1st why you guys ride road bike with mountain bike, you know that those two kinds bicycles have totally different characteristics, road bike is designed to be ridden fast, they have 700c wheels, they are light and more responsive, they do not have suspension system, most importantly, road bike has lighter wheels and higher tire pressure, usually around 100 psi. so to ride at same speed, on road bike you need much less effort compare to ride on mountain bike, also road bike put you in a more aerodynamic position and the air resistance is much smaller compared with riding mountain bike, and you know that when the speed is over 20 miles/hour, more than half of your effort is for overcoming air resistance.
Mountain bike, on the other hand, is designed to be ridden off road; that is the reason mountain bike has suspension systems (front and/or rear). That is a good thing in off road riding, but it is totally unnecessary to have them when you ride on the road, it adds at least 3 pound for the bike having front suspension. Another drawback of riding mountain bike on open road is the sluggish (stable) feeling of the mountain bike, it has smaller wheels (26 inches vs 700c), the wheels are much heavier and has lower tire pressure, and an up ride sitting position, all those factors contribute to more efforts you put in to drive it at same speed with road bike.
About the lady’s night riding without light and had a crash, in my view, it is very dangerous, if you ride in a well lighted city, you will need normal front light and rear RED flash light, the function of those lights is for you to be seen, if you ride in rural area without too much street light, you will also need a VERY GOOD front light for you to see the road.
Happy to see your experiences with riding bike, below is a link you may interest in, it is a bike forum and talks every thing you want to know to ride bike
cheers
|