A lot of small, local road races include a mountain bike category. This is nice because a lot of recreational riders do not own road bikes, but still want to be able to compete in their hometown race.

My mountain bike buddies and I did quite a few road races on our mountain bikes over the years, and I’d like to share some tips for anyone that plans to race their mountain bike on the road.

Mountain Biking on Pavement – General Theory

The main goal is to make your mountain bike as much like a road bike as possible. That means you want very little rolling resistance, lots of stiffness, and good aerodynamics.

But you have to do so without breaking the rules. Now, there are going to be very few rules on this. Generally the only requirement is that you run 1.5″ or wider tires.

But even if there are no specified rules, I like to keep things in the spirit of mountain biking. That means, you don’t need to run road wheels and 23mm Michelin Pro3Race tires on your 29″ mountain bike. That’s just lame. If you’re going to do something like that, enter the open category and compete against the road bikers.

So…

Mountain Biking on Pavement – The Tips

Here are five tips to make your mountain bike into a pavement machine.

1. Run Semi-slick Tires

If you’re an XC racer, you probably have a set of semi-slick tires that are under 2″ wide. Those will work, but if you’re willing to buy another set of tires (which can come in handy for any road riding, not just racing,) there is a decent selection of 1.5″ semi-slick tires that do a pretty good job on pavement.

What I would suggest is an ~1.75″ tire that has very little tread sticking up. In some cases, these tires have an “inverted” tread. (The Maxxis Hookworm is a good example of an inverted tread, but not really a good choice because they are super heavy.) Other times, the tire will feature many small, closely-spaced knobs, giving it a fairly smooth profile overall. This means a faster and smoother ride on pavement.

As a last resort, ask around – maybe a relative or neighbor has a hybrid with some smooth tires you can borrow for race day!

2. High Pressure

Another thing you want to do is run high pressure in your tires. Quite possibly the “max” pressure listed on the tire. You don’t need the tires to conform to rocks and roots on the course, so fill those tires up!

This will depend on the tire, but generally it could range from 40-85 psi. For any sort of riding/racing on pavement, I’d like at least 50-60 psi in my tires. Normal mountain biking pressures will feel squishy on solid pavement.

3. Go Rigid

You want your bike to be as stiff as possible. If you already ride a rigid bike (no suspension front or rear,) great. If you have a hardtail, hopefully you can lock out your fork.

If you don’t have a lockout feature on your fork, I feel your pain! My first real mountain bike with a suspension fork did not have a lockout, and I wasted a lot of energy with that thing bobbing up and down! My advice in this case is to stay seated as much as possible to keep your weight from compressing the fork.

4. Use Your Road Seat Height

Most mountain bikers don’t have their seat as high as a road racer would since you need a little extra maneuverability. But in a road race, you can set your seat height to the most efficient position.

Since you’re not dealing with obstacles, you can probably raise your seat 1/4″ or so. (Depending on race course terrain, my mountain bike seat height probably varies around 1″ up or down.)

If you’re not familiar with changing your position though, don’t do it. You might make it worse.

5. Know When to Draft

Racing tactics are important in any race, but even more so when your bike already puts you at a disadvantage.

Unless everyone else is significantly weaker than you, stay in the draft. There’s not much point in a solo attack on a mountain bike (unless you pull it off, in which case you really embarrassed the roadies!)

Anyway, the most important tactic will be knowing when to draft. For example, if you are in your big ring and the speed starts to pick up, that’s a good sign you need to get behind some people. Otherwise you simply won’t be able to propel yourself as fast as the road machines.

The downhills are another place to be careful. Whatever you do, don’t go first! Tuck in behind at least two other guys and stay in the draft as best you can. If you’re caught off the front, and the roadies start to pass you, you might not be able to catch onto their draft when they go by.

If you follow those tips every time you ride your mountain bike in a road race, you’ll stand a good chance of hanging with the road bikers and beating the other mountain bikers.

Did you just buy your first mountain bike so you can get into XC racing?

Chances are you bought something like the Trek 6700, Giant XTC 1, Cannondale F4, or Specialized Rockhopper Expert. These are roughly $1100-1300 bikes, which is not cheap, but you still might want to upgrade some parts and add accessories to decrease the weight and improve the performance.

Here is what I would do to make your bike race-ready without spending too much money:

Day of Purchase

The first upgrade you need to make is going to clipless pedals. You should do this immediately, because it’s a huge performance upgrade!

Most bikes in this price range either have flat pedals, no pedals at all, or maybe the basic Shimano SPD pedals. (If they do come with a pedal like the Shimano M520, you can use that to start, but be prepared to upgrade eventually, as these pedals don’t always work well.)

If the bike comes without clipless pedals, I would recommend looking at nicer pedals from Shimano, Time, and Crank Brothers. Popular models are the Shimano M770, Time ATAC XS Carbon, Crank Bros Eggbeater SL, and Crank Bros Candy SL.

You will also need special shoes to go with the clipless pedals. Take a look at models from Shimano, Sidi, Northwave, Specialized, Bontrager, Diadora, and Pearl Izumi. (Consider some more cycling clothing while you’re at it.)

Next, look at the saddle. There’s a chance you’ll like the saddle that comes on the bike. If so, great.

You won’t be doing too many long rides where you sit the whole time (unlike on a road bike,) so the saddle won’t be as big of a deal. But if you hate the saddle, switch it! I’m a big fan of Fizik and WTB saddles for mountain bike use.

After A Few Rides

After a few rides, consider getting some new rubber. AKA, grips and tires.

If the stock grips are comfy, go ahead and stick with them. But if they suck (as a lot of grips do,) upgrade them. I think the Oury grips and ESI grips are good, but also try out the Ergon grips if you have had any hand discomfort with regular grips.

Next, tires. Even if you got decent tires on your bike, mountain bike racing calls for more than one pair of tires. That’s because you need at least two sets of tires – one for dry conditions and one for wet, muddy conditions.

Some tires I like include the IRC Serac XC, Maxxis Crossmark, Maxxis Monorail, Hutchinson Python, and Kenda Nevegal. But there are many tires out there, and you need the ones that match your typical riding conditions. (Someone in the Arizona desert needs different tires than someone riding technical East Coast singletrack.)

Ask the local bike shop or your fellow racers for tire recommendations for your area.

New Wheels, Go Tubeless

As you start thinking about new tires, also think about going tubeless. Switching to tubeless tires is a huge performance upgrade! (First priority for performance is clipless pedals and shoes, but a close second is tubeless tires.)

There are two ways to accomplish this – buy UST wheels, or use a Stan’s NoTubes conversion kit.

On a budget:

If you’re on a budget, go for the Stans NoTubes conversion, which will convert your existing wheels and tires to tubeless for just about $55.

Also, if your standard wheels are good quality and you don’t want to spend $650 on new ones, the Stan’s conversion kit is for you.

With a little work, you’ll turn your regular wheels into a sweet set of tubeless wheels! It is so worth it! (It takes some work though, so don’t expect it to be easy.)

If you can afford new wheels:

If you have the money, spring for some new wheels. These are typically called UST tubeless wheels, and two popular options are Mavic Crossmax SL and Stan’s Olympic Disc wheels.

Both wheelsets are fairly expensive (around $650-900,) but they are lightweight and don’t require fussing around to get them working without tubes.

Important Components to Upgrade

Here are some good ideas if you still have more money than you know what to do with:

Brakes

Your brakes get a lot of use when mountain biking! These days, bikes in this price range come equipped with decent hydraulic disc brakes. These should work great for years to come, so don’t be in a hurry to upgrade.

On the other hand, if you have V-brakes, I’d swap those out ASAP. Disc brakes work so much better, especially in wet conditions, so it’s worth the investment.

But let’s say you have some basic hydraulic discs like the Avid Juicy 3 or Shimano Deore. They’re alright, but if you want better performance (nicer levers, better modulation, more power, etc.), you can upgrade your brakes because they are so important.

A popular option is the Avid Juicy Ultimate, but there are also nice brakes from Shimano XTR, Hayes, Hope, and Magura.

Suspension fork

Another expensive upgrade, a nice fork could cost more than your wheels. (I feel wheels are much more important, and brakes a little more important than this upgrade, but a good fork is nice to have.)

The real key is to have a fork with a lockout. These days, virtually every fork is going to have a lockout, so your current fork is probably fine.

But you can save some serious weight and get a better feel with a nicer fork. The RockShox SID and Fox F100 forks are popular options.

The Drivetrain

A good drivetrain is essential to performance, but a basic drivetrain consisting of Shimano Deore and/or SLX parts (or SRAM X.7 or X.9 components) should deliver solid performance. (If your drivetrain isn’t performing well, consider adjusting it properly or working on your shifting technique.)

Considering the likelihood of damaging derailleurs while riding, I would just wait and replace them when necessary. (If you must upgrade, I’d stick with Shimano XT, as XTR is super expensive.)

As for the rest of the drivetrain, just replace it as necessary. When they need replacement, a good chain and cassette will improve performance and save weight. Your bike probably came with a cheap, heavy cassette. (That’s the #1 priority for upgrading if you upgrade anything in the drivetrain.)

Just remember that you’ll go through at least a couple chains each year, and the cassette will need changed every so often.

Other Bicycle Components

If you’ve made it this far, your bike is probably very nice. There’s not much left to upgrade, but here are a couple ideas:

To save weight, consider a carbon seatpost. You could also choose a carbon handlebar to save more weight and possibly increase your comfort.

But the seatpost, stem, and handlebar are probably the last parts I’d upgrade.

Final Thoughts on Upgrading Components

Upgrading components can be fun and exciting, but buying purely on emotion will burn through your money real fast. You should first upgrade the parts that will give you the most bang for your buck, and then move on to the other parts. And don’t forget that many parts will wear out and need replaced, so you want to have some money saved for that!

In any case, it’s your bike, so have fun with it!

Need to get aerodynamic on your mountain bike?

If you happen to be doing a road race in the mountain bike category, or you are flying solo along a smooth stretch of dirt or pavement during an XC race, you typically want to be as aerodynamic as possible without compromising control or power.

You rarely see any “aero tucks” during a mountain bike race, but at an uphill time trial on the road, you never know what you’ll see…

I prefer to keep my hands on the handlebar (as my mountain bike position is just as low and stretched out as my road position,) but I picked up a very intriguing aero tuck position from Zak Dieringer (of TeamSpin.com) that I wanted to share:

(You can click the pics to see larger versions.)

Yes, his hands are on the fork crown! I tried this on my bike, and it was not stable whatsoever, but it must work for Zak.

[Note: Zak is typically on or near the overall podium in this King of the Mountai race. Your results may vary!]

Tip from Zak Dieringer: This was at an up hill time trial, so speeds were low and aerodynamics were not terribly important. What was important, however, was power output. This position, as weird as it looks, put me very close to my position on my road bike, and at least I felt like I was pedaling harder. The handlebars are about level with the saddle on this bike, which works great in the woods, but I felt like my mom on her hybrid pedaling up this hill. I would also not recommend this position if there is another rider in within a mile of you, you have to brake or turn, or, most importantly, there is someone with a camera nearby.

Back to the topic of aerodynamics on a mountain bike…

What I tend to do if I need to get aero on my mountain bike is move my hands close together, but keep them on the handlebar. That puts my hands close to the stem; then I flatten my back as much as possible, giving me a flat back and forearms, which present a smaller profile to the wind. (If I don’t need to pedal, I can stand up and get my butt in the air to really flatten my back.)

With those techniques I’m still pretty aerodynamic but maintain control of the handlebar, which comes in very handy on dirt road downhills, the likely place where you could use such a position.

Caution: Riding in any position like this in any situation is very dangerous as you could easily lose control and hurt yourself or others!

Photo credits: Levi Bloom