fitness using 2 different bikes

[adam23]

Bit of a wierd question this but go into cycling in feb this year as wanted to get fit after stppingbasketball after 20yrs of it.
when i do my daily commute to work 6.5miles on my mtb i feel i am fighting the bike and getting tired legs quite quickly and it takes about 25mins to 30 mins
even now after all this time riding.
now heres the odd thing when i go out on my road bike on a sunday morning and do 40-60 mile ride (best time is 46 miles in 2hrs 12mins) i feel like i can ride for
so much longer and at a better pace.
could it be the bikes or just th gearing my road bike is a wilier la triestna and my mtb is a merida matts 40d.

adam

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Bit of a wierd question this but go into cycling in feb this year as wanted to get fit after stppingbasketball after 20yrs of it.
when i do my daily commute to work 6.5miles on my mtb i feel i am fighting the bike and getting tired legs quite quickly and it takes about 25mins to 30 mins
even now after all this time riding.
now heres the odd thing when i go out on my road bike on a sunday morning and do 40-60 mile ride (best time is 46 miles in 2hrs 12mins) i feel like i can ride for
so much longer and at a better pace.
could it be the bikes or just th gearing my road bike is a wilier la triestna and my mtb is a merida matts 40d.

adam

I think I can relate to this Adam as I share riding duties between three bikes (MTB, SS, and a Brompton) I have ridden home from Christ's Hospital to Shoreham via a disused railway (about 16 or so miles) and also Gatwick Airport to Shoreham via A & B roads (about 27 miles) and it is much, much easier to ride the longer journey on the road bike even with just the one gear. I feel that the better rolling resistance of the 700c x 23 tyres gives a better ride (the journey times aren't that different despite the much different ride lengths) I would imagine that riding the road route on an MTB with knobblies would be fairly difficult at best - at worst very arduous. I find that I could go on much longer on the road bike but that 16 miles, after a night shift, is just about enough. You might be better off with a MTB tyre with a smoother centre and just knobblies on the edge of the tyre, something like the Schwalbe Sammy Slick.

Bill

 

[jimboalee]

The three heavy bikes in the shed are a Halfords Apollo County gent's upright at 39lb, a BSA 20 at 36lb and a Land Rover Tahora at 32.5lb. These are the bikes I use as everyday transport.

In the spare bedroom there is a Dawes Giro 500 at 24lb, a Peugeot 531 at 22.5lb and a Spesh SWorks at 16lb.

These are the bikes I use for special occasions.



If I swapped their roles and used the light bikes for everyday outings; and got the heavy bikes out for special occasions, on special occasions I wouldn't get anywhere fast.