Will a Roadie be faster than my Hybrid

npowell28

Hi all,

First topic so please be kind. I use my GT Transeo 3 for cycling to work. The journey is 17 miles up with some decent hills. There is a little bit that is in the town but nothing major. I do the journey in just under an hour.

My question is simple, will a road bike which is probably lighter, has a different riding position and gearing, make my journey any faster. The guy from Halfords doesn't think it's going to make any drastic difference. He reckoned about 1 or 2 mph faster for my average speed. I thought i'd better ask the experts.

Thanks in advance

Neil :?

chronyx

17mph average speed is pretty good, so in fact I guess you will either be quite a bit faster, or it won't make a difference! Probably faster though.

cullen_bay

your asking whether it will make a difference, not how much difference. yes a roady will be faster, they open your lungs and muscles in a way hybrids arent designed for. depending on what bike you go for, the advantages will be more/less, try some out at your lbs and see for yourself!

npowell28

Thanks guys. I think i'd just like to me that bit faster on the flats. I'm considering my works Cycle to Work scheme, and to be honest i a bit new to bikes. Which makes are reliable. I've heard a lot of good things about the Boardman bikes.

npowell28

oh i looking to spend about £700?

chronyx

I spent that on my SCR2, shoes, pedals, Altura (I think) jacket, shorts...

That should be more than enough money.

ris

i changed from a sit-up airnimal with 25mm road tyres to a specialized allez sport and found my 12mile commute time only dropped by maybe 5mins. on a bad day there was almost no difference in time at all! my average speed maybe went up 1-2 mph (15-16 up to 16-17, perhaps).

i guess i need to work a bit harder to get the most from the road bike, and stop pootling along looking at the scenery!

the boardman's seem to have a good rep, i looked at the giant range but ended up with the allez because they were available and knocked down to £600

npowell28

ris wrote:

i changed from a sit-up airnimal with 25mm road tyres to a specialized allez sport and found my 12mile commute time only dropped by maybe 5mins. on a bad day there was almost no difference in time at all! my average speed maybe went up 1-2 mph (15-16 up to 16-17, perhaps).

i guess i need to work a bit harder to get the most from the road bike, and stop pootling along looking at the scenery!

the boardman's seem to have a good rep, i looked at the giant range but ended up with the allez because they were available and knocked down to £600

Ris, do you find the road bike any easier to ride, i mean on hill etc. I'm guessing it must be lighter?

npowell28

ris wrote:

i changed from a sit-up airnimal with 25mm road tyres to a specialized allez sport and found my 12mile commute time only dropped by maybe 5mins. on a bad day there was almost no difference in time at all! my average speed maybe went up 1-2 mph (15-16 up to 16-17, perhaps).

i guess i need to work a bit harder to get the most from the road bike, and stop pootling along looking at the scenery!

the boardman's seem to have a good rep, i looked at the giant range but ended up with the allez because they were available and knocked down to £600

Ris, do you find the road bike any easier to ride, i mean on hill etc. I'm guessing it must be lighter?

biondino

ris wrote:

i changed from a sit-up airnimal with 25mm road tyres to a specialized allez sport and found my 12mile commute time only dropped by maybe 5mins. on a bad day there was almost no difference in time at all! my average speed maybe went up 1-2 mph (15-16 up to 16-17, perhaps).

So basically you were going approximately 10% faster and you're dissatisfied with that??

coffeecup

I changed from a £500 mountain bike to a full carbon bianchi road bike and it knocked about 4-5 mins off my 9 miles commute. I'm averaging 20-21mph.

I was sick of being overtaken by roadies and decided if you can't beat them, join them. I haven't looked back!!!

The last mile and a half on my way home is a solid up hill slog and I think this is where I notice the time difference, but the overall journey is quicker and seems easier. Also, the drop bars are narrower so I can take a few more risks in the traffic

It depends what set up you have at the minute I suppose. I already had slick tyres on my mountain bike and spd pedals. (These knocked a few minutes off in their own right when I put them on, particularly the pedals!!)

Having splashed the cash on a decent road bike I spend a bit more time maintaining it than I did with my mountain bike and this probably helps the time difference as well.....

coffeecup

oh as well, it mightn't make so much of a difference if the traffic is bad on your commute. Traffic isn't too bad for most of my journey so i can get the head down and go for it

ris

npowell28 wrote:

Ris, do you find the road bike any easier to ride, i mean on hill etc. I'm guessing it must be lighter?

i don't think the airnimal weighs much more, it wouldn't even surprise me if was actually less than the spesh as it is a folder with smaller wheels and frame.

it is certainly much more comfortable to ride the allez on longer rides, although it took a while to get used to being more stretched out, and i'm still not completely conforable on the drops.

biondino - you make a good point, and it's not that i am dissatisfied as such, as perhaps my expectations were unrealistic! i think that i underestimated how similar the airnimal was to a road bike in key places like weight and tyres/running and was anticipating a bigger change in my commute time.

the reality is that the bit of my commute that is through town/traffic lights etc probably benefitted from the airnimal as the smaller wheels are a bit quicker to get going. and as i suggested previously - i'll only get out what i put in!

always_tyred

biondino wrote:

ris wrote:

i changed from a sit-up airnimal with 25mm road tyres to a specialized allez sport and found my 12mile commute time only dropped by maybe 5mins. on a bad day there was almost no difference in time at all! my average speed maybe went up 1-2 mph (15-16 up to 16-17, perhaps).

So basically you were going approximately 10% faster and you're dissatisfied with that??

Yes, 10% is a lot. If you were cycling past someone, or being passed by someone going that much faster, you'd think "lucky sod with those skinny tyres".

And in 5 mins each way is nearly an hour a week!! Every four and a half years, you will have an extra week of your life to do with what you want!!

I'll stop now.

npowell28

Thanks guys,

Yes i think 10% extra is a lot. I was probably trying to talk myself out of spending extra cash. I think i'll be able to benefit more by putting some chunky tyres back on Transeo and taking it for a spin on my local dirt tracks. I hate it when my kids go down them and i can't follow.

il_principe

The bike'll help of course - but remember the engine is the most important thing. A raodbike will be faster, it'll be much faster if you train properly.

TheBrogueadier

Even different componants on the same type of bike can have a massive effect..

Just switched from the Tri bike (2007 aluminium aero frame w carbon forks, semi-aero wheels; though cheap as chips Bontrager Select Aero things, 9 speed S-105 gearing) to a battered 1980s steel framed Atala road bike (it's a sneaky trick; looks battered but hides Campag Record hubs with Omega Rims and 6 speed Campag Super Record gearing) and upped my average speed from 15-16 to 17-18, slightly higher on exceptionaly good days - 10 mile commute.

cjcp

Not a direct comparison, but in the summer, I'll be 10 mins faster on my road bike. During late autum/winter, I'm finding it's less because the road conditions mean that I'm hold back more on the road bike, but still putting more effort in on the mtb to reach a similar speed, so I'm getting a good work out when I use the mtb.

cougie

Put a pair of tribars on the hybrid and if you can use them - that would give you the best increase. Depends on the commute tho.

biondino

cougie wrote:

Put a pair of tribars on the hybrid and if you can use them - that would give you the best increase. Depends on the commute tho.

But you'd look a right berk because you'd have tri bars on a hybrid.

Jamey

Tri bars for commuting are just dangerous IMO.