2Wheelr

I have a Mountain bike, but I don't really do any trail riding. It's all road riding, and this bike is killing me. It's big and clunky and heavy. I used to ride trails years ago, when I lived in a different area, but around here, it's all road and loads of hills.
I know I could use a road bike, but honestly, don't have loads of money to spend. I'm not going to get rid of, or trade in the MTB, I just think in order for my everyday rides, I'd like to have something easier to go the road miles with.
What kind of relatively inexpensive bikes are good? Eventually I'd like to get into doing long rides, so I guess I'd need a bike to hold up to the miles. Any names good for an inexpensive price?

Thanks

ahsposo 

Have you walked into a bike shop and looked at their stock and asked these questions?

Do you have an idea of the size bike you want?

There are any number of ways to get a decent road bike without spending a lot of money. But you have to do the research and find out what size bike you need and what's available. All the common names make some decent inexpensive entry level bikes.

c23

Do you work on cadence? I bought a rigid 26" wheel specifically for mostly road riding. When I wear out the tires I will get something more slick. I am constantly shifting gears, trying to keep a good and stable cadence. I find it more comfortable and smoother than my hybrid 700x35, though it is a bit slower.

Do you have suspension forks? They should be locked out for road riding that will probably make the difference you need.

Bike fit is extremely important. Must get everything setup perfectly. Took me 2 weeks to fit the hybrid and a week to fit the mountain bike. Handlebars up or down, saddle tilt, saddle forward and back, and saddle height for pure comfort. I adjust something and while riding carefully feel what needs adjusted, then repeat the next day...until I feel nothing needs adjusted.

I call my 26" rigid mountain bike a road tank. It has big steel tubes, heavy and tough. But I specifically set it up to ride nice on the road.

"this bike is killing me" need more details. What hurts? Too slow? With a proper fit, locked suspension, and maybe a new saddle you can get something nice to ride for really cheap with what you have.

Cadence and bike fit can be long and exhausting subjects. If you plan on riding the road 99% of the time, stick to road bike resources. Learn cadence and fit from a road bike perspective. MTB saddles are lower so you can stand up over bumps, unneeded with road bikes. Raise the saddle and measure leg extension as if you were riding a road bike. Google up and read various sites on cadence, its a bit complicated but has helped me ride 100000% better.

contango 

If you've got big fat knobby tyres take them off and put slicker tyres on. If you've got a suspension fork lock out the suspension. Make sure your saddle is positioned right, which means making sure it's the right height, the right tilt, and slid forward/backward correctly. A tiny change can make a huge difference in comfort.

If you've got a reasonably well adjusted MTB you can do lots of miles on it. I did 150 miles in two days on mine, then 110 miles in one day after a day's rest. That was a combination of canal towpaths and roads.

iheartbacon

If you're on a budget Craigslist is your friend.

rebel1916

Bikesdirect.com

Mondo734

I agree with a lot of the posts about being more specific and also about changing the setup of the bike to make it more comfy. Heck up until this year I spent the past three years riding an old mtb with front suspension and knobbies and was doing something like 40 mile rides regularly. It wasn't as fast a road bike but it was still comfy on long rides. I found that a new saddle, semislick tires, and adjusting the saddle height and fore/aft position worked wonders. And the kicker is that the bike is a medium frame and I should be on a large. So despite the fact that the frame was to small I was still able to ride it comfortably for long rides.

c23

Fully agree. Any bike on the road should be ridable. Locked front suspension well help decently. Knobbies should not be a real problem. My big issue on the road is cadence and fit. My bike would also kill me if I didnt raise handlebars, move saddle back and precisely position seat height...with days of trail and error testing. Cadence keeps my legs moving at similar speed without spinning or mashing pedals. On flatland I shift often and can ride for a long time with many stops and starts without getting tired.