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Not much faster on a cyclocross than a mountain bike
I've been commuting a 13 mile journey to work for nearly two years now on a mountain bike, and I've just bought a cyclocross thinking it would be significantly faster. I record almost all my commutes and rides but I've not found the cyclocross to be significantly faster than the MTB.
I've not ridden a road bike/cyclocross for over 20 years before getting my new bike and I have had to have a period of adjustment, but still I would expect it to be faster.
I feel as I'm putting in as much effort. There is obviously a difference in the MTB being able to accelerate faster and the cyclocross cruising faster, but considering most of the route is on road, the lack of difference between the two is a bit strange.
What am a doing wrong?
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42 comments
I made a similar assumption when I got my cx commuter a couple of years ago, and swapped out my old ht mtb. Bit quicker, but not as much as I was expecting. Mine was 18 miles now 15 miles, each way.
In reality, just as others have said, all the fannying about while commuting slows you right down. I have A-frames, dog-walkers, then traffic and lights to contend with. That does interfere with the overall average. If you went out for a proper 'ride' I'd expect a greater difference.
What I have found is that over a week I'm comfier on the cxer, so the times are more uniform, whereas on the old mtb I'd need at least one 'really take it easy' day to recover a bit. Factor that in over a week, it's a tidy time difference.
One (unlikely?) thing not mentioned yet, though: are you using the same 'measuring device' on both bikes (eg. same phone, strava app on both)?
+1
Another factor is other traffic. Your average speed is probably limited by time spent at junctions, waiting for lights etc., plus slowing & accelerating again, rather than time moving. Myself, I struggle to average more than 12mph on open roads, regardless of bike, tyres, terrain etc. but easily average 16+mph on closed roads. That's on a straight-bar cross bike & 25mm slicks, I don't own a "proper" (viz. drop bars) road bike. A few minutes with a calculator suggests the difference is entirely down to trying to not get killed when sharing the road with cars.
I didn't calculate the percentage increase. I guess I was expecting more than 5%.
5% increase is significant.
Your speed will be determined mostly by tyre setup, fit and body position not the type of bike, especially in the context of commuting .
An MTB with slammed stem and high end XC tyres will match many road commuting bikes for speed.
On my MTB I’m running Victoria 26 x 1.95 tyres which have a file pattern with side knobbles and at 45-50psi. On the cross bike I’m, running Kenda small block 8 at 85-90psi. I think a MTB would accelerate faster, due to having smaller diameter wheels and wider bars, I certainly feel like I can put more power in to peddling with the MTB, or is this in my mind as Yorkshire Wallet suggested! The crosser does feel faster cruising, maybe I’m easing off, doesn’t feel like it but maybe I am!
Example of a morning ride
Crosser: 13.6mi average and 25.9mi/h max
MTB: 12.9mi/h average and 25.1mi/h max
Of course these are just individual rides and out of context of the ride conditions; weather, traffic etc.
The route is urban roads and park tracks, there’s nothing overly technical but there are parts where I have to take the speed down due to pedestrians etc. The route to work takes me up a big hill to the North Downs and there is a lot less climbing on the way back.
I think a lot must be down to the route and being slowed down due to traffic etc. and partly down to me know being used to the bike or subconsciously taking it easy, not sure how to fix that.
But why do you feel you need to "fix" it?
If you really want to assess the difference then yes, a loop or out-and-back without junctions or obstructions, where you can ride as hard the whole time, is the way to compare them; ideally in the same conditions.
If you want to go faster then aerodynamics - your position and clothing - and some slick tyres (e.g. Conti 4 Season or Michelin Pro4 Endurance in 28mm) would be the first things I'd look at.
Tire pressures, tread type, surface conditions, plus a different bike ridden at the same effort as before is not necessarily automatically quicker.
Agree.
Bear in mind that you'll be slower in colder weather than in the warmer months. And a lighter bike may feel quicker to pick up speed but in reality the time gained is probably not even measurable.
I'm not sure what you mean by the mountain bike being able to accelerate faster? The cross bike will be able to both accelerate and cruise faster than a MTB.
What sort of terrain are you commuting on? The only time I would expect a MTB to be faster is down massively rutted off road stuff. You say it is mostly on road, did the MTB have slick tyres, what about the cross bike - and what tyre pressures?
Probably subconsciously taking it easier as you expect the new bike to be faster. Without a power meter it's all feel or in your head and you'll never really know. I guess it also depends on the sort of speed you're reaching or climbs you've got. I could ride at 15mph on anything but I can't ride at 25 on my MTB.
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