Speed on a Mountain Bike

i just did my first tri and it was on my mtn bike.  I would highly recommend having your LBS put some slicks on it.  Once i did that I was able to average 16-21mph depending on the training day and course.  Most times I was able to keep it around 19mph.

Good Luck!

I was in your position on a bike not too long ago, and I have gotten to a point where I can really push the mountain bike on the road.  As mentioned, I also put some road slicks on and it made a WORLD of difference.  Just to try it out, you can get a pair of Bontrager Road Warrior Slicks for about $40.  Spend another few on new tubes and you're ready to go!

Also, I would suggest that if you have shocks on your front forks, pump them up with as much air as they;ll hold and lock them down.  A lot of the energy you expend to move your bike is being eaten up by the shocks.

Now, I just switched to a road bike about a week ago, and I'm in love ... I get your "rocket" analogy   When you're ready to move up, you'll know it and you won't be able to control the urge to get a new bike.  Trust me.

Until then, have fun on what you've got and enjoy the ride! 

Hey everyone and THANK YOU for the input and the feedback. I have been reading up on the road slicks and have not read one single negative comment about them! I'll get some put on ASAP. I also have been riding in the wrong gears...LOL...well ya know the rookie has to learn. I was backwards thinking the BIG cogs are the easier ones... (duh). So I am glad that with each ride I'm getting a bit more educated and comfortable.

I have been training basically by "feel" or exertion...and I stay between 6 and 8 out of a scale of 10. If I'm struggling with the gears it's more like an 11 LOL. Of course, with each ride, the gear shifting becomes much easier. I have my third ride (third total) scheduled for Sunday and I'm looking forward to a better ride. They've been improving each time.

I also read that training on the MTN bike builds lots of pedal power...so the rocket-bike ends up being that much more of a rocket LOL.

I'm glad I went this way in getting started. It has really been working well and I'm only on week one. As for the trainin plan, well I am not really on a tri plan, but I have been fitting the bike in on the days off for my 5k running plan. I run on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and then bike on the off days. And of course at this point, the bike training is still in the phase of learning how to do it properly, but I'm definately getting good workouts while I'm learning. I want to do a duathlon in December, so I'll be grabbing one of the training plans off of the site--oh wait I have a book on the way (I almost forgot). Found it on amazon: Book

BTW does anyone besides me just love expertvillage.com?? The videos are great! I learned how to pimp my bike with the seat tilt and the computer from one of the bike videos. Tomorrow's lesson: flat fixes. I'm taking the bike to the LBS to put on the slickers...don't want to change a tire that isn't flat by myself LOL.

I hate people like you.  16-21 mph on a mountain bike?  Heck, I can't do that on my road bike most of the time.

Full disclosure though Zulu, only riding 6-15 miles and mainly flat Illinois roads for training right now to keep that pace up.