Bike advice needed

cambsno

cambsno

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I have a mountain bike which I use at least once a week, mainly just to a local pub 3 miles away, but also occasional trips to Cambridge (8 miles) and also biking around villages. It cost around £120 i think and while ok, is quite heavy. Browsing round a bike shop (high end one where the cheapest bike was over £500) I liked the look of road bikes, and think that I remember hearing that mountain bikes are not actually that good on the road.

If I went for a road bike, would i notice much of a difference (all biking is road or cycle paths). Also, as I know nothing, would I get anything decent for around £200-£300 (the bikes in the shop were very light) - or do you have to spend big bucks?
 
Best and cheapest thing to do is change the tyres on your bike for road tyres, much smaller tread depth makes it a lot easier to pedal.
 
what steep said, i bought a set of cheap slicks for a bike a few months back and on the road it makes a hell of a difference, the bottom ring on the groupset is pretty much redundant on most inclines!
 
It used to be that a touring bike was the jack-of-all-trades, that could be used for commuting and shopping, Sunday rides, Audax (long, fastish rides), the club midweek "10", a bit of cyclocross and rough-stuff, as well as loaded up for a week or two's cycle camping. All accomplished by changing tyres or wheels, and removing lights, pannier racks and mudguards, if necessary.

If you still hanker after another bike, think about a tourer from Thorn or a Raleigh Royal or Dawes Galaxy. Look for one with 700C wheels -- cantilever brakes should ensure this.

Failing that, slick narrow tyres on aluminium rims is the way to go, and a fit rider can do a 10 mile time trial in under 25 minutes (24+ mph).
 
I guess i would need to change the wheels as well, as mountain bike tyres are fairly thick? might as well get a new bike?
 
One bike, for the road.

If you're not bothered about gears, get a Giant Bowery. Cheap as chips, and a road bike. Only niggle is, is that it's singlespeed, so no gears to compete with. I love the simplicity of these bikes though, but they really want clip in pedals to get the best out of them.

Pick them up second hand for little money these days.
 
As my usual path is uphill one way and down hill the other i do like gears! As this will show, I know nothing about bikes, but on my normal trip I will select gear 3 (out of 3) and gear 3-5 (depending on how unfit i feel and gradient), or gear 3 and gear 5-6, with the odd gear 2 and gear 2-5 on the occasional slope!
 
cambsno said:
I guess i would need to change the wheels as well, as mountain bike tyres are fairly thick? might as well get a new bike?
Click to expand...

Plenty of slick and semi-slick tyres around to fit mountain bike rims. Make it a hell of a lot easier (and quieter) on roads.
 
cambsno said:
I guess i would need to change the wheels as well, as mountain bike tyres are fairly thick? might as well get a new bike?
Click to expand...

Set of cheap road tyres won't set you back much, and if you go for a tyre that has a solid or at least very well packed centre ridge then it will be OK. I've got a set of tyres that have very close firm rubber down the middle - very good for road and off road in dry conditions.
 
slicks get my vote

I did the coast to coast last year on a MTB with slicks , made it a different bike altogether , also lock the fork travel if you can
 
I bought a Specialized Crosstrail. It`s a hybrid and perfect for my needs, paid £350 for it. My bike spends 90% of the time on the road by wanted to be able to potter down towpaths etc if I wanted to.

Obviously it`s not good for proper off road, but then that`s not what I do!
 
Slicks will be eaiser then treaded tyres for sure, but on the standard wheels, gearing, and heavy frame it will still be no match for a proper road bike, in terms of effort and ultimate speed, but the roadie will be a much hursher ride. But over the same distance your fitness levels should improve more on the mountain bike alot of competive cyclist will train on heavy bike and race on lighter ones, so ulimately depends on weather you after more fitness of greater speed.

If you go roadie then stcik clear of riding paths there tyres are much thiner then even slick mountain bike tyres and will easily go inbetween most cracks in the footpath which will blow the inner tube in most occations.
 
You can make a pretty good hybrid by going with 25mm slicks on your mountainbike, rims permitting. But at the end of the day for real speed and comfort the position is far too upright and you can't get so much power through the pedals. Unless your current bike offers a good stretched out position, a road bike may be round the corner for you
 
Definitely get a road bike if you can afford it. I had a hybrid which I thought was pretty good, but then I got a road bike. The difference is huge.
 
Cheers guys, any makes or models i should be looking out for in £200-300 range? Anything I should aim for or avoid?
 
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