Does the bike you ride make the difference...

[NorrisCole]

Bear in mind that the skinny tyres, lightweight saddle and aero position that help make a road bike faster also make it less comfortable.

Rubbish!

 

[gbb]

Rubbish!

Agree...and disagree.
To me, it wouldnt make it more uncomfortable because thats what ive always ridden, but to someone upgrading from a fatter tyred bike with a padded saddle and comfortable upright position...it may well seem very uncomfortable.
Almost everyone at work looks at my Ponza saddle and remarks 'that must be like sitting on a razorblade'...but i find it very comfortable. They're just not used to that kind of saddle. i wasnt at first...it just took a little time.

 

[Norm]

what is it with averge speeds so many say i average 15+ i often hit 22/25 mph on the flat and faster down hill but when i check the computer for my average it says things like 13.8
how fast will i have to go to get a 15 mph average?.ps average includes any stops if u stop

It's the stopping that makes the difference. Most who post their average speeds do so, IMO, by looking at the speed they are going when pedalling under good conditions.

For instance, a quick spin along the river last week and I was doing 15.x mph every time I looked at the speedo, but the average when I got to Windsor was only 12.8mph. That's because I had other things on my mind than looking at my speed all those times that I was negotiating bridges, fighting through the mucky stuff, cornering etc. Whenever I did look at the speed, it was on smooth flat straight sections, so it's not surprising that it was faster.

I then spent a few minutes (so I thought) riding round Windsor, taking pix etc and, when I left again, I noticed that the average had dropped to 10mph.

Set off home again along the roads rather than the tow paths and I was doing 18-ish, when I pulled in, the average for the journey was up at 13.9.

Rubbish!

Ooo, I love seeing people presenting a well-reasoned argument rather than just posting disrespectful stuff that they cannot substantiate.

The bike makes a lot of difference, components more so. Changing tyres on my old MTB increased my speed by around 17% but changing between my Secteur road bike and my Tricross cx bike doesn't change my journey times at all. Because, despite Norris' considered justification, the lighter wheels, thin saddle and narrower tyres mean that my speed is less constant real roads because of the battering my bum and hands take.

 

[fungus]

Bear in mind that the skinny tyres, lightweight saddle and aero position that help make a road bike faster also make it less comfortable.

I agree with Norris Cole on this one, this statement is utter rubbish. Skinny tyres, lightweight saddles and a more aero position does not equal an uncomfortable ride, it's entirely down to what you are used to riding. Otherwise I wouldn't have managed to average 193 miles a day doing the end2end last year on my Giant TCR race bike.

Overall Stats -
1415km ridden
18024 metres of climbing
67 hours on the bike (moving average 21.2kmh)
Final elapsed time 4 days, 13 hours and 45 minutes - 109.45 hours.


73% of the 4.56 days were spent in the saddle with no soreness or injury & that is only due to getting your position right & putting the hours of training in

 

[snailracer]

^^
I didn't say it was uncomfortable, I said it was LESS comfortable. If you paid as much attention and put in as many hours of "training" on a bike that was more comfortable by design, you would be so comfortable you'd be in danger of falling asleep on it whilst riding. You might even find you don't even need to tweak or "train" yourself to get comfy on it, isn't that an advantage?

 

[NorrisCole]

Agree...and disagree.
To me, it wouldnt make it more uncomfortable because thats what ive always ridden, but to someone upgrading from a fatter tyred bike with a padded saddle and comfortable upright position...it may well seem very uncomfortable.
Almost everyone at work looks at my Ponza saddle and remarks 'that must be like sitting on a razorblade'...but i find it very comfortable. They're just not used to that kind of saddle. i wasnt at first...it just took a little time.

People who think road bikes are uncomfortable have either never ridden one or are riding the wrong bike/saddle etc

 

[snailracer]

^^
Well I have ridden many, and my hybrid is more comfortable even with the same saddles.

 

[MacB]

Rubbish!

Really, all else being equal I thought that a wider tyre was measurably more comfortable than a narrower one, or do you disagree?

 

[Glover Fan]

Only a small difference.

I went from a 1990's Peugeot steel framed bike with a 105 groupset that had seen better days to a brand spanking new carbon bike with new 105 groupset on it and obviously I did notice a substancial difference, more comfortable and maybe a bit quicker, climbing hills was a lot easier.

However, losing just 10lbs makes about a million more times difference. I notice it every year, I gradually pile on the lbs over winter and then come June I'll have lost those 10lbs again and combined with the additional fitness makes hell of a difference.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Yes it will make a difference. If you are confused by 'average' just enter the figures into http://www.machinehead-software.co.uk/bike/speed_distance_time_calc.html

 

[NorrisCole]

Really, all else being equal I thought that a wider tyre was measurably more comfortable than a narrower one, or do you disagree?

Yes, but anything over 28mm is overkill, and for most people 25mm at 90 psi is fine if you want to go down the comfort route.
Most people would class 25mm as 'skinny tyres'.

 

[snailracer]

^^
I have 1.75" on my bike, I would have fitted 2.00" if the shop had them in stock. Not overkill where I ride, your roads must be smooth.

 

[the_mikey]

I can complete a 30km round trip in an hour and 30 mins, including stops (for a cup of tea in a cafe) on a one year old road bike, the same ride would take about 2 hours on an old mtb, and more than 3 hours on a mountain bike style BSO, but also, the same ride would be riddled with reasons to stop on a BSO, stop to tighten all the bolts, stop to adjust the seat again, stop for a rest, it's hard work riding a BSO!

 

[totallyfixed]

l ride a vitesse sprint 21 speed and the frame is alloy tube with the wheels/tyres wider than alot of more expensive bikes... On this bike l average a speed of 15mph.
My question for the forum is.... Does what bike you ride make a difference or is it the rider.
If l bought a more expensive bike with a lighter frame and thin wheels/tyres would l see the difference in my speeds with the same effort l putting in at the moment, and if so how much difference in speed/ performance do you think it would make..

Not seen many Time Triallers on MTB's, course it makes a bloody difference, everything else being equal.

 

[Wobblers]

Yes, the bike does make a difference, but not as much as you might think. My carbon Focus Cayo is 1 mph faster than my Galaxy (which comes complete with mudguards and rack!). Going from an upright flat barred bike to drop bars makes more of a difference, due to the aerodynamics. A lighter bike will certainly feel more nimble and be better going up hill, but again doesn't make a huge difference to the overall speed. The biggest factor in speed is yourself, the engine, unfortunately!