Tips for improving on speed..

[SquareDaff]

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...

It would make a huge difference - You'd probably be able to get up to 17mph from 14 without increasing cadence or rear selection.

Onto the ring? Do you mean it doesn't engage on the outer (big) ring or it jumps beyond it. If the former you need to adjust the cable tension on your shifter (probably) so that the cable pulls the front arm across a little further (basically it's not travelling far enough to move the chain at the moment). If the latter - you need to alter the adjustment screws on your front arm so that it doesn't throw the chain off!!

 

[ttcycle]

in response to your question the larger chainring can really make a difference to your speed but make sure you work your muscles up to it first!

Another way to get speedier is to firstly as others have said, get a once a week 35mile slow, steady paced ride in to build your overall stamina but on occasion in the commute - pick a road sign ahead or a traffic light and sprint and push yourself to go as fast as you can up to that point and then relax and pedal easily. Sprinting at intervals like that pushes you to work harder and to adjust but make sure you don't it all the time as it can be tiring.

 

[ray316]

It would make a huge difference - You'd probably be able to get up to 17mph from 14 without increasing cadence or rear selection.

Onto the ring? Do you mean it doesn't engage on the outer (big) ring or it jumps beyond it. If the former you need to adjust the cable tension on your shifter (probably) so that the cable pulls the front arm across a little further (basically it's not travelling far enough to move the chain at the moment). If the latter - you need to alter the adjustment screws on your front arm so that it doesn't throw the chain off!!

No it doesn;t engage on the outer ring.....You mention you need to adjust the cable tension on your shifter..
Is there any video clips/information on how to adjust the front rings...

 

[scott s10]

find a flat piece of road and absolutely beam it for a minute or 2 . do this over and over through the weeks and youll go well fast eventually

 

[zigzag]

if you commute, try to race everyone on your way. if someone overtakes you (but this shouldn't happen after some time) get in the drops, get out of saddle, pedal as hard as you can, catch up and don't let them get away. if you calculate your gears, you should be running at around 75" on flat for a decent speed. to start from stationary the best gear is around 50". so get those gears right, change quickly between them and you'll be quicker straight away. give it some effort, do some hilly rides (as quick as you can) and in a little while you'll be the one to catch.

 

[gmac190]

I wouldn't worry about speed too much at the start, I have only started cycling this year and I used to always track my progress via runkeeper on my iphone and found I was concentrating more on that than my cycling technique which meant I was burning myself out too quick.


I binned the runkeeper and took more interest in pacing myself over the longer runs and slowly built up my distance/frequency of my rides. I enjoyed it so much more than when I was tracking my rides.

I am now averaging over 200 miles a month and I am now confident in my technique that I used runkeeper the other day and my pace etc had shot up without me even paying that much attention to it.

I suppose what I am saying is that, as others have suggested, cycle more and pay attention to technique and the results will most definitely come.

 

[ray316]

if you commute, try to race everyone on your way. if someone overtakes you (but this shouldn't happen after some time) get in the drops, get out of saddle, pedal as hard as you can, catch up and don't let them get away. if you calculate your gears, you should be running at around 75" on flat for a decent speed. to start from stationary the best gear is around 50". so get those gears right, change quickly between them and you'll be quicker straight away. give it some effort, do some hilly rides (as quick as you can) and in a little while you'll be the one to catch.

Good tips that l will use....Thanks
Zigzag what is 75" on flat and 50" .

Also any info on how l can adjust the front rings so l can get onto the large ring..

 

[jimboalee]

In my experience, some motorists don't appreciate how fast a cyclist can move so misjudge their emergence from side roads.

Look in the paper or newsagent for a crappy old heavy bike. Make it as difficult to ride as possible ( under inflated knobbly tyres and a couple of bottle dynamos powering the lamps ). Make it an upright riding position and wear a jacket that doubles as a parachute. Fit a rack or a platform made of coathangers and bungee a weightlifting disk to it.

What you want is a bike that is the ultimate bitch to ride. Put SPDs on it and pedal the whole revolution.

Your progress round town and through the countryside will be dreadfully slow, but this gives you time to admire the scenery so the ride will be interesting.
Your power outlay will be dreadfully high, but this is what you need to build muscle.

Buy a large hat, false beard and dark spectacles.

 

[2Loose]

In my experience, some motorists don't appreciate how fast a cyclist can move so misjudge their emergence from side roads.

Look in the paper or newsagent for a crappy old heavy bike. Make it as difficult to ride as possible ( under inflated knobbly tyres and a couple of bottle dynamos powering the lamps ). Make it an upright riding position and wear a jacket that doubles as a parachute. Fit a rack or a platform made of coathangers and bungee a weightlifting disk to it.

What you want is a bike that is the ultimate bitch to ride. Put SPDs on it and pedal the whole revolution.

Your progress round town and through the countryside will be dreadfully slow, but this gives you time to admire the scenery so the ride will be interesting.
Your power outlay will be dreadfully high, but this is what you need to build muscle.

Buy a large hat, false beard and dark spectacles.

LoL Jimbo, nice training idea. I should order a new hat\nose\beard and specs for when I dig the mtb back out over winter, should make me much faster next spring.


Perhaps the main issue is the chain not jumping onto the big ring. There are two screws on the front dérailleur which stop the chain from jumping off the small and big rings - ie. either extreme. If your front dérailleur is adjusted correctly then you should easily be able to switch between big and small front chain rings. Big ring = slower pedalling but more distance travelled per pedal stroke.

Check out >Adjusting Front Mech<

EDIT: 75" and 50" are the gear ratio's needed to travel 75 and 50 inches per complete pedal revolution....but that's a whole different lesson. Get your gears set up right and get use to them first. One thing at a time

 

[Norry1]

Seems to me that the answer is simple. I don't think gears have anything to do with it.

You need to cycle more and you need to have periods of overload cycling mixed with lots of easy, steady cycling. How much overload depends on what distance you want to ride faster over,

Martin

 

[ray316]

In my experience, some motorists don't appreciate how fast a cyclist can move so misjudge their emergence from side roads.

Look in the paper or newsagent for a crappy old heavy bike. Make it as difficult to ride as possible ( under inflated knobbly tyres and a couple of bottle dynamos powering the lamps ). Make it an upright riding position and wear a jacket that doubles as a parachute. Fit a rack or a platform made of coathangers and bungee a weightlifting disk to it.

What you want is a bike that is the ultimate bitch to ride. Put SPDs on it and pedal the whole revolution.

Your progress round town and through the countryside will be dreadfully slow, but this gives you time to admire the scenery so the ride will be interesting.
Your power outlay will be dreadfully high, but this is what you need to build muscle.

Buy a large hat, false beard and dark spectacles.

Don't give me ideas....

 

[jimboalee]

Remember the front mech travel is such that when you shift to the big ring, the mech cage goes a little bit further than directly above the ring.
When you release the lever, the mech returns to directly above the ring.

When you push the lever to lift the chain, the chain lifts and if you hold the lever at its full travel, the mech cage continues to clash the chain. Release the lever and alls well.

Set the low limit screw with the cable slack so the cage is just clear of the chain when the chain is on small ring, largest sprocket. Pull the cable through by hand and tighten the cable clamp. Operate the lever and adjust the cable tension so the cage travel is correct. Adjust the top limit screw as described above.

 

[jarushby]

EDIT: 75" and 50" are the gear ratio's needed to travel 75 and 50 inches per complete pedal revolution....but that's a whole different lesson. Get your gears set up right and get use to them first. One thing at a time

Not quite, 50" and 75" are the equivalent sized wheel using a 1 pedal rotation = 1 wheel rotation. using gear inches relates back to comparing a geared bike with the equivalent wheel size of a penny farthing.

As you said, "A whole different lesson".

 

[amaferanga]

Threshold intervals will give you the best band for your buck so to speak. So find a suitable stretch of road and ride at an intensity that you can just hold for 20 minutes. Then have 10 minutes easy pedalling and repeat. If you find you can't hold the intensity to the end of the second interval then ease back a little on the first one the next time you do it. Having an HRM (and knowing you ACTUAL maximum heart rate - don't rely on generic formulas) will help you gauge intensity better - you'll probably find that 80-85% HRmax is tough to begin with, but most people can eventually do 2 x 20 minutes above 90% HRmax. Don't go off to hard at the start though - allow your HR a few minutes to come up to where you want it.

Doing 1 minute or 2 minute sprints ain't gonna help much (compared to 2 x 20 minute threshold intervals) if you're trying to improve your speed over long rides.


P.s. You really don't need to worry about gear inches. Pick a gear that feels right to you, not a gear recommended on an internet forum

 

[vorsprung]

The three bits of equipment that will make your bike faster are

1) Track pump. If your tyres are at a good pressure you go faster.

2) Clipless pedals. As you can do power on the upstroke and downstroke, max power to the road is increased. Slightly faster on short uphills for instance. The main problem I have with these is that I now have 3 pairs of cycling shoes and it doesn't seem like enough

3) Fast tyres. Switching from a cheap tyre like an Ultragator Skin to a fast racing tyre like a Michelin Pro Race gives lower rolling resistance and superior cornering. Tyres like this make your bike seem like it costs £1000 more, so are good value for an extra £10 per tyre