Mountain bike + road bike = ????

[karlux]

This is one of my current ideas where I'm not sure about successful result, but I would like to try, as nobody has tried this yet.
I used to train only on mountainbike in forest tracks, gravel roads and asphalt roads, but now my coach says that it would be better to ride more on road bike. The problem is that I don’t like road bikes, I don’t like the handlebar and it seems to be less stable than my mountainbike – in short, I don’t feel as good and safely on road bike as on mountainbike. Actually I wouldn’t like to spend a lot of money too for a road bike, because I’m not taking part in any competitions, just training. So here is my idea: I thought of putting road wheels on my bike by replacing my V-brakes with road brakes. I took all measurements and it seems that those brakes would fit the wheel and the frame. I would buy some nice carbon road fork and some larger chainrings 50/38 not getting away from mtb crank standard 110/74; I will put on road pedals and of course road cassette.
So far it all seems to be perfect, all sizes matches except seatpost tube which would be 8cm shorter so I will have to have a long seatpost. If all this would be possible, I could have both – very light mountainbike 8kg and even lighter road bike 6kg. This bike would have the strength from mountainbike and speed from road bike, only the handlebar would be flat but that’s even better.


What are the problems in this idea? Is it possible? Has anyone tried this combination? What could possibly go wrong with this idea?

[JK]

First of all: If your coach wants you to ride a road bike, I suggest he pays for it!

Does he not mean that you should train more on the road? I recently bought myself a cheap second hand road bike, but before, I put 1.0inch slick tires, a road cogset and 48T chainring on my MTB. That worked perfectly, as long as you do not train with guys on road bikes a lot.

There are a few things about your idea... If everything fits, your geometry will be seriously upset. For example: The wheelbase of a real road bike is much shorter than an MTB wheelbase. Also, a road fork would make your front end go down A LOT, even with a larger wheel. It is not a coincident that Gary Fisher's 29er bikes have different geometries than their normal MTB's.

Making everything fit is a different story... you would need an MTB rear hub with a road rim for example. And where would you install the rear road brake on? I do not think the combination of road brakes and V-brake levers works either. You would have to buy Cyclocross brake levers, like froglegs.

I would consider buying a second hand road bike if I were you. The price of one would get close to the cost of converting your MTB! You can put an MTB stem and bar on it if that feels safer and if you do not mind being laught at by roadies . Do not worry about the strenght of a road frame... if it can withstand Chipollini's sprint, it can withstand yours...

JK

[Guest]

I have also though about doing this before. Only problem i could think of is that some frames dont have the fixing for road brakes at the rear of the frame.

i run disk's, so was thinking about buying cheap disk hubs and spare rotors laced to road rims. this, i think, would solve all problems.

[popawheelie]

I rode my MTB with roadies on fast club rides for 1/2 a season. I just put 1.0 X 650 ritchy tom slicks on my MTB. I was dropped every ride, but vowed that next year I would not be dropped! So I trained over the winter, bought a road bike and was not dropped the next spring! Fast club road rides make you faster your MTB! I hope this helps

[Tippster]

Switch your brakes for discs and then get road rims built into MTB hubs. My set-up is S-Works M5 frome with Pace RC31 carbon forks with 26" wheels for off road and a set of 700c road rims built into some XT hubs.

I can then use the bike with road wheels for commuting and the other wheels for the weekend.


easy . . .