Need to ask a dumb question

I'm sure you'll get an answer from the people who really know what they are talking about but the two main reasons seem to be:
1. You can do the same effort going faster on a lighter bike, and wouldn't you rather go faster?
2. Neuromuscular benefits are specific to speed or something like that so riding a heavier bike slower would cancel these.

roger89 said:

Hello,

Why is it that ppl prefer road bike which is lighter than a mtb which suppose to be heavier? I mean, would it be better to train with heavier bike? trains your strengh even better? I know it's a dumb question. But it bothers me sometimes. I'm sure there's science or explaination behind it. Can someone explain it to me?

BTW, I own a MTB, planning to get a road bike though.

TQ

I've done some recent rides on both my MTB and road bikes. The MPH difference (at ~80% max heart rate efforts) is around 3 MPH.

If you're planning to race, then you should use the bike you plan to race with in training. However, if you're just riding for health & fitness reasons it won't matter which bike you use just so you use it.

80% max heart rate for 2 hours is 80% max heart rate for 2 hours no matter which way you slice it. You will go faster on a road bike for that same amount of time. Doing 80% of your max heart rate for 2 hours on a road bike will not make you überfit compared to the same efforts on an MTB in spite of what the roadie crowd may be biased toward. I'm stating this now because sooner or later some roadie will jump in and say "yes but you can go so much farther on a road bike and that will increase your fitness levels." Poppycock! You can ride an MTB for 10 hours if you want to. You'll just do it slower.

I graduated up to a road bike when I started doing group rides and training with guys that have road bikes. It was then that I needed to upgrade just to keep up with the pack.

However, about two weeks ago I was keeping a sustained speed at 22 mph and a guy on a mt. bike passed me easily. I thought he must have made a push to pass me, but I would catch him after he became tired. I never did see that guy again. That was impressive for him to be cruising better than 22 mph and sustain that speed for several miles.

To me it was purely a position of keeping up with other roadies.

there is a saying in the army. "train as you fight, fight as you train"

What Doctor Morbius says is true. Training's training. But, going fast is very enjoyable and enjoying riding gets me on the bike more and for longer. So in theory, I guess it really shouldn't matter what you ride. But emotionally, the race bike is superior.

While you can the same workout on both, road bikes are more fun to ride on the road because thats what they were designed for! Plus, as someone else pointed out, you can ride with other roadies and keep up more easily.

I used to do a lot of road riding on a mountain bike and one of the best things about switching to a road bike was that the drop-bars are so much more comfortable!

roger89 said:

Hello,

Why is it that ppl prefer road bike which is lighter than a mtb which suppose to be heavier? I mean, would it be better to train with heavier bike? trains your strengh even better? I know it's a dumb question. But it bothers me sometimes. I'm sure there's science or explaination behind it. Can someone explain it to me?

BTW, I own a MTB, planning to get a road bike though.

TQ

Roger,
What the others have said is correct. Mountain Bikes are generally ridden in a different position to Road Bikes. Before you commit to buying another bike, do a few rides with Joo Ngan to check that it really is what you want to do. Regardless of him saying "Hard, Lah!", you can still do the ride on a Mountain Bike.
He'll also help you in choosing / setting up a bike if you decide to get one. It's pretty important (unless you love burning money) to have some idea of what you want to do, before you jump in and end up with something that you don't like riding, or isn't going to get you where you want to be.