How much difference does the bike make?

KevGuinness

Hi folks just something I was pondering.

As someone of limited funds last summer I purchased a cheap road bike from halfords (did not trust the two second hand bikes I viewed in the same price range so thought at least the warranty gives me piece of mind since I am clueless)
After riding for about two weeks before weather got terrible (and not having funds for all the wet/cold weather gear as well as being too lazy I only manage about once a month terribly short run untill the weather started turning this year.

Anyway, enough blether to my point- today I done a varied 33 mile run with an avg speed of 15mph (for me that's good enough to leave me staggering a bit when I got off the bike!) and I was wondering- if I had somehow found 1k to splurge on a bike, how much difference would it have made compared to my £180 halfords job? The bike in question was labelled a tdf2009 limited edition, and the spec I saved as a word doc (think this is correct) is
* Approximate Weight (KG): 11.4
* Chainset: CRANK PROWHEEL GLORIA-421C, 50/36T
* Exact Frame Size: 54CM
* Forks: FORK AERO BLADED FORK
* Frame Colour: Yellow/black
* Frame Material: Aluminium
* Frame Size (cm): 51 - 54
* Frame-: 7005 ALLOY
* Front Brake: TEKTRO 510A, ALLOY BLACK
* Front Mech: SHIMANO FD-A050
* Gear Shifters: SUNRACE R80
* Gears: 16
* Gender: Mens
* Handle Bars: KALLOY BLACK
* Headset: 1 1/8" AHEAD SET BLACK
* Hubs: Ritchey Pro
* Number of Gears: 20
* Pedals: Resin with clips
* Quick Release Wheels: Yes
* Rear Brake: TEKTRO 510A, ALLOY BLACK
* Rear Mech: TEKTRO 510A, ALLOY BLACK
* Rear Shock: NA
* Rims: DBR-1, DOUBLE WALL ALLOY BLACK
* Saddle: CARRERA
* Seatpost: BLACK, 27.2x300mm
* Stem: ALLOY BLACK
* Suspension: Rigid
* Tyre size: 23c
* Tyres: TIRES INNOVA
* Wheel size: 700c

so what difference the money, go on make me jealous all you people with disposable incomes and some clue as to what you are doing
p.s. sorry if halfords is considered a naughty word on here, I know I uttered a few with their service at the time

rjh299

A 1k bike would feel a million miles away from your current ride and would make you faster. But keep enjoying what your doing and upgrade when you can afford and feel like you really need to.
Not really possible to say 'it will make you 5mph faster'

thel33ter

You would save around 3 kilos off the weight, so that would make you faster overall, as would better wheels ect.

The main difference would be the frame though, it would feel much more responsive and alive, compared to a cheap alloy frame.

amaferanga

It'd feel and work better, but I don't think it'd really make you much faster. Getting faster is free - just ride your bike more often.

KevGuinness

amaferanga wrote:

It'd feel and work better, but I don't think it'd really make you much faster. Getting faster is free - just ride your bike more often.

but that hurts more

lol, cheers for responses folks.
If it felt more responsive it might make me more confident of cornering at speed, I am a bit of a nutter with regards personal safety at times but this thing scares me shitless if I try going any direction other than straight at speed. I aint that new that I should be that scared!

Still enjoying it despite my basic equipment, the Mrs is enjoying my newly slimmer waist and slightly more muscular legs
(no jokes about her enjoying my inferior equipment necessary here)

balthazar

KevGuinness wrote:

If it felt more responsive it might make me more confident of cornering at speed, I am a bit of a nutter with regards personal safety at times but this thing scares me shitless if I try going any direction other than straight at speed. I aint that new that I should be that scared!

You aren't likely to see any difference there. An expensive bike will be lighter, less rattly and probably more durable, but unless there's something enormously wrong with your current bike, it won't be much different around corners. High speed cornering is primarily a psychological game, and has little to do with the bike.

thel33ter

balthazar wrote:

KevGuinness wrote:

If it felt more responsive it might make me more confident of cornering at speed, I am a bit of a nutter with regards personal safety at times but this thing scares me shitless if I try going any direction other than straight at speed. I aint that new that I should be that scared!

You aren't likely to see any difference there. An expensive bike will be lighter, less rattly and probably more durable, but unless there's something enormously wrong with your current bike, it won't be much different around corners. High speed cornering is primarily a psychological game, and has little to do with the bike.

I kind of disagree, I rode a mates Lapierre Zesty today, it was set up completely wrong for me but it still felt amazing through singletrack, in the air and in general quicker than my Kona, which isn't a bottom end bike by any means.

balthazar

thel33ter wrote:

I kind of disagree, I rode a mates Lapierre Zesty today, it was set up completely wrong for me but it still felt amazing through singletrack, in the air and in general quicker than my Kona, which isn't a bottom end bike by any means.

Do you just "kind of" disagree, or "actually" disagree?! Either way, I think you're talking about mountain bikes, ridden on loose ground. The subject at hand is road bikes on road: you're either riding, or fallen off - there's no slip transition over which you have any control.

"Handling" is something of a misnomer with reference to road bikes, as its habitat is the subtle environment of controlled semi-grip that racing cars and mountain bikes can experience. Road riders experience no such thing, because they're sliding along the ground and horribly damaged if the tyre grip threshold is ever exceeded. Consequently, nearly all road riders corner much slower than they could (a sensible option, given the awful alternative), which makes discussion of "on-the-limit" behaviour, with respect to road bikes, a bit silly: nobody except the very unlucky ever experienced it.

antfly

The easiest way to go quicker is to get better tyres.

KevGuinness

Balthazar I think there is a difference I had a friend try my bike out for a ride (his usual bike is a Giant defy 1 with some upgrades) and he hated mine with a passion
said uphill was a mare due to its weight and downhill was dodgy as he reports the same as me- not having confidence when pointing the front in that it was stable and the back didn't try to slide around too much. In his case he seemed to think my lack of clipless peddles may make a difference to that but he did say he just did not feel as confident pointing the nose as he thought he should.

Anyfly, better tyres or clipless the best way to go? Not sure if I have cash for either but the Mrs may treat me at my birthday so not sure what's best to ask for

nochekmate

I wouldn't spend £1K on a bike of that spec - you could get sooo much better and instantly lose some 3Kg from the quoted 11.4Kg!

KevGuinness

nochekmate wrote:

I wouldn't spend £1K on a bike of that spec - you could get sooo much better and instantly lose some 3Kg from the quoted 11.4Kg!

I spent £180, question is how much of a difference to my weekend runs would it make if I had spent 1k

antfly

Wow, that is a cheap bike. I would say you would just enjoy it a lot more on a decent bike.
Tyres would help but you can`t really make a silk purse out of a sow`s ear.
I would say the minimum is about £500 to spend for a half-decent, new road bike. Sorry.

Anonymous

The bike makes a massive difference!

I did a local route of 6.8 miles from my house before I broke my leg last year, it took me 1hr 10 mins. When I tried it with a bike recently it was just over 20 mins!

KevGuinness

Nap, I agree but I found an even faster way- I put the bike in the car and drove the route, done in practically a blink of an eye!

mattward1979

I found going from a cheap MTB to a (arguably) decent road bike didnt immediately add certain MPH to my outings, but made them far more enjoyable, and you get "more" out of the bike for the same effort.

And time in the saddle = better at riding. So a speed increase is natural!

Lillywhite

rjh299 wrote:

A 1k bike would feel a million miles away from your current ride and would make you faster. But keep enjoying what your doing and upgrade when you can afford and feel like you really need to.
Not really possible to say 'it will make you 5mph faster'

I agree. Law of diminishing returns above the 1k level, however,

danowat

There are way too many variables to say just how fast a bike costing £x would make you, but IMO, it does make a difference.

Better, lighter components require less effort to move, also, there is a big phsycological effect of riding a "nice" bike.

paul64

If you are riding once a month then other bikes are irrelevant until you really know this one. Ride it 3 or 4 times a week, really get to know it, all those minor adjustments which maximise your comfort. Ride for 30 mins, ride for 2 hours, flat courses, hills, learn to look after it and how to adjust / maintain. Then expensive bikes will mean much more to you when you decide its time to move up.

In the meantime, if you simply get fit you will find that perverse pleasure some roadies have of breezing past people who have expensive bikes and all the gear without breaking into a sweat.

CarleyB

Ive noticed a difference going from a MTB to a road bike. I wouldn't say I am faster yet as I am still getting to know my new bike, but once I've tweaked all the things that bug me I'm sure I will get faster.
Its so nice to ride something nice and light.

bobtbuilder

You would certainly be faster, as the bike would be considerably (3-4kg) lighter than your current bike,

Not sure what that would translate to in terms of mph though. :?:

MikeWW

Get a computer for your current bike plus some clipless pedals and shoes.
Put 2000 miles under your belt and then think about what you might want to buy
You will be able to swap the above over to your new bike-sorted

carrock

Remember the story of the guy who won an amateur race in Africa on a MOUNTAIN BIKE when everyone else was on road bikes

It's the bike/rider combo thats important- probably 75% rider 25% bike

A good club rider on a £180 halfords special would be much faster than a overweight/unfit rider on a £5000 superbike, but very cheap bikes are no fun to ride

My advice would be to buy the best bike you can reasonably afford and work at improving yourself

Lillywhite

carrock wrote:

Remember the story of the guy who won an amateur race in Africa on a MOUNTAIN BIKE when everyone else was on road bikes

IIRC Eddie Merckx in 1978, at the formal opening of the Eastway Cycle Circuit at Stratford, thrashed everyone whilst riding a bike built of gas tube complete with mudguards.

TheHelpfulDevil

there is a bigger difference between a £200 bike to 1K than 2K to 6K. mind you i have only ever ridden a pro bike once for all of 10 mins but i think many may agree on this.

plus remember if you can work hard on a heavy bike think what you could if/when you decide to upgrade.

Aspman77

Going from my 17yr old MTB to a new Sectuer I was about 3-5mph faster on the flat, probably about 10-15mph faster downhill and feck all faster up hill. It's your legs that get you up hill and until they get faster not much will happen.

As someone said the law of diminishing returns is in operation here. You'll notice a big improvement in riding pleasure going from a very cheap bike to a basic road bike say £500. But you probably wouldn't appreciate much difference between that and £1500 bike. Not yet anyway.

daveydave43

a 1k bike like a boardman or cannondale caad 9 will almost certainly FEEL faster to ride. in particular, on the climbs, 3kg will be worth it. whether the bike in question is actually faster to ride over a distance is speculative.
there are far cheaper ways to be quicker than spending on a new bike. fit and position, buying decent comfortable clothing, good maintenance and technique.g. descending and training will probably offer greater benefits.

nickbarnard

Got to say I've been wondering the same thing recently. I ride an ancient ten-speed and have been resenting it a bit lately (mainly due to a few lycra clad roadies speeding past me). Should probably just man up and pedal harder

KevGuinness

Must admit, not fussed at all about people speeding past me or me going past them, I just enjoy feeling like I am going faster little by little. Or I can cheat and get a nicer bike which gives me a bit of a jump in performance without the effort!

rjh299

I wouldn't recommend getting a new bike to go faster, ride more to do that. But get a new bike to enjoy riding a better bike.
I ride a Giant SCR 3 to work and football sometimes and don't enjoy riding it that much really. Although it is in a bit of a sorry state I must admit.
Whereas I love riding my Super Six. It's just enjoyable to ride fast, slow, whatever.
Although, when I first got my Giant it was insanely quick compared to the BMX I was to.

thesewords

just in the same vain as the original question what sort of price would the following spec bring as i too am new to road riding and no relativley nothing

Ultralight 7005 T6 aluminium compact frame with fully double butted tubes
Lightweight carbon fibre fork with alloy steerer
Shimano Tiagra 18 speed 105 gearing with STI controls
Powerful Tektro R730 dual pivot brakes
Truvativ Touro compact chainset
Powerspline bottom bracket
DBR 2 double wall rims with eyelets Fast rolling Continental Ultra Sport tyres

And is it worth the £150 new that i paid!!!