Can a mtn bike be turned into a fast road bike?
Sorry, but even the strongest riders are going to be at a serious disadvantage on a mountain bike in a road race. Here are the issues. First, your bike is going to be heavy. You need to realize, even in CAT 5 races, folks are toeing the line with sub 15 pound road bikes. In general, mountain bikes are optimized for robustness. Road bikes are optimized for weight. You can spend thousands of dollars to lighten up your full suspension bike, but realistically you probably can’t get it too much below 25 pounds. Therefore, unless you have an incredible power to weight ratio, you will start out with a severe disadvantage. Secondly, your bike suspension is going to be robbing your power. To get all of your power to the pavement, you’ll have to lock out the suspension. If the suspension is locked out, why have it? Riding on the road with your suspension locked out, it is like carrying a big anchor. Thirdly, flat bars are OK on trails where your rarely get enough speed for wind resistance to be
