I'm considering buying an interim road bike, but not sure if it would be any better than the mtb I have already. If anyone could provide a bit of versus context, it would be much appreciated.
So later this year I'm going to spend £1300+ on a full carbon Giant (TCR) or Trek (Madone), to do everything from a daily commute to 50/100-mile events, to a week's climbing tour of the Alps. But I need something until I get round to that...
Right now, my only bike is a Specialised Rockhopper (https://goo.gl/XHvr2). It's a 2010 model and was around £900 new. I use it mainly off road, but also have a pair of slick tyres for it since it's also the only on-road bike I've got. It's almost worth buying a cheap road bike just to save me having to keep swapping nobblies to slicks!
But since a road bike now would be interim, I don't want to waste more than £200 on something I know will be surplus in a few months. I've spotted a Muddyfox Pace on the Sports Direct site for £180 (https://goo.gl/o76XY). Supposedly reduced from RRP of £350, but I can't imagine anyone would pay that for one. Now I know it's pretty basic spec-wise, as you'd expect for £180, but here come my question...
Is it going to be so low spec that I would actually be better off just riding the Rockhopper on the road? Or will a road bike, even a budget one, always be better on the road than a mtb. I've no idea how a poorly spec'd road bike compares to a reasonably decent spec'd MTB for road riding... Any ideas?
Thank you!
PS, I know I could up the spec of a budget road bike by going up to something like a Triban 3, but at the end of the day that's just wasting a bit more money on a bike I'm not going to ride for long. Cheaper the better. Can't imagine there's a whole world of difference between the two anyway.
Whilst it can depend on what £180 might represent for your budget on a six or so months time, I'd advise you to go for the road bike, lighter (probably), stiffer, etc. It'll give you a feeling much closer to a Giant or Trek bike than any half-decent MTB albeit on slick tyres.
Don't buy a Trek by the way, that just makes Lance Armstrong richer.
