Got my new bike today. It is basically a rigid fork mtb with slicks, which is what I've been used to. Underneath my rump, it flies in comparison to the 700c Fitness bike. Yes the initial acceleration feels far greater, but I can definately feel a greater efficiency in terms of comfortable velocity maintained. The sensation I got on the hybrid was that of struggling to maintain a more "normal" faster velocity and not achieving it. Have I simply tuned my muscles to the geometry of mtb's such that taken outside of an mtb geometry, my effective muscle groups are underutilized and vice versa.

If this is indeed due to some sort of perception illusion, does anybody understand how this might be taking place? Is it that the feedback I receive from the bike informing me of speed and such is different between the two bikes, and I am more cognitively tuned to the mtb, but not to the hybrid?

I suppose ultimately all this talk is useless without actual data. I'll try to get some, if possible.