All the gear

[Nebulous]

Apologies in advance for the length of this post - but how much difference does 'all the gear' make?

Now first of all - I'm a confirmed roadie. I've had my bike almost a year, and have gone through quite a transformation. SPD-sl pedals, bibshorts, cycling tops and I drink high5 like it's going out of fashion. About the only thing I have baulked at is shaving my legs, but as I have alopecia there isn't a lot to shave. I absolutely love getting my head down and going for it on a decent road.

Before buying my roadbike I had an old mountain bike and I have added mudguards, new lights, bought some waterproofs and use it to commute. Only 2 miles each way, but I have over 300 feet of climb on my way there.

About 2 months ago I bought a Garmin and have been clocking every mile, which I didn't do before. I've had a few surprises including:-

I've done less miles on my road bike than I expected.

I've done quite a bit more miles on my mountain bike than I expected.

So how much difference do you think there is in miles per hour?

Some details:-

Road Bike is a 2010 Allez Elite with a Tiagra compact 18 gears. Pretty much stock apart from the tyres. Weight just under 10 kilos. Shimano 105 pedals, Specialized BG shoes, rides generally around 30 miles on open road, so very few hold-ups.

Mountain bike is a hardtail Carrera Vulcan. The fork doesn't lock, there is a knobbly tyre on the front and a treaded one on the back. Triple shimano chainset 21 gears. Weight around 14 kilos. I wear work trousers or jeans tucked into my socks, with flat pedals and shoes or trainers. Journeys generally short around town so lots of stop/start, all less than 20 miles.

So what do you think guys?

 

[CopperCyclist]

I can only give you my comparison:

Orange E3 mountain bike, front sus, no lockout, semi slick tyres: I averaged 13 to 15
Boardman CX Team (cyclocross), semi slick tyres: I average 16 to 18

It was a noticeable enough difference to me to be pleased. Plan to get a road bike sometime next year.

 

[apollo179]

Road bike you should be around 18+mph over 30 miles. The mountain bike over sub 20 mile journeys is complicated by you saying its stop start but presuming reasonably unninterupted cycling id hope you were hitting 16/17mph. So 1 or 2 mph difference.

 

[lulubel]

Road bike you should be around 18+mph over 30 miles.

Depends on the terrain, I should think. I'd be lucky to manage that kind of speed around here.

 

[gbb]

Road bike you should be around 18+mph over 30 miles. The mountain bike over sub 20 mile journeys is complicated by you saying its stop start but presuming reasonably unninterupted cycling id hope you were hitting 16/17mph. So 1 or 2 mph difference.

They're quite some statistics apollo...wish i could aspire to those averages

Mine...roadbike, it doesn't matter whether i'm doing 20, 30 or 50 miles...it's always around 15/16mph average, up to 18mph average if i really put in a lot of work for a season (bear in mind i'm 53 and only been roadbiking for 10 years) Once i get to 18 average, i just get sick and tired of the effort required and slip back to 16.

Hybrid...never do more than 15 miles'ish, but i guess it'd be around 12 or 13 mph average...its a casual bike, i ride it casually, don't even have a computer fitted to it.

For the average joe Nebulous, here's a nice benchmark if you're just an average cyclist (which i consider myself to be)....
As said, i average 15/16 mph average on a roadbike...i really don't get overtaken that often, so it's still respectable. That said, it does shock you somewhat when someone sails past...thankfully that's rare

 

[Nebulous]

Well I wasn't tryng to get into how fast I am - though I've come a long way in the last year - a fair bit of that I have always put down to the equipment. I was surprised at the lack of difference though. I'll be 50 next year gbb, but I've thrown myself into this very enthusiastically and think I've some progress to make yet.

Since I joined My Cycling Log in late August I've done 370 miles at an average 16.26 on my road bike, and 190 miles at 14.7 on my mountain bike. The mileage isn't high enough to give much more than a snapshot - but knobbly tyres, upright position, normal clothes, not clipped in, lots of junctions and still only 1.5 miles per hour of difference?

The odd thing is that the roadbike feels much faster. Over the winter I kind of expect that gap to grow, but at the moment it still baffles me.

 

[Xiorell]

the bike i've just had totalled was just a hybrid, not the lightest thing going (14.75ish KG I think), it done some decent distance days out and I always felt quick (especially blasting past people on genuine BSOs in town lol). Usually dressed in normal joggers, trainers and a tight-but-not-SO-tight top.

As much as I would like to think otherwise, I do not believe. jumping onto some 8kg region sporty number would see much of an improvement, if any, in my speeds.
....Doesn't mean I'm not thinking of buying said sporty number however lol

 

[doog]

Road bike you should be around 18+mph over 30 miles.

bloody hell!

 

[doog]

Well I wasn't tryng to get into how fast I am - though I've come a long way in the last year - a fair bit of that I have always put down to the equipment. I was surprised at the lack of difference though. I'll be 50 next year gbb, but I've thrown myself into this very enthusiastically and think I've some progress to make yet.

Since I joined My Cycling Log in late August I've done 370 miles at an average 16.26 on my road bike, and 190 miles at 14.7 on my mountain bike. The mileage isn't high enough to give much more than a snapshot - but knobbly tyres, upright position, normal clothes, not clipped in, lots of junctions and still only 1.5 miles per hour of difference?

The odd thing is that the roadbike feels much faster. Over the winter I kind of expect that gap to grow, but at the moment it still baffles me.

someone will come along and advise you of rolling resistance between slicks and knobbly tyres, when in fact the main difference is actually aero dynamics (apparently),so getting down on those drops more should increase your average.

I personally have no idea if this is true, its just what I have read and appears to make sense.

 

[apollo179]

They're quite some statistics apollo...wish i could aspire to those averages

Mine...roadbike, it doesn't matter whether i'm doing 20, 30 or 50 miles...it's always around 15/16mph average, up to 18mph average if i really put in a lot of work for a season (bear in mind i'm 53 and only been roadbiking for 10 years) Once i get to 18 average, i just get sick and tired of the effort required and slip back to 16.

Hybrid...never do more than 15 miles'ish, but i guess it'd be around 12 or 13 mph average...its a casual bike, i ride it casually, don't even have a computer fitted to it.

For the average joe Nebulous, here's a nice benchmark if you're just an average cyclist (which i consider myself to be)....
As said, i average 15/16 mph average on a roadbike...i really don't get overtaken that often, so it's still respectable. That said, it does shock you somewhat when someone sails past...thankfully that's rare

Yes the presumption is that your giving it your best shot, obviously if your riding casually your mph be less, but 18+ is what we should be aspiring to. Sounds like you can hit 18 when you choose to so your on target , just need to stick at it.
Lulus mountainous terrain will slow us down as you never recoup time lost climbing on the descent.
The ops post was re the difference between the 2 bike formats and as i predicted 1 to 2 mph .

 

[VamP]

Yes the presumption is that your giving it your best shot, obviously if your riding casually your mph be less, but 18+ is what we should be aspiring to. Sounds like you can hit 18 when you choose to so your on target , just need to stick at it.
Lulus mountainous terrain will slow us down as you never recoup time lost climbing on the descent.
The ops post was re the difference between the 2 bike formats and as i predicted 1 to 2 mph .

That's a bit of an assertion, given that most sportives have their Gold standard speed set around 17mph.



To the OP - I ride a road bike (Schwalbe Ultremo's) on my commute most days, some days to mix it up I take my Cross bike (Schwalbe Rocket Rons). Both bikes weigh about the same (8.5kg ish). A few subtle geometry differences aside, they are very similar, except for the tyres.

I keep complete statistics of all my rides.

The cross bike is about 2 mph slower on average over a 31 mile round trip undulating commute.

 

[wiggydiggy]

"how much difference does 'all the gear' make? "

Varies TBH The stuff on my bike I'd say is essential, possibly not the computer but the lights, mudguards, bags etc I'd say so.

Clothes, well for my commute unless its rainign I could probably do it in work gear, but I just personally prefer cycling gear as its more comfortable.

Leisure rides I wear different base layers to the commute though as I'm on the iron horse for longer.

 

[4F]

Wear what you want, ride what you like and at whatever speed you want to.

Who cares what anyone else thinks ?