Speed Difference Between Road/Mountain Bikes

What are the avg. speeds of you and your collegues on road bikes. No doubt a mtn bike in and of itself will slow you down as will knobby tires but I would say if you're INSANELY faster than your collegues, it might be a challenge to slow down enough.

Depending on my fitness levels (and I know this is kind of a wide range) I generally notice 1.5 to 3 mph difference on some of my standard training rides. 

I destroyed my road bike in a crash a couple of months ago, so I've been riding my hardtail since then and I'm seeing a 2-3 MPH difference on the same course *and* I'm totally gassed at the end.

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FWIW, I routinely ride my MTB on the paths around here, there's supposed to be a 15mph limit (I average around 14-15, so technically I'm going faster at times) so I don't really care much to get a road bike since I'm getting a great workout without needing to constantly buzz by people on a path with heavy traffic.  But believe me, unless you're someone who can average 13-14 on trails with a mountain bike, going that pace with your friends should still be a pretty good workout. 

You need to find faster people to ride with. Riding with people who are slower than you only makes you slower no matter what bike you are on. Now if you ride 16 average you need to hook up with a person who rides 17 average and try to chase them down.

My best rides are with my fiance and a friend of ours. We have a ride or two each week where we warm up at a moderate pace for 10 or 15 minutes then it's every one for themselves. We push the hell out of one another on that ride and we have all gotten faster and improved our endurance because of it. Making it a game/race gives us the mental edge to push ourselves harder than we would if we were solo, our legs and lungs burn but we don't dare drop off.

Bottom line, if you are the fast one and always waiting for them to catch up, you will only maintain or lose fitness, you will never get faster. Now if you are always chasing some one who's slightly faster, you are going to improve quickly. If a MTB with knobbies does not slow you down enough then move on and find a faster group.

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I agree that it's generally a better idea to rider with faster riders if possible, but sometimes it's not, and you love the company of slower riders.

Taking a mtn bike is definitely one way to do it and still be somewhat challenged. I did this last week with my less hardcore biking friends, and I had to hammer it the whole way on my 33lb knobby mtn bike to hang with a group that I otherwise gap by 5 minutes per 30minute stretch. Definitely a solid workout, and fun for my friends too I was around the whole time versus doing my own solo ride.

I'd guesstimate 4-5 mph slower on my upright mtnbike vs my Cervelo TT bike when drafting, and a whopping 7mph slower if not drafting. It took nearly all my effort to hold 20mph on my mtn bike on a flat for 20 minutes, whereas I would easily be 25+ mph on a flat.

 

Like you, my training rides on my tri bike are all in the 16 range. When I get on my mountain bike it's generally sub 14. Sometimes as low as 12. If you're still too fast let some air out of your tires, set one of your brakes to rub, or add a bunch of unnecessary weight to the bike. Lots of ways to get a decent workout at a slower pace.

I mostly ride with one or two other people, and we average about 14 -15 mph but when I ride alone it's closer to 16ish.  But...the pace with my friends is...faster than I think they like.