hills but not as much as it is. A regular grind up to Epsom downs than had be puffing at 160bpm i now sail up in the 140s - and faster!

The difference between bike types in not just down to weight and gearing but angles and position too, the road bike allows more efficient use of power on the road

 

[lulubel]

There's also the option of getting a road bike with a triple rather than compact chainset. I don't know what the difference is in terms of gear measurements, but the granny ring on my triple is 30 teeth, as opposed to 34, which I believe is the usual number of teeth for the small ring on a compact.

 

[BrumJim]

Although if the road is slippery, or we are talking about dirt tracks and silly angles, MTB comes into its own.

 

[theloafer]

you can get both now road bike+low gears .. it,s my age honest 50-34 compact sram apex 11-32