Originally Posted by
Dave Mayer
Commuting on pavement? Then you will shed of speed on an MTB. It is a combination of the extra weight, the energy-robbing suspension bob, the ridiculously wide Q-factor of MTB cranksets, the extra wind resistance and most of all the heavy wheels and knobby tires.
You could recover some of this inefficiency by changing over the tires to something as light, high pressure and as narrow as possible. Slicks of course. Since the MTB wheels are way overbuilt for road use, using some lighter, cross type wheels would be the second biggest upgrade. Then ditch the unnessecary suspension fork for something rigid. This will remove the suspension bob, and tighten up the steering. Then lose the heavy, unncessary disk brakes. Then add some drop bars so that you have more hand positions. My wrists and hands go dead after a few miles while riding on flat bars on pavement. On anything but short convenience store rides, drop bars are more comfortable and far more efficient.
Next upgrade would be to change out the overbuilt frame of the MTB to something lighter and with a narrower Q-factor.
Funny, I actually disagree with everything except your points about the suspension and knobby tires.
Weight - Add a rack, panniers/bag, lock, lights, fenders, etc to a bike, and the original weight of the bike isn't a big deal anymore.
Tires - There is little time difference between my road bike (700x23), MTB with 1.25" slicks, and MTB with 2.15" Schwalbe Big Apple slicks. For my every day 35 mile round trip commute, you can pry my Big Apples from my cold, dead hands. They feel a bit heavier when accelerating from a stop, but that's about it. The comfort advantage of getting to run them at 30psi and having them absorb crappy road surfaces is well worth it. Agree on getting rid of knobby tires though, slicks are the way to go.
Lighter wheels - No thanks, I'll take durable over lightweight. My road and tri bikes have light wheels, but they also don't need to go up and down curbs, hit potholes, and do whatever else I need on my commute.
Disc brakes - Not that much heavier than conventional brakes, and superior performance when it's wet or snowy out. I'd opt for a nice set of cable-actuated discs over hydraulic ones though, for ease of maintenance.
Drop bars - Personal preference. I have plenty of hand positions on my flat MTB bar with stubby bar ends. Ergon grips help here.
Overbuilt MTB frame - Overbuilt = durable. Q-factor? Again, why bother talking aerodynamics on a commuter, any gain you get from a narrower Q-factor goes right out the window once you start adding commuting bits like racks and fenders.
