Any difference between these bikes?

Question

Cross Bike: http://www.gepida.hu/english/reszletek.php?id=18

Road Bike: http://www.gepida.hu/english/reszletek.php?id=13

Say, you would like to keep up a steady 20 mph ride will it be easier with the Road bike? Currently I have the cross bike and do a 30 miles ride every other day. Will it be easier to do with the Road bike?

Answer 1

You don't need a Shimano Ultegra equipped road bike for your first road bike.

A road bike is lighter, more aerodynamic and has gear ratios much more suited to high speed. It will be much easier to do a 30 mile ride on a road bike as they're more efficient.

If you lot actually read his question and look at the links, he's not comparing a road bike to a cyclocross bike...

Answer 2

Of course a road bike will be faster on roads than a cross bike on roads, just as a a cross bike is much better for cyclocross.   There are different types of bikes for different purposes.

Price per second saved is non-linear.   $50 clipon aerobars can get you 4 or 5 minutes in a 40k time trial.   The next couple of minutes might set you back $500-1000 for aero wheels.  Beyond that, it gets even more expensive.  

Is it worth the ante?  That depends on your motivation and budget.   Trying to save time on the commute?  Probably not worth it.   You'll flat a little more often on the skinnier tires, so total time over a season probably comes out the same.   Tired of getting dropped on group rides?  Then maybe its worth it.  Thinking about taking up crits or road racing?   Worth it.  

Just riding by yourself for fun and/or exercise?   Maybe, maybe not.    I do most of my training miles on a beat-to-c**p MTB.   Yes, its heavy and a lot slower than my racing bike, but the big knobbies hardly ever flat, and I'm not wearing out the expensive equipment on rides that don't matter.

Answer 3

There are several things that will make the road bike significantly easier to ride:

1. It's more than 4 kg lighter

2. It doesn't have a suspension fork -- even with the lock out, a suspension fork is much less efficient than a solid road fork.

3. The tires on the road bike will roll much more easily.

Whether all these factors are worth the money is up to you, but I think you'll notice a big difference. Cross bikes (I've had a couple) are great for commuting because they're so solid and reliable. However, for longer rides at speed, there's nothing like a road bike!

Answer 4

A road bike will only be very slightly faster than your cyclocross bike.  The enemies of bicycling speed are wind resistance, which is geometrically progressive, and rolling resistance.  The rolling resistance of your cross bike is higher because of the relatively coarse tire tread.  This is easily fixed by substituting ordinary road tires.  They will fit on your 700c cross wheels with no trouble. I am partial to Michelin Pro Race because they are a good combination of light weight and puncture resistance for training.

As for wind resistance, your cross bike is a slightly more upright configuration than a regular road racing bicycle.  This won’t make a perceptible difference at 20mph.  If you were racing the answer would be different, and I’d tell you to get a longer stem.  Lots of road riders I see have their stems flipped “up” for rise, rather than in the flat or down position, so they’ll be just as upright as you, if not more so.

Same answer with respect to gearing.  That is, your cross bike has lower final gearing than a racing bike, primarily because of the largest chainring size (which is changeable).  Again, however, at the speeds you are riding this won’t matter.

Finally, the most important part on any bicycle is the motor.  If you ride a 20mph pace 30 miles every day you’ll be stronger than most.

So the short answer to your question is no.  Save your money.

Happy riding.

Ben