Transforming a normal bike into a road bike
 

Hi,

I've just started to get out on my bike and I do around 50 miles a weekend. I have a 3 year old bike and I'm now starting to use my bike a lot more. My current bike has mountain bike tires and no front, rear or seat suspension. I was wondering if it is worth buying new tyres and getting new handle bars?

Sorry I don't know a lot of the bicycle terms and I'm only 13.

Thanks for all your help,

Arc

Arc - post this over in the Mechanics forum for additional help on what is needed to convert. This (Road Bike) forum will give you lots of help, some sass, and my prediction will be that the overwhelming sentiment will be to just buy a proper road bike.

Nice computer work and post for 13 years old!

Good luck with the project if you go that route. And if you can, post some before and after pictures on here for us to see.

:thumb:

+1. And if you could post a picture of the bike, that'll help the mechanic boys and girls advise you...

You can't truly convert a mtn bike to a road bike, and it could cost quite a bit to try. But you can put on thinner, slicker tires which make a big difference. If you prefer road riding, save up for a real road bike while you ride what you have. If you haven't already, you can put on road clipless pedals with road shoes. This is the setup I use sometimes in the winter for road rides.

Wow thank you very much. I had a funny feeling this wasn't the right forum :) Thank you, will make a new post on the mechanics forum!

Good luck to you young'un. Blues Frog

You could convert your mountain bike to a road bike, but it's really not worth it. You'd wasting a lot of money you could put towards an actual real road bike.

However you can a few things to make your bike faster.
Get the smallest tires you can (Probably 26x1.25")
Get some bar ends and have them horizontal-ish so you can get lower.
Drop a some spacers on your fork steerer tube and flip the stem so that it doesn't point it.
Lockout your suspension or crank up the tension if it's adjustable.

+1 for new tires - they'll make a world of difference. However, there are enough sub-$800 road bikes out there that you should definitely consider saving up for one if you are serious about having a road bike. For now, though, just get out there and ride. Have fun!

What's a "normal bike"?

Good question. Are you saying road bikes are not normal bikes Arcadiu?

Especially since "road bikes" predate "mountain bikes"

you'd be amazed what kids are capable of these days.

To someone who is thirteen, who grew up seeing nothing but mountain bikes and a few hybrids at the local big box, the mountain bike and hybrids that look like a mountain bike are "normal". Road bikes are those skinny tire bikes that are sold at a bike shop to folks who wear tight shorts and body form shirts.
It's all a matter of how old you are and what was "normal" as you grew up.

A road bike is a "normal" bike.