Tips for improving on speed..

[ray316]

Been cycling for quite a few months now and go out on the bike mostly at weekends for 1 hour at a time and the odd night in the week.
My speed has not improved over the months and l would like to know if there is any tips you can give me to improve my speed.
For instance correct gears to use, how to check correct tyre pressure and will this make a difference.
Also buying a more expensive bike than the one l have at the moment.... woild this improve my speed if the bike is lighter...
Your advice and biking knowledge will be of great help..

 

[ColinJ]

The most obvious thing you could do is to do more cycling! The odd hour here or there isn't really enough to get super fit.

A new bike won't make you that much quicker, unless you are going from something like a big heavy full suspension mountain bike with huge knobbly tyres to a light racing bike with quality slick tyres. What it might do though is to motivate you to ride more often and for longer, which would help.

 

[jimboalee]

What bike have you got at the moment?
How fast are you on this bike?
Why do you want to ride faster?

 

[ray316]

What bike have you got at the moment?
How fast are you on this bike?
Why do you want to ride faster?

l have a Vitesse Sprint 21...
Average speed around 14mph..
To cover more ground in the same length of time...

While we are on about going faster, how comes when l go out for a bike ride l'm peddling quite fast and doing about 14MPH and other cyclists l see often on my rides are going alot faster yet they seem to be peddling slower without any effort...

 

[Alien8]

What are your normal routes like (flat, rolling, hilly)?

How do you feel at the end of your rides, ie how knackered are you?

In general you need to do more rides of your target distance/duration at a greater intensity.

For an hours ride you don't need to pace yourself - just try and go at full tilt.

No pain - no (well minimal) gain.

 

[jimboalee]

l have a Vitesse Sprint 21...
Average speed around 14mph..
To cover more ground in the same length of time...

While we are on about going faster, how comes when l go out for a bike ride l'm peddling quite fast and doing about 14MPH and other cyclists l see often on my rides are going alot faster yet they seem to be peddling slower without any effort...

You're in the same position now as I was in the seventies. Your time will come.

 

[accountantpete]

You need a pair of these

 

[jimboalee]

You need a pair of these

I got mine from a Leg shop in Coventry.

 

[crumpetman]

l have a Vitesse Sprint 21...
Average speed around 14mph..
To cover more ground in the same length of time...

While we are on about going faster, how comes when l go out for a bike ride l'm peddling quite fast and doing about 14MPH and other cyclists l see often on my rides are going alot faster yet they seem to be peddling slower without any effort...

They could be better conditioned than you and/or riding in a different gear. If you see them going faster than you, try and catch up! Change gears if you can and put in a bit more effort.

 

[doddman]

While we are on about going faster, how comes when l go out for a bike ride l'm peddling quite fast and doing about 14MPH and other cyclists l see often on my rides are going alot faster yet they seem to be peddling slower without any effort...

Sounds like standard scalping procedure to me!

Maybe if you caught a glimpse of him a minute later he'd be blowing!

 

[asterix]

You need a pair of these

They are sprinters legs. Useless up hill.

 

[Moodyman]

As others have said, ride more often and work on your pedalling technique. Round-and-round not down-down.

Get you cadence up. If you don't know what this is, Google it.

 

[amaferanga]

Sounds like standard scalping procedure to me!

Maybe if you caught a glimpse of him a minute later he'd be blowing!

Or just fitter/stronger.

 

[ColinJ]

Something doesn't sound right here - 14 mph should be a very easy speed to achieve on a flat road unless it is a windy day. 

I'm wondering if you have selected an appropriate gear ratio? It sounds as though you are undergeared if you are pedalling faster than other people who are riding faster than you and you can't keep up.

What gear ratio are you using at that speed? (Count the teeth on the chainring at the front and the sprocket at the back.) From that information, we could get a good idea if your gear choice is part of the problem.

I just looked your bike up. It is quite heavy which won't help on hills, but shouldn't be that much of a problem on flat roads. What struck me was that it is 21 speed which means that you have a triple chainset on. I'd be willing to bet that you are trying to go faster in the smallest of the 3 chainrings? You want to be on the middle one, or the big one to go faster for a given pedal cadence. Once you have the right ring selected, try a different gear at the back, one which is harder to turn, but not impossibly hard. Aim to be pedalling at a cadence of somewhere between about 60 and 90 rpm, whatever feels best to you at the speed you want to do.

Another thing -  a problem I've had a couple of times is when my brakes have been knocked out of position and are rubbing on a rim all the time I'm riding. That really does slow you down! Lift the front of the bike and spin the wheel. It should spin easily for many seconds before it comes to a stop. Repeat for the back wheel (spin a pedal round with one hand to drive the wheel round).

 

[ray316]

Something doesn't sound right here - 14 mph should be a very easy speed to achieve on a flat road unless it is a windy day.

I'm wondering if you have selected an appropriate gear ratio? It sounds as though you are undergeared if you are pedalling faster than other people who are riding faster than you and you can't keep up.

What gear ratio are you using at that speed? (Count the teeth on the chainring at the front and the sprocket at the back.) From that information, we could get a good idea if your gear choice is part of the problem.

I just looked your bike up. It is quite heavy which won't help on hills, but shouldn't be that much of a problem on flat roads. What struck me was that it is 21 speed which means that you have a triple chainset on. I'd be willing to bet that you are trying to go faster in the smallest of the 3 chainrings? You want to be on the middle one, or the big one to go faster for a given pedal cadence. Once you have the right ring selected, try a different gear at the back, one which is harder to turn, but not impossibly hard. Aim to be pedalling at a cadence of somewhere between about 60 and 90 rpm, whatever feels best to you at the speed you want to do.

Another thing - a problem I've had a couple of times is when my brakes have been knocked out of position and are rubbing on a rim all the time I'm riding. That really does slow you down! Lift the front of the bike and spin the wheel. It should spin easily for many seconds before it comes to a stop. Repeat for the back wheel (spin a pedal round with one hand to drive the wheel round).

Thanks for the replys and l'm taking all your advice onboard...
Colin the gears l use are always the middle front and usually 4 to 6 on the back for flat ground and 2 to 3 on the back for hills...
The brakes are'nt rubbing on the rims, so l presume basically l'm not fit enough on the bike to exceed 14 MPH ...
l would put it on the big chainring at the front but when l select it all it does is try to jump onto the ring so l left it on the middle front ring.
Would or does it make a difference to speed if you get on the large front ring...