How fast do road bikes go

So not just pushing harder with the legs - you need "more" of it to go to propulsion and decrease losses. Whether that's losses to rolling resistance of tyre tread, aero losses, or technique doesn't matter. Carrying less weight certainly helps, whether its the bike weight, your gear weight, or your internal weight. I'm somewhat reminded of this Porsche vs VW Beetle race. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. The short answer is that: Yes a well sorted road bike can increase your speed, if it is done right; That said, you can optimize a CX bike to be very similar in speed to a dedicated road bike; and You need to get a number of pieces right regardless of the bike category to make higher speeds easier.

Setup details I believe that had a large impact include: Panniers - like pulling sails through the wind. I now use a small roll bag mounted to the front bars backpack would be faster, but I don't like carrying things on my back. I have been fixing flexibility issues and have dropped my cockpit a couple inches down and extended it by an inch.

This lets you present less of your chest to the wind i. Width of your handle bar also impacts your frontal area. I keep the width the same as my shoulders which actually feels best on a low slung cockpit. Tires - Puncture proof tires roll slow. I am running performance tires set up tubeless so that I can still get some puncture resistance while going fast. This provided a really noticeable reduction in rolling resistance.

Wheels - regular box section wheels add noticeable drag at higher speeds, I went to some moderately aero wheels this year and matched the correct tire width to the rim for least aero drag. Clothing - anything even slightly baggy is like dragging along little speed sucking parachutes. I once again wear tighter road clothing as I used to many years ago. Finally, while not directly attributed to the bike setup other factors that can affect the ability of your body to do work: Sleep, eating, physiology e.

You need to have all these in order as well to maintain high average speeds. Improve this answer. Remember converting between drops and flat bars is one of the more expensive changes on a bike. Would not recommend doing - keep it as-is and buy a bike like you want. Criggie the OP has already gone the other way so might still have parts. Hence the converting back to drop!

Yes I still have the drop bars - took them off because the Tektro Lyra brakes are a death trap waiting to happen - I have slick tyres, schwalbe marathon plus. I also have mud guard and a rack fitted. Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. Your health is the most important factor, so only remove these essentials for short journeys.

Any kind of road debris is a concern and brake wear should be monitored. As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. We may also earn small commissions on purchases from other retail websites. This site receives compensation for qualified sales and banner clicks referred from this site. Learn More. Hey Guys! I love bikes can you tell? I used to race them back when I was younger and had more free time. Now I just ride for pleasure and work on bikes when one of the local bike shops needs an extra hand for the day or a bike race needs an extra wrench.

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A big crack in the road could slow you down, but you can maintain your speed if you know how to hop over it. If you have no clue what could be around the next turn, you should take it more slowly.

So, stay safe and be ready to stop quickly. Remember to look well ahead of you and plan out how to get past it. For example, there is a section of one of my routes that goes over a road with a rough patch. Once I had ridden it a few times, I found a path through it that let me speed along with only a few bumps. While some people enjoy riding alone, there is plenty of evidence to show that riding in a group will result in a faster ride.

Drafting is when you get close behind another rider while riding quickly. The rider in the front will cut through the air and make it easier for you to follow. When a team shares the front position over the course of the ride, everyone is able to go faster.

That being said, make sure to help the group and do your fair share to leading. When riding with a group, you also get the benefit of friendly competition, which is sure to come up at some point. Whether competing with others or with ourselves, we can use that sense of competition to drive everyone to perform better than last time. So, we all do our best to speed up.

I hope that this empowers you to know what your average speed is really saying about your ride, and to have other metrics to judge your ride by and be confident in. I make content that empowers people to enjoy riding their bikes.

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Go Slow Around People Riding on a popular path means that you need to be aware of walkers, pets, other cyclists, and incredibly unpredictable small children. Cloudy vs. Sunny: Hurt And Help Clouds on a hot day or sun on a cold day can be a lifesaver. Equipment To Speed You Up The difference between a rusty old bike and a brand new carbon fiber superbike with all the bells and whistles is night and day, but there are some more subtle factors that can make a difference in between.

Computers Can Influence You This one may be a bit less intuitive, but, depending on your riding style, having a computer or not will either speed you up or slow you down. Lighter Bike and Equipment Weight Makes Things Easier The lighter your bike, the less energy it takes to get up to speed and to go up hills. An incredibly expensive bike can get down to about 15 lbs, but saving that much weight will really only help if you are a professional For reference, a mountain bike can be closer to 30 lbs with nothing on it.

Your Gearing Matters More Than You Think We all have a tendency to pedal at a certain speed, called a cadence, regardless of what gear we are in. If you are an endurance rider, think about how far you ride along with how fast you went. Gender Makes A Small Difference Thanks to different hormones in males and females, we form muscles differently under the same conditions.

Familiarity Helps If you have no clue what could be around the next turn, you should take it more slowly. Group Rides Are Great. Thanks for being here! The easiest way to protect your pants is to roll your right pant leg up. The most protective way is to pack them into a bag and wear a pair