Century ride on a MTB?

cojosurfer said:

Hello everyone. I was wondering about people's experiences going on a century ride with a MTB? Do the people with an MTB genarally ride together? Is it just a matter of survival?

i have both mtb and road bike, 3 ring & 2 ring. since i'm recovering from very high dose radiation treatment i'm weak. so this year i did 3 metric centurys on the mountain bike. it certainly made getting up hills possible. on downhills, the slick tires inflated to 80 psi and my weight had be coasting past folks peddling on road bikes.

there were essentially less than a handfull of folks riding mtb during these events and we did not ride as a group.

after a year of exercise, i rewarded myself with a carbon 3 ring bike... lets go for real centuries.

🙂 I have been cycling for 35 years and own only mountian bikes. I put 1.0 and 1.25 or 1.50 high pressure (85 - 115 psi) tires on the bike and it rolls very close to as good as a road racing bike. I have ridden over 30, 100 mile and 135 mile rides with great results. Try the tires if you haven't. The 1.5 ,85 psi tires are better for training and commuting.

cojosurfer said:

Hello everyone. I was wondering about people's experiences going on a century ride with a MTB? Do the people with an MTB genarally ride together? Is it just a matter of survival?

I've done a century during our 8 hour mtb race. It wasn't too bad and I'll do it again... just get on and ride and enjoy the experience. Don't think of it as "distance" but more along the lines of "time" spent on the bike. Road centuries are alot easier, depending on how fast you want to go naturally. =)

fallen^sparrow

I've done approx. 200km on the road in the 30 degrees on a mountain bike. It was a real brutal experience but the funnest. I had to make a cut-through the bush in that dreaded heat, which resulted in getting cut up by branches and got UncountablE mosquitto bites. I only had 1 gatorade bottle, then luckily managed to get 2 cups of water from a restaurant. Me and my friend got heat stroke and the baddest burns ever, due to no suntan. Coming back from the half way point we were lucky not to fall of our bikes literally from severe diziness from dehydration. We were dumb to do that, obvious noobs to the sport. But, boy such fun thinking about it, thats when i first experienced riding in the fields.

Century on an MTB. Totally doable and for most newer riders, the best way to go. More gears, more comfort, etc..

Like a previous poster, I strongly recommend high pressure slicks.

Now, how easy the ride will be depends on how well set up your bike is.

My personal MTB is pretty light and when I put my street wheels and tires on, it goes 23 pounds with the suspension fork. For me, the only limitation is gearing as I top out at 48x12 and get pretty spun out when drafting the road guys.

Bottom line: go do it, have fun!

-Z