17 Mph on a mountain bike?
2954
Member
1369 days
Anton posted 2 years ago.
Your bike speed is great...for an MTB. While the mtb will get you through the race...your bike time will be...ok...at 17.
Pushing a heavier bike with increased rolling resistance due to tire (tyre) size will be slower and sap your strength for the run.
If you don't have the cash for a tri or road bike...see if you can borrow one or look for a used one.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!
"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" - Vincent Van Gogh
My Blog: http://agingsuperhero.blogspot.com
83
Member
942 days
bouli posted 2 years ago.
thanks for the reassurance man. i know my time's not gonna be great, but i just thought that seemed a little slow.
My thread disappeared there for a while, but then it came back. I re-posted it, but that one's disappeared too! Mods: please delete the other one as it's a repost! thanks!
Cheers anton, ur always in there with the encouragement! i looked into renting a bike, but they only rent hardrocks, the same as my mtb. i might be able to get a loan of one off someone.
thanks again.
bouli
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot
2334
Member
2427 days
Tribro posted 2 years ago.
that's strong riding, nice! Are you using slicks? If not look into getting some thinner, non-knobby tires, that'll reduce the tire surface on the road and thus some resistance.
83
Member
942 days
bouli posted 2 years ago.
they're not exactly slicks. they've a decent bit of thread, but are well thinner than the stock tyres on the hr. I think they're 1.5's, although i'll have to check. I put a set of aerobars on it too, but i'm not too sure if they increase my speed or just hurt my back!
It's also my commuting bike so it gets a lot of use. it's 6k into work and 6k back 7 days a week (2 jobs, it's a killer), so i'm getting lots of miles in all round each week. can't wait to get a tri bike. I'm gonna hold out and get lots of funds together - i might as well get it right! I'd say it'll feel like greece lightning compared to the mtb when i eventually get one!
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot
80
Member
930 days
tri_newbie_nerd posted 2 years ago.
FWIW- I don't have a tri/road bike yet, so I am using my mountain bike. I have slicks on it. Originally, I had 1.25 on the front and a 1.5 on rear. I noticed just the other day that the front tire has some dry-rot so I went to the bike shop and they hooked up with 1.0 for my front tire. I went from averaging a little over 15 mph to almost 18 mph on my ride that evening and that is still with the 1.5 on the rear. Needless to say, the next day I went in to get a 1.0 for the rear too. So perhaps for now, investing in a set of skinnier tires will can you some speed without having to buy a whole new rig.
"You cannot run away from a weakness, you must sometimes fight it out or perish, and if that be so, why not now and where you stand?" ~Robert Louis Stevenson
83
Member
942 days
bouli posted 2 years ago.
Interesting. I'm going to the bike shop later to get a bottle and cage so i'll look at the 1.0's. When i was getting the 1.5's the 1.0's just looked so thin i was scared buy them. but i've some experience now with skinnier tyres so i'll prob get a new set after hearing your progress. Do i need new tubes too?
how much thread did you get on the 1.0's? It rains a fair bit here on the emerald isle, so slicks might not be a great idea as i use the bike for commuting too.
Nice one for the feedback man, hopefully my speed'll go up too!
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot
42
Member
891 days
CHCB posted 2 years ago.
If you're cornering correctly, narrow slicks shouldn't be much more dangerous than what you've got.
Anyway, changing out your tires doesn't take long, and the more you do it, the faster you'll be if you puncture on race day!
_____________________________
[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]Reverisco![/SIZE]
80
Member
930 days
tri_newbie_nerd posted 2 years ago.
bouli- I got a minimum of tread on my, but the ones I had originally were slick as a baby's butt, so I didn't really notice any difference with the new ones.
I did get smaller tubes. They make some tubes that are supposed to fit 1- 1.5" but in my experience they were too big- it made the tire e x t r e m e l y hard to put back on. In fact that tubes had with the original 1.25 slick was pinched in several places because the tube was so large. So, what you have will probably work, at the same time, you could save yourself some aggravation by getting smaller tubes for the smaller tires.
"You cannot run away from a weakness, you must sometimes fight it out or perish, and if that be so, why not now and where you stand?" ~Robert Louis Stevenson
79
Member
930 days
mdittfurth posted 2 years ago.
I did my first three triathlons (to include an olympic) on a mountain bike. On the olympic I averaged just under 18 MPH and really did OK. But, like someone said in an earlier reply, the MB took a lot out of my legs. I didn't realize how much it was taking until I got a road bike. Legs just seem fresher for the run now...
257
Member
966 days
fittycent posted 2 years ago.
Before I got a road bike I was racing with a MTB, first with knobbies, later with 1" slicks, and the narrower, smoother tires made a huge difference. Your average speed should increase at least 1 mph, with significantly less effort.
And a lot of people commute on slicks. I don't think they're any more dangerous in cornering (as long as they're not completely slick) than what you've already got.
Hey guys, i've been training for my first oly in september on a mountain bike, which is the bike i'll be doing the race on. I hear everyone on here saying they ride at 19,20,21mph and higher, i can only assume that this is on triathlon or road bikes? I've been doing rides of 20 miles exactly in 1hr10mins on the mtb, and i've worked it out to be 17Mph or so. That's in some heavy enough traffic, so i'd say i'm faster than that. I don't have a bike computer to measure it accurately, but hearing these higher speeds i'm a bit worried i'm not going fast enough/hard enough?
I can run the 10k in 45mins, but i've yet to do any bricks, although i'm gonna start doing them this week. Hopefully i can get the running time down a bit.
But seriously...is my bike speed really bad?:eek:
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Eliot