If you are a rookie/newbie to the whole biking thing, you know that the amount of variety available in the market when it comes to bikes, equipment etc, is not only overwhelming but also very confusing. When you first start looking at bikes and the terms that are used to express the various mechanisms of a bike, it all starts looking like gibberish. Trust me, I have been there.
As a newbie you really can’t be expected to know the terms used for various features and how those features affect the functioning of the bike. Following the same line of thought, you really can’t be expected to know how certain bikes are best suited only for specific terrains and how some of them can be versatile and can be used for multi-tasking.
Therefore, a lot of questions are raised about which bike to ride where. A similar question is, can mountain bikes be ridden on the road, also known as, concrete pavements, in fancy bike language.
Mountain bikes in essence, as the name suggests, are meant to be ridden across rough/rocky terrains and on mountains. While that is the main purpose of mountain bikes, it is foolish to completely discard off the possibility of it being used for some other purposes like riding on normal roads.
Can You ride a mountain bike on the Road?
Mountain biking is a sport, which requires a set of rules to be followed, however, biking in general is not. There are no rules to biking and no one would ask you to stop using a mountain bike on the street.
So to answer the question, yes, you can use one on the street but there is more than one reason why you would not like to do that. Mountain bikes as mentioned before are designed specifically for riding rough terrains. Which brings us to the conclusion that the engineering of said bikes will also be in accordance to that. Since the streets, aka, concrete pavements are the safest place to ride your bike, there have to be structural differences between bikes that are meant to be ridden on streets and those that are not.
The biggest difference you will notice between a road bike and a mountain bike is the difference in weight and also the difference in speed. Sure, if you like mountain biking and do not wish to spend another grand on getting a bike to run errands or ride across the town, mountain bikes work perfectly well. But if you are done mountain biking and have your heart set on biking across the city for a long time, then you would probably want to either consider the idea of buying a road bike or making modifications in your mountain bike to make it suit your type of riding.
Problems that you would face if you used a mountain bike on the street, instead of a road bike
Problems related to the weight of your bike
Mountain bikes are justifiably heavier than road bikes. This is because mountain bikes have to be more durable and heavy duty for them to survive the terrain they are designed for. Which basically means that mountain bikes when ridden across the city will exhaust you, way quicker than a normal road bike would. This is sometimes not a problem for most people who have previous experience in riding mountain bikes through actual mountains as the weight seems way lesser while riding on a straight pavement than while riding uphill.
However if you accidentally bought a mountain bike and for some reason cannot return it, the weight of the bike will bring you down. Also for the experienced bikers who don’t think it would make that much of a difference either way, trust me, it will. You will feel the difference between the two when you would have ridden the two. The main weight on mountain bikes comes from its large tires and heavy frame, sure you could switch it out for different ones but that would cost just about the same as a new road bike would.
Speed
Speed is a major, major issue that you are bound to face when you ride a mountain bike on the streets. Considering two scenarios, first being the area/city that you live in has only one lane for all types of vehicles, the second being they have a separate bike lane. Do not get too excited, both of these situations are bad if you are riding a mountain bike on the streets.
Mountain bikes are significantly slower than road bikes because of their heavy make. Road bikes are quite literally race bikes and have provisions for aerodynamic structures for maximum speed. There is no way in which a mountain bike could ever match the speed of road bikes. This brings us to the problem. In the first case, if all of the vehicles have just one lane, you will not be able to survive(not literally of course), the traffic movement on the streets. Vehicles will be going at twice the speed you are going at and if you are not an experienced rider, it will most definitely send you in some sort of frenzy.
The second case is not any better than the first one. Presumably everyone around you in a bike lane, would be riding a road bike, leaving some exceptions. Road bikes being considerably faster than the mountain bikes would feel almost the same way the rest of the motor vehicles would. Moreover, bike lanes are obviously narrower than vehicle lanes, leading to greater congestion. If I were you, I would not like to be stuck in either of the above situations.
What could you do to make your mountain bike better for the road?
While there isn’t a way to change the way the frame sits and the weight of the frame, there are certain modifications, smaller ones, that you could make to your mountain bike to make it more suitable for riding on the streets.
Switch out the tires
Tires are recognizably the chunkiest parts on a mountain bike besides the frame of the bike. They are made chunky to induce greater traction that is required when you are off roading because one false bump and you will be scraping your knees, elbows and possibly tumbling down a hill. However when it comes to concrete roads, there is a need for traction but not quite as much as you need it in rough terrains.
The tires of mountain bikes are big and heavy, a simple modification made by switching them out for slimmer tires could go a very long way. It would reduce the overall weight of the bike while also simultaneously reducing friction between the ground and tires, giving you greater speed. No need to thank me.
Get rid of the suspension if your bike has one
Suspension, again, is required for sustaining rough terrains but when it comes to riding on the streets, there is no plausible reason as to why you could possibly need them.
Suspension adds to the bulk of the bike and the hesitation that you might feel while riding the bike, this is required for riding on bumps roads but on straight concrete pavements with no bump in sight, suspensions are redundant and a carry-on that no one really requires. So do yourself a favor and get rid of the suspension before you hit the streets. You will feel the difference as soon as you do.
Get a gear set (a better one)
If you are considering changing the tires, which you really should, you have an opportunity to also switch out your gear range for a better one. Most mountain bikes are equipped with a gear chain only enough to gain some amount of speed because while going uphill, a faster gear induces a lot of pressure on the chain and might cause it to snap.
So when you do plan to switch out the tires, you might want to go for a wider, faster gear range, that will help you pick up speed on the road without your legs wanting to kill themselves.
Buy a hybrid bike instead of a road bike
If you do not completely want to lose the feeling of a mountain bike because you are too accustomed to it, there is a middle ground, where road bikes and mountain bikes meet. Hybrid bikes are a literal hybrid of road and mountain bikes that come with features of both. This means, you do not completely have to go out of your comfort zone but you also get some of the perks that road bikes have. I know, it is a blessing.
Conclusion
Mountain bikes can be used on the streets and nobody is going to judge you for it, but there are so many reasons why you should not. If you do not want to let go of your trusty old bike, there are ways in which you could make it more suited to the streets. All you need to do is find the balance.