Why are racing bikes faster than mountain bikes?
When referring to “racing bikes” you must be referring to road bikes, as there are racing bikes of all types. Now after reading the above posts I’ll put my two cents worth in. Road bikes have one MAJOR advantage and that is the rider is in a more aerodynamic position than a mountain bike (big disadvantage for the mountain bike). Next is tires, now you can put narrow road type tires on a mountain bike, but they are still normally wider than a road bike tire. This gives the mountain bike slightly more rolling resistance. Most people who ride bikes will never use the gearing advantage of a road bike, Why most people push there pedals and don’t spin, if you can spin 100+ rpm than the gearing is not such a big deal as most riders can’t pedal a bike over 25mph for any length of time. Most riders in good shape will average between 15~20mph. If you examine the gearing on a mountain bike you will find that using the 44t big gear and 11t rear, then if you can spin 90~120rpm, 20+mph is no big dea
