Speed difference

Hi
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded my bike
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike eg Giant TCR
3.
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking at the
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bike that
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull my finger out
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjoy my
rides.
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack.
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at.

Thanks
Brad

Brad wrote:
Hi
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded my bike
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike eg Giant TCR
3.
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking at the
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bike that
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull my finger out
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjoy my
rides.
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack.
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at.

Thanks
Brad



I reckon my road bike is only a couple of kmh faster than the MTB (and
my MTB is a piece of crap), but the biggest difference is that beign the
better part of 10kg lighter the roadie is better up hills and on longer
rides. I thought a roadie would make me faster, and then thought a
decent roadie would make me faster but both times I think I would have
been better off just training more if the sole aim was to go faster. The
biggest difference they made was I enjoyed riding more.

Anyone who thinks you need a road bike to keep up with a group ride
needs to check out TimC on the purple and orange monstrosity, sat
comfortably in the group on the flat and left me for dead on the climbs.
The secret appears to be ride more, not ride more expensively.

DaveB

Brad Wrote:
Hi
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded m
bike
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike e
Giant TCR
3.
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking at the
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bik
that
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull my finge
out
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjo
my
rides.


no idea about a Cypress but I average about 22k on my commute on m
"hybrid", 88 steel road frame & bars, cantis, MTB triple & cluster
velocity dyads with 32mm tires and rack+bag.
On the OCR0, my bunch averages about 30 for a marginally hilly 1hou
loop.
I started with SPDs, now KeOs. Single sided pedals take some time t
get used to.
Simply riding with a bunch raises your speed too

--
aeek

"Brad" wrote in message
...
Hi
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded my bike
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike eg Giant
TCR
3.
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking at the
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bike that
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull my finger out
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjoy my
rides.
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack.
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at.

Ride more, ride up more hills. This will make a more significant difference
to your speed and stamina. And save you some dollars. Of course get a cool
bike if you really want it.

It brings to mind my friend Roger who only began cycling in his early 40s. A
few years later, when he broke his forearm real bad in a penny farthing
stack, he found the only bike he could ride easily was his daughter's single
speed lady's frame. He rode this on one of the early Around the Bay in a Day
rides - 210 km. Most of the time the roadies in the peletons were totally
stumped as he came up to do his turn down the Prince's Hwy. He did the whole
ride in a good time.

Keep cycling

Cheers
Peter

DaveB Wrote:
Brad wrote
H
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded m
bik
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike e
Giant TC
3
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking a
th
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bik
tha
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull m
finger ou
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjo
m
rides
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at

Thank
Bra



I reckon my road bike is only a couple of kmh faster than the MTB (an
my MTB is a piece of crap), but the biggest difference is that beig
th
better part of 10kg lighter the roadie is better up hills and on longe
rides. I thought a roadie would make me faster, and then thought
decent roadie would make me faster but both times I think I would hav
been better off just training more if the sole aim was to go faster
Th
biggest difference they made was I enjoyed riding more

Anyone who thinks you need a road bike to keep up with a group rid
needs to check out TimC on the purple and orange monstrosity, sa
comfortably in the group on the flat and left me for dead on th
climbs
The secret appears to be ride more, not ride more expensively

DaveB
Oh dear, a fit nerd. They're rather scary, but I think perhaps I no
know why I haven't been out to BR yet. You let people riding thos
unmentionables beat you up climbs. He's obviously just taking the ****
Sort out a strategy to a): Get him to ride a less shameful bike b): blo
him into the weeds. There's a hundred years of Italian tradition a
stake, man!

M "Mt Macedon for me, it's not quite greenwedge commuterland (yet)"

--
mfhor

Peter Signorini Wrote:
"Brad" wrote in messag
..
H
can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded m
bik
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike e
Gian
TC
3
I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking a
th
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bik
tha
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull m
finger ou
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjo
m
rides
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at

Ride more, ride up more hills. This will make a more significan
differenc
to your speed and stamina. And save you some dollars. Of course get
coo
bike if you really want it

It brings to mind my friend Roger who only began cycling in his earl
40s.
few years later, when he broke his forearm real bad in a penny farthin
stack, he found the only bike he could ride easily was his daughter'
singl
speed lady's frame. He rode this on one of the early Around the Bay i
a Da
rides - 210 km. Most of the time the roadies in the peletons wer
totall
stumped as he came up to do his turn down the Prince's Hwy. He did th
whol
ride in a good time

Keep cyclin

Cheer
Peter
That would be Roger Petersen, late of MRBTC?

Small world . . . I had to sneer at him LOTS to make him give up th
Dunlop Volleys, but all in a good cause . . . Now he rides a Birdy
. . oh, the shame . . .

M"ex-'tourist'"

--
mfhor

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 10:44:18 GMT, Brad wrote:

can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I upgraded my bike
from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle of the road, road bike eg Giant TCR
3.

It depends on whether you're talking about flats or hills, and how you have
your current bike set up.

On the flat the lower rolling resistance of narrow road tyres and your more
aerodynamic position on a road bike will help, but you may already be using
fairly narrow, smooth tyres and a fairly low position. Mostly likely
position will make the big difference here. On hills the lower weight of a
road bike (inversely proportional to price!) is the important factor.

I currently only travel at about 23km/h on my rides and looking at the
speeds on some of the rides around Brisbane I need to: a) buy a bike that
will help me get to those 32km/h ave speeds ,b) need to pull my finger out
more or c) go back to running for fittness even though I really enjoy my
rides.
I don't want to be a hero just someone who can ride with the pack.
Would just like an approximate difference just to see where I'm at.

If your aim is to ride on the flat with groups at 32km/h, you shouldn't
need anything very fancy in a road bike - plenty of hybrid and MTB riders
can manage that sort of speed in a group. If you want to keep up in the
hills, spend some more to get a lighter one if there's not much scope
for weight loss in the engine :-)

The main thing is not to get discouraged by going out with groups that are
far too quick - there should be slower group rides in your area that can
help you develop group skills while you get fitter for the faster groups.

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

"mfhor" wrote in message
...

That would be Roger Petersen, late of MRBTC?

One and the same. He now rides with MBTC. See him on the website banner at
www.mbtc.org.au.

Small world . . . I had to sneer at him LOTS to make him give up the
Dunlop Volleys, but all in a good cause . . . Now he rides a Birdy .
. oh, the shame . . .

Yes, I've tried to convince him to go clipless, to no avail. Roger is a
committed Luddite, except when he sees a real use for something new ie. the
Birdy. He's now back on the tourer as the Birdy has cracked up a couple of
times under the load

M"ex-'tourist'"H

Come along to the MBTC meeting one day to check out the activities - every
Thursday 8.00pm, at Trades Hall 1st floor, follow the MBTC logo signs.
Always a guest speaker, slides or informative presentation, and the bar's
just down the corridor. And we also do MTB rides (aahh, maybe I shouldn't
mention that in the light of recent MTBO events), Audax, winery visits, you
name it.

Cheers
Peter


--
mfhor

Brad wrote:

can someody tell me how much quicker I could cycle if I
upgraded my bike from a hybride Giant Cypress to a middle
of the road, road bike eg Giant TCR 3.

I'm afraid to get that sort of speed increase, you'll have to g
Italian. You see, the speed increase is proportional to the invers
square of the money you blow on the bike, as shown in the followin
chart:

Bike cost: Speed:
$500 23km/h
$1000 25km/h
$2000 27km/h
$4000 29km/h
$8000 31km/h

So you're looking to spend _at least_ $10K to get up to a 32km/
average speed, and the only way to do that is to go all Italian. Onl
the Italians know how to really gouge when it comes to bikes.

Now some people on here might try to tell you that it's not about th
bike. They're only doing so to prevent you from going faster tha
them. Sure, they might ride an old clunker on their Sunday mornin
ride and blow everyone else away, but the real truth is that they'v
got half a dozen ultra-expensive bikes hidden in the shed at home.

Oh, and make sure there are no more than a dozen spokes in each wheel.
Getting wheels with more spokes than this only means they don't break a
often, so you shell out less dough in the long run, and hence don't g
as fast.

Regards,

Suzy (tongue firmly in cheek

--
suzyj

Peter Signorini Wrote:
"mfhor" wrote in messag
..

That would be Roger Petersen, late of MRBTC

One and the same. He now rides with MBTC. See him on the website banne
a
www.mbtc.org.au

Small world . . . I had to sneer at him LOTS to make him give up th
Dunlop Volleys, but all in a good cause . . . Now he rides a Bird

. oh, the shame . .

Yes, I've tried to convince him to go clipless, to no avail. Roger is
committed Luddite, except when he sees a real use for something new ie
th
Birdy. He's now back on the tourer as the Birdy has cracked up a coupl
o
times under the loa

M"ex-'tourist'"

Come along to the MBTC meeting one day to check out the activities
ever
Thursday 8.00pm, at Trades Hall 1st floor, follow the MBTC logo signs
Always a guest speaker, slides or informative presentation, and th
bar'
just down the corridor. And we also do MTB rides (aahh, maybe
shouldn'
mention that in the light of recent MTBO events), Audax, winery visits
yo
name it

Cheer
Pete


-
mfho

I recently "in the last few months" made a significant upgrade, afte
spending a few years on my Monza, I went to a Carbon Fibre road bike
because I plan to do some serious kilometres this year for Half Ironma
training (sorry triathlon speak) I went with if for the smoother/easie
ride, every ride now I feel 100% fresher than I did on my beginning t
detoriate badly Monza, but that was the main reason, yes it is "heaps
lighter for the hills and I have noticed the difference incredibly!

it almost feels like the bike is rolling "up" the hilll unlike the ol
bike which wanted to roll down the hill

I have also noticed I can reach higher speeds on a sprint on the ne
bike and can maintan a higher speed on the new bike for equivalen
effort on the old bike, but I made a quite significant upgrade and it
all been worth it

BONUS SIDE EFFECTS of new bike;
- 3-4 km/h cruising speed increase
- able to obtain higher sprint speeds
- I have increased fitness (more riding at higher levels)

that was what "I" got out of it..

--
MikeyO

Live in Melbourne, soon to be married, 33, 6', 76 kgs, enjoy bein
active, whenever possible in any form.