How much faster is a road bike than a mountain bike?

How much faster is a road bike than a mountain bike? Of course, it depends on what bike you are riding. In my case, both bikes are affordable, and I found that the road bike is significantly faster than the mountain bike. I put slick tires on the mountain bike, so if you are riding with knobby tires on your mountain bike, you’ll be even slower than a road bike than I was. And this road bike vs. mountain bike test, you can see how much faster a road bike is than a mountain bike. In a race between road bike vs. mountain bike, the road bike is much faster, but the mountain bike is a more comfortable bicycle to ride.
This is where I got the slick tires I put on my mountain bike.

[xLeidenFrost]

i used to train on my mountain bike with fully loaded cargo to improve my stamina. Once i switch to road bike, it was easy as hell to get up to speed and stay at that speed lol

[beanburrito]

Great vid, straight to the point and some good data. 👍🏻

[JxT]

i remember back in the 60s and 70s never hearing the term 'road bike'. it was called english racer or racing bike.

[injesusname]

on the technical side, mountain bikes are slower because of the weight, shocks, small gears, usually smaller wheels, and a touch less aero.
for the same speed i put out on my 70t chainring, you have to pedal twice as fast on your mountain bike.
ultimately the biggest differences are crank length and chainring-cog ratio.

[shyamsundar-tlcr]

My road bike is about 15% faster than my 29er MTB. But the thing is, the road bike feels much faster and easier to ride on asphalt as compared to my 29er, even though my 29er is a high quality bike and my road bike is an entry level one. Also on rides longer than 50kms, my MTB feels sluggish and lumpy whereas the road bike feels nimble and fast even after a 100 kms long ride. The carbon fork which is pretty much standard on most entry level road bikes, keeps the vibrations to a minimum if you are riding on asphalt with some broken patches and a few potholes.

[corentinoger]

Good comparison, it would also be interesting to know the speed difference with a fully suspended MTB with knobby tires. Running high pressure and stiffest suspension settings is OK since they are the only quick changes you can make to your MTB when you hit a road section.

[SonicYoRHa]

I hit the max speed with MTB at 42 km/h (26 mph) on flat road. It's been damn hard to pedal. I wish I have a road bike someday and move faster, but their price is high as hell.

[SuperWarZoid]

i like confort of a MTB but road bikes take so much less effort to move

[DunoLa]

Thanks for the review, it was really nice to know that. I'll stick to mountain bike for comfort and safety lol.

[emmastyles]

*I love the **Latest.Bike** . The standard seat that cMe with the bike was incredibly uncomfortable, but a quick seat swap made the bike so much more enjoyable.*

[dinobot_maximize]

i'm not old and i'd prefer comfort over speed lol its madness transferring all the vibrations to your body instead of suspension.

[getshrekt]

Well from real world experience as a young male city rider, there’s a lot of food delivery riders here that use electric converted mountain bikes, most conversions output a power between 250–1500W.

Obviously it takes a bit more time to get up to speed, but with a fair amount of effort, I can keep with them till around 30mph (50kph) and often pass them because they mostly cruise about 22-25mph (35-40kph)

I haven’t bothered with a top speed run on my road bike yet, but I know most of the electric MTB conversions peak will around 2000W ~ 38-40mph (65kph) on a slight decline, which doesn’t seem unachievable if I find a long enough road (most I did so far was 33mph but ran out of road).

So I hope that helps someone. A road bike around $2k is comparable to a mountain bike with an electric motor, assuming you’re a decent male cyclist and not hindered too much by age, health, weight etc.

[Through_Sams_cam]

i like your final statement. completely finished

[RoScFan]

2 minute difference in half an hour? 2 mi per hour difference!?!?! wtf!?!? All that hyoer specialization for the road bike, the aero position, the sacrifice of comfort... For 2 out of 30??? That s NOTHING! I m i was expecting DOUBLE the speed on the road bike and probably 30-40% less time on the road bike!

[phqnomenon]

add some hills and the weight difference will also kick in.

[VhrenzAbasta]

The smallest cog will always be 11t for both RB and MTB, you can just change the chainring.

[ownermade]

nice video .. no BS just straight into the point

[denys]

I used single speed in NYC, but there are alot of holes, I changed to mountain bike, on my max 9th gear and 2nd on the left side, I can go max about 40 mph, all I can say it takes A LOT OF ENERGY, well I have good stamina so it's good for me, also I like doing some wheelies riding crazy where you cant ride on a single speed

[ministryoftruth]

Sounds like you're in Very good shape. I've an Avid Fit Recreational Cyclist (mostly Dropbar Road Bike riding). I'm 50 y/o and have been riding regularly nearly 40 Years. I ride about 3000 mi./yr. consistantly. I'm Fast but not SUPER Fast, probably equivalent to a Runner running an 8 min/Mile pace, 7:30 min/mile Racing a 10k Run. That's not Great for a 20 y/o. That's Pretty Good for a 50 y/o. My resting heart rate in the morning is occasionally below 50 bpm. What you just rode is about my avg. speed on my flatland courses if I'm pushing myself (not killing myself though. ("Timetrialing" pace to where I almost puke is about 19mph, no aerobars, just dropbars.) Keep in mind that Avg. Sp. includes STOPING and starting about a dozen times at Stop Signs. I notice I cruise at 18.5 - 20 mph moderate, 20-22 mph all out). Granted there are several stop signs (and I DO stop at them) on my flat courses which reduces my avg. sp. a bit (I go by my cycle computer's Avg. Sp.), but I assume you dodging pedestrians on that Bike Path plus the Wind is probably equivelant to my avg. sp. on my favorite Flatland Stop/Go Route, which is about 13 mi.
Since this Video is a technical analysis, I'm curious how you are coming up with your "Avg. Speed"? Are you using your Cycle Computer's "Avg. Sp." to tell you? If so did you compute your "Wheel Circumference Setting" and input it into your Computer by A: assuming 27" for Road Bike, 26" or "29" for MTB ... B: the "Chart Method" to whereas you just refered to your Tire size on the Sidewall (looks like 700x25c for your Road Bike) and refer to the "Chart" for Wheel Circumference ... or did you C: MEASURE Wheel Circumference by pumping up the Tires to the pressure you ride, then marking the tire or refering to the Valve and MEASURING with a tape measure 1 full revolution of the Wheel in a straight line on a hard flat surface as you SIT on the Bike, weighing it down squishing the Tires ("Rollout Method"). Or Did you D: tape measure AROUND the inflated tire?
The reason I ask this is because your Computer can be WAY OFF depending on your method. I KNOW this from Years of Experience. If you computed Circumferance by C: "Rollout Method" your numbers are PERFECT. If you just inputed "26", "29"or "27" into the Computer your numbers are WAY OFF, I'd say instead of 17.6 it's more like 17 mph for the Road Bike, 15.2 mph instead of 15.9 (or LESS, maybe below 15mph Considering no knobby tires). If you inputed a circumference Diameter per the Chart Method B, you're probably off by 0.2 to 0.3 mph, so 15.6 and 17.3mph respectively. If you measured around the inflated tire D: You're probably off MORE than A: "26" "29" or "27" ... WAY OFF. I can tell you right now if those Tires on your Road Bike are 23 or 25mm wide the Circumferance setting is 209/210 cm or 2090/2100mm respectively. The "Chart" will say 210/211cm, not accounting for you BODY WEIGHT squishing the tires. If you just inputed "27" for the Wheel Circumference you told the Computer your Wheel Circumference is 216cm vs. your ACTUAL Circumference of 209 or 210cm. This common mistake is totally understandable (Because it's Encouraged by the Computer Manufacturer). The "Rollout Method" is the ONLY Method how Cyclecomputer Wheel Circumferances should be measured.
BTW. I still own that SAME Road Bike as yours, a 1992 Specialized Epic Carbon. It's Blue though. I rarely ride it because it won't allow wider than 25mm Rear Tires, and I'm a Clyde at 6'4" 225 lbs. Awesome Bike but I need 28mm Rear Tires to avoid Pinch Flats considering my Weight. And btw, Regardless if your Computer is not calibrated perfectly, your Avg. Speeds even if 1 mph slower are pretty respectable. You're in good enough shape to warrant buying Newer Bikes.
There are some GREAT Entry Level Bikes in the $200-$700 range on BikesDirect.com. They're Boxed Mail Order Bikes shipped to your House so you'll need "Basic" Level Bike Mechanic Skills to assemble them. I bought a "Dawes SST" Dropbar version Fixie/Single Speed for $220 Free Shipping and a "Motobecane 400HT" 26" Wheeled MTB for $300 free shipping from them. Both AWESOME Bikes for the $, MUCH Better than "Walmart Bikes", albeit you'll need better tires for the Dawes and better pedals for both Bikes.

[leoreboucas]

Thanks for this comparison. Did you lock your suspension for that?