Hosscooper

So I'm a wanabe road biker, but all I have is a diamondback wildwood which is a comfort/ MTB type. Any suggestions as to how to how to make it more road worthy? BTW I have limited funds at the moment, but where should I start to invest?

MikeRides

First, one small detail, if you only have a diamondback wildwood you may want to change the bike listed in your profile. :-)


Bar ends. Cheap, and will give you additional hand positions much like a drop bar road bike would.

Tires. Replace wide, knobby tires with narrower, slicks.

Pedals. Clips to hold your feet in place, to maximize your potential pedal stroke.


Since you're on a budget I won't get into changing out the wide range of gears.

beakersbike

Try some butterfly (aka trekking) handlebars. $20 for the handlebars, then spend $5 to $10 for wrap. They're sort of a figure 8 look to them, kinda funky looking but they allow you to use different hand positions like you do with drop bars, and the beauty of these bars is that mountain bike brakes and levers work on them. It's not super difficult to change them out, main thing is if your handlebars are the normal 25.4 mm clamp. I used to think that changing wheels was important, but they're finding now that wider tires aren't a whole lot slower than the skinny ones (if any slower at all). A lot of touring road bikes are using 26 inch wheels still. Start with the handlebars, and perhaps that buys some time to save up for a bigger upgrade.

dr_lha

You can waste a lot of money buying parts for a bike trying to make it something it's not. My advice: keep riding what you have and check Craigslist for a used road bike.

Hosscooper

good point! forgot about that minor detail.

PhotoJoe 

I agree with most of the ideas above.

1) Bar ends for varied hand positions.
2) Never used "Butterfly Bars", but at that price, that's a cheap investment.
3) Slicks
4) Pedals and shoes if you so choose.

I can't think of anything else that I'd spend money on until you can afford a new bike. And it doesn't have to be an expensive new bike to get significant gains in performance.

I rode a Specialized RockHopper for many years set up exactly this way. I didn't die. I was slow, but I was out there riding. When I made the change to a road bike, my world changed.

TrojanHorse

Just put slicks on your bike and work on the engine. The type of bike is only a detail. I've been passed by dudes on mountain bikes before that didn't look like they were even working very hard.

sstorkel

A critical detail. I've recently been forced to ride my rigid mountain bike in a windy area near my new office. Sitting bolt upright while pedaling into a 15mph head wind makes the rides decidedly not fun. On a road bike, I'd grab the drops and be cranking through the same area with minimal wind-related slowdown.

TrojanHorse

So lean forward.

sstorkel

I doubt I can lean forward far enough to compensate for the mountain bike's far more upright geometry, riser bars, and steep stem.

dr_lha

Nah, headwinds still suck with drop bars.

baron von trail 

I agree with this. Maybe get better pedals along with the tires--clipless are my recommendation. But going fancy road bike or trying to upgrade a cheap MTB is just not worth it at this point. Spend a year or two putting miles on the bike you have, and then when it's time to replace the wear items like chain and cassette, look at getting a road bike instead.

baron von trail 

Put some aerobars on that bad boy. It's not like the weight would matter much on an MTB. I have them on my hybrid. It's as heavy as a truck anyway.

baron von trail 

Being in the drops on a nice light roadbike is nice in a headwind. I just fought one yesterday morning (20mph), and could not believe how well I managed to cut through it.

HBCruiser1

I'm with TrojanHorse all the way (put some slicks on it and work on the engine), I ride a SS beach cruiser because I don't want to spend a lot of money on a road bike. It's super comfortable and I'm in it for the challenge and fitness. Over the last couple of years I've worked my way up to running 17/18 mph (20+ with a draft) and just completed my longest ride yet of 140 miles, and loving every minute (well most!). Hill climbs and windy days are a *itch, but then again I look at it as a challenge. At some point you'll be surprised at how fast you are on that bike.

Ride the hell out of the bike you have, learn how to maintain and repair it, enjoy the ride, seek out destinations to make/keep it interesting. Be safe.