Whats a decent average speed on a mtb?
That is a good speed for a mountain bike fo 40k. Did you have a tailwind or something? :-)
When mountain biking, don't concentrate on the absolute speed you are going. Instead, pay attention to how hard you are working. Heart rate monitors are more useful in judging effort on a mountain bike than a speedometer. Pro bike racers also monitor how many watts (a measurement of energy) they are pushing as they ride. A top pro mountain biker will keep up a steady rate of over 300 watts for over an hour. Normal people have trouble maintaining 300 watts for more than a few minutes.
As you know, riding up that ski-resort hill was a lot harder than riding on flat pavement. It was a lot slower too!
If you want to know how you compare to other riders, then enter a race! They are lots of fun.
Whats a decent average speed on a mtb?
I think that's an excellent speed.
I ride 17 MPH to school and work; both are short distances (a mile each) and mostly flat.
I think if you had a lighter bike (e.g. road bike), or put slicks on your MTB, you would be going 2-3 MPH faster.
not so bad at all.
upgrading- why? whats wrong with you current components? sounds decent enough unless you want something new
One of the targets for a good amateur rider is a five hour century (160.9 km)(solo). This is on a road bike. Two pros broke away in last years tour and knocked of 160 km in four hours.
If you where on a road bike you would pick up at least 10% more speed . So as far as pace goes your doing fine.
You ride for 2-2.5 hrs at a time so you also have reasonable endurance.
Many mountain bikers convert to road bikes and do quite well. I always like to tell people to try both.(and some velodrome if they get the chance)
on a flat ride, 19mph is a decent speed. i keep an average speed of about 25mph on a flat surface when there is little wind (my old bike was 33lbs! im expecting to go faster on my new 27lb rig). i also ride a lot so i have stronger legs and a higher endurance so dont get depressed. pros go faster on the trails, i race XC and there are times when there is a smooth straight away and i hit around 35mph. otherwise i can twist around the technical areas about 10mph.
Sounds really fast to me. I ride in the mountains and I'm lucky to go 10 mph if you ride on the road you should put on smooth tires. You'll like them.
