...to simply ride as well? I KNOW THIS IS LONG BUT THERE'S A LOT TO TELL. IT'S WORTH READING AND THANKS FOR ANY FEEDBACK.
I know they're of course slower but they seem a great deal slower don't know why people buy them. I have an Trek mountain bike my grandparents got for me many years ago. I've only ridden it long distance maybe 3 or 4 times (every couple years at most). But today I rode it for 36 miles on a flat trail (Katy Trail). I biked as hard as I could 18 miles there, took a break only when I got there and 18 miles back, hardest I could possibly bike and hardest I've ever exercised altogther. I had it on one of the highest gears and still decided to pedal very fast like it was a race. I'd say with the gear I was in despite it being the toughest possible gear you could ride in on flat ground without slowing yourself down it was unusually slow. It was maybe 3rd out of twenty something and you could still only get up to maybe 19 mph at its absolute max probably just under which definitely seems way to slow. I pedaled extremely fast and averaged well over 15 mph (I divided the time it took me divided by the miles to figure this out); it felt like I was pushing it as fast as it could go but I knew better than to think that I was at complete max speed for 36 miles, it must have just seemed that way because I was pushing it to the max and the time proved this. Still I know I was wasn't far from top speed the whole time. I know all this seems hard to believe since I don't ride hardly ever but I'm naturally good (also 20 years old and in good shape) and it was one of those rare awesome feeling days. There weren't many people on the trail but I did see a few road bikers and I was faster than all but one who was the same speed as me, the rest weren't riding completely for the leisure of it. The fast guy I was only with for a very short part because we quickly took different paths but it was frustating to see him pedal so much slower than me and here I am pedaling like my life depends on it just to stay close behind him. I'm sure he was on a high gear of course but it couldn't have been much higher than mine because mine was a very strong high gear like I said. And he was pedaling smooth and easy like the gear wasn't that tough so unless he's a pro I don't see it. I'm not jealous of him for his comparatively effortless speed or anything but I hate how I have to put so much more energy into riding. I'd bet that even if I went singificantly slower than a good road bike I'd still use more energy. Could all this be a slow bike, my bike wasn't cheap it was normal price range. The trail was a little rocky nothing like a smooth road and I'm thinking that could help explain the slower max speed. Maybe on a road it would be more like 22 but still mountain bike wheels shouldn't slow much on the trail I was on it wasn't too bad at all.
Again I apologize that this is way too long but I'm wondering it it's that important for me to get a better bike particularly a road bike if I want to take up riding as I don't have much money.
I know they're of course slower but they seem a great deal slower don't know why people buy them. I have an Trek mountain bike my grandparents got for me many years ago. I've only ridden it long distance maybe 3 or 4 times (every couple years at most). But today I rode it for 36 miles on a flat trail (Katy Trail). I biked as hard as I could 18 miles there, took a break only when I got there and 18 miles back, hardest I could possibly bike and hardest I've ever exercised altogther. I had it on one of the highest gears and still decided to pedal very fast like it was a race. I'd say with the gear I was in despite it being the toughest possible gear you could ride in on flat ground without slowing yourself down it was unusually slow. It was maybe 3rd out of twenty something and you could still only get up to maybe 19 mph at its absolute max probably just under which definitely seems way to slow. I pedaled extremely fast and averaged well over 15 mph (I divided the time it took me divided by the miles to figure this out); it felt like I was pushing it as fast as it could go but I knew better than to think that I was at complete max speed for 36 miles, it must have just seemed that way because I was pushing it to the max and the time proved this. Still I know I was wasn't far from top speed the whole time. I know all this seems hard to believe since I don't ride hardly ever but I'm naturally good (also 20 years old and in good shape) and it was one of those rare awesome feeling days. There weren't many people on the trail but I did see a few road bikers and I was faster than all but one who was the same speed as me, the rest weren't riding completely for the leisure of it. The fast guy I was only with for a very short part because we quickly took different paths but it was frustating to see him pedal so much slower than me and here I am pedaling like my life depends on it just to stay close behind him. I'm sure he was on a high gear of course but it couldn't have been much higher than mine because mine was a very strong high gear like I said. And he was pedaling smooth and easy like the gear wasn't that tough so unless he's a pro I don't see it. I'm not jealous of him for his comparatively effortless speed or anything but I hate how I have to put so much more energy into riding. I'd bet that even if I went singificantly slower than a good road bike I'd still use more energy. Could all this be a slow bike, my bike wasn't cheap it was normal price range. The trail was a little rocky nothing like a smooth road and I'm thinking that could help explain the slower max speed. Maybe on a road it would be more like 22 but still mountain bike wheels shouldn't slow much on the trail I was on it wasn't too bad at all.
Again I apologize that this is way too long but I'm wondering it it's that important for me to get a better bike particularly a road bike if I want to take up riding as I don't have much money.