this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2025
153 points (99.4% liked)
Bicycles
4416 readers
70 users here now
Welcome to !bicycles@lemmy.ca
A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!
Community Rules
-
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
-
Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
-
No porn.
-
No ads / spamming.
-
Ride bikes
Other cycling-related communities
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I love MTBs, their versatility is unmatching, but damn are they slow! I used to go 18km/h average on my old Merida, now I have Rose Count Solo 2 and I get some astounding 24km/h ๐
This one's my "first" bike since my teen years, more than a quarter of a century agoโฆ I'm quite happy with it, but yes, it needs some stamina!
Is it the gear range that mainly affect the speed? Have to ask as the only bike i ever rode is 20inch wheel heavy as heck bmx and currently a folding bike ๐
I'd say wheels might be the most important of all, you can even improve your speed significantly without putting in any money just by increasing their pressure
The gear range, the tires and the weight.
The tires, mostly. I had one of the early mountain bikes back in the 80s and kept a wardrobe of tires for it. (This was when there was a lot more choice for 26" wheels). The 1.75" moderately knobby ones were for daily commutes, the smoother 1.375" for weekend camping trips with the touring club, the chunky 2.25" knobbies were for the rare occasions when I actually used it as a mountain bike. On Friday night I would swap over for whatever I planned to do that weekend, then change back on Sunday night. I got to be really fast at tire changes after a while.
Interesting! I'm looking to get a mtb around this month to replace my bmx, so maybe i could swap to 1.75" for commuting. Hopefully the option isn't limited in my country for 26" (i am short)