Had to drop off my car for some work and didn't want to walk the 3 miles back. I also didn't want to ride my Madone because of didn't want to bother with shoes and all the rest. So I dragged out my son's old mountain bike and tossed it in the car.

The bike is Trek 2000 and cost maybe $400 10 years ago. When I put it in the car I quickly realized it's a TANK and weighs a ton. It didn't take 100 yards for me to realize the huge difference between a $400 steel bike and a full carbon bike... it was night and day.

Riding the bike home was like climbing a long hill, but the road was flat. It was like I was dragging a spare car tire behind me. When I go home I felt like I climbed a 3 mile hill.

It was just not the weight of the bike, must be twice that of the Madone, it's the added rolling resistance of the tires, the axles and the crank.

In conclusion I can now full justify spending the money for a quality bike. It just makes riding more enjoyable.

Two thoughts come to mind. First, glad you're enjoying your Madone. And, I've never found a need to justify spending money on a quality bike... I mean you have to have at least one vice in life; right?

I'm sure that the bike is heavier, but the tires and front suspension probably had more to do with your experience than the weight. Had your son's bike been a mid-range road bike of the same era, you would have been fine. You probably would have been pretty OK with a locked-out suspension and slick tires, too. Even better if the bike were in tune.

Apples to oranges, I think.

For what it's worth, I agree with this. And if the old bike is not oiled up, you might have more resistance in the drivetrain, too. (And the position is probably less aero. And ... ).

p.s. Let me be very clear: None of this is a reason to not spend lots of money on a new, light bike.

Bikes, vintage tube audio equipment and vintage VWs.

That makes 3.

It appears TREK 2000's were road bikes in the $1100-1200+ range.

https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...0#.UlWV5xASdLQ

That's very good ad vice

That is what I found. But OP did say MTB, so I figured he had the designation wrong.

If you do it right Life can be a vice.

So next time you're about to grab the Madone, pass it up for the tank and get a REAL workout. Train on the tank and race on the Madone. Then you'll really feel like you're flying!

That's what I think to myself whenever I get passed by some 20-something with the latest, greatest plastic-fantastic TT-machine: "Hah! Too lazy to ride a steel fixed gear and get a real work out!"

"Horses for courses" after all. I suspect if the OP's commute had been off-road, the steel MTB would have felt a lot better than the carbon Madone.

I like oranges more than apples.

Wimp.

Sure, a Madone is going to ride better than 'an old steel beater'; but, REALLY -- are so spoiled that, not only do you feel like you're doing forced labor by riding a MTB, but that the act of 'shoe-ing up' to ride the Madone is TOO MUCH TROUBLE?

Is your chamois pink?

LOL, I HAD TO MESS WITH YA ON THIS, GIVE THE WHOLE 'MAN UP', 'PUT ON THE BIG-BOY PANTS' RAZZ, NO OFFENSE MEANT. I just did it because I ride a Kona MTB, 37-lb full-suss monster with 5.7" travel on each wheel, as a daily roller. My back demands full suspension, so more weight is the trade-off.

Personally, given my size and what I do on a bike, I'd be scared to BUY a Madone -- I'd be afraid I'd PRETZEL that sucker!

Sorry, it's 3900

I hear you. No doubt, that MTB is the antithesis of your Madone. So is my 1990 Stumpjumper MTB (non suspension) compared to my Felt 75 (aluminum/carbon). And, I still find it very enjoyable to ride the Stumpjumper on the gravel and paved MUPs.
May have still noticed a big difference had that been a $1,000 MTB donning semi-slicks. By your astonishment, i take it, you don't do any MTB rides on MUPs, especially paved ones?
Talk about weight! I recently picked up/flipped over my 12 yr old son's BMX bike (from Toys-R-Us) to put the chain back on the front ring. Wow! What a beast for such a small bike!
Nice looking Trek!

1. I remember when Trek 2000s came out... it was about the time of the LA Olympics - I think they were Trek's first aluminum bikes... going after the "poor man's Klein" market segment. $1200 sounds a little high though - that was the price of Italian steel with Super Record.

2. When I took my pickup in to the dealer, I rode my fixed gear commuter with 32mm tires in to work like usual, but on trails and roads I don't normally ride - hecka fun.

3. I'm not into high end photography, video, audio, cars, planes, guitars, model railroads ... it's easy to justify spending extra on bike stuff. I would like to have a boat someday though.

Break Out Another Thousand.

Before I renewed my bike hobby (years ago), I was biking with my first kids. They had fancy (looking) toysRus double suspension cheapo bikes (me on ancient Raleigh). I went to load theirs onto the top carrier and nearly stumbled trying to lift them up that high. They must have been 50lbs. I felt sorry for these poor 9 and 10 year old kids struggling to keep up with me while riding those tanks.

If you could take $10,000 cash, go to the end of the dock, toss it in and not miss it, you can afford to get a boat. Here is another way of looking at it, gasoline at the gas station this summer was $1.35/L gas at the marina was $2.35/L , diesel was the same price

Started riding last year again after who knows how many years, picked up a Lotus 3000M mountain bike at a local pawn shop for 40 bucks, put new tires, seat, brakes, tuned it up and off I went, up to about 30 mile rides on southern IL MTC trails.

This year took a few months off riding because I wound up working at a VERY physical job, more physical than a guy 59YO should be doing. Changed jobs, moved to Santa Barbara, took a more sedate desk job, now back riding again in the hills outside of SB toward Solvang. Up to about 16-18 mile rides in hilly terrain, on the old Lotus, feeling I had a "challenging" ride afterward. Finaly bought a proper road bike, (ok, aluminum Raliegh Revinio) and the same rides leave me feeling less than challenged. Either my strength/endurance has gone up with the repeated rides, or the light weight road bike doesn't challenge me as physically as the old steel mountain bike does. Commute to work on either feels about the same, commute time is about the same. So which is it, getting stronger or difference in bikes? Had road tires on the Lotus until I bought the road bike, now back to moutain tires, some interesting dirt trails in the area I want to check out.

I was wondering about that, getting back started in biking properly, ok, decent saddle, pedals, shoes, trip computer, (or not) if I really want to get high tech cadence, heart rate monitor, etc etc etc. Feels like when I owned a boat.. or RV, or other modes of transportation...

I got back into biking after a 25 year hiatus. I bought a Domane 6 with Di2, but saved my old Fuji Del Rey. I still ride both, and the difference phenomenal......if riding hills. On flats, you won't notice a heavier bike as much, and those silly down tube shifters don't bother me as much.
But the Fuji beats up my 55 yo body a lot more, and lacks the fun factor. Was the extra 4k worth it? Absolutely!!

Whhhhhhhaaaaaatttttt
You like old VW's- that as I remember had cardboard fan shrouds-but complain about a slightly old $1000 bike?? Noisy slow uncomfortable dangerous(but cheap)
Same story on old tube radios or TVs(but not as bad as the VW except the tubes died with great regularity-and they were expensive).

Ok it wasn't actually cardboard-but it was a 1st cousin.

It's kinda like comparing a Porsche 911 Turbo and an unmodified Trabant P50. Yes they are both cars engineered by Germans, they both have 4 wheels, but that is about it.