so why don't I go faster?

goosey

Ok, so I replaced my 16 year old Peugeot gaspipe special with a nice new steel framed Genesis that weighs 4lbs less and has all nice bits but my average speed is pretty much exactly the same. How can this be? Could the switch to a compact chainset cost me speed?

nmcgann

Because the new bike has similar aerodynamics than the old one and you are not producing any more power on it? 4lbs is not going to make a huge difference in hill-climbing speed.

acidstrato

use your brain to tell your legs to turn the cranks faster....then you will go quicker

Pokerface

Because you gained 4 lbs of body fat 8)

unixnerd

Bet your new bike accelerates and goes up hills better.

dmch2

Have you just had 1 ride on it? Is it set up as well for you as your old bike (presumably) was?

It'll probably take a while to get used to it and make the most of it. Possibly a bike fit as well?

sagalout

I've come to the conclusion that shiny new kit is no faster than crappy old kit. It just looks nicer, is sometimes marginally more comfy, but crucially motivates me to get out and use it more!

plankton

Shiny new kit might not automatically make me faster but often the justification of spending the extra £s tend to make me work a bit harder.
It may be a case of changing how you ride too, as much as the bike. A fair amount of racing is in the mind so you may need to lose the extra weight there?

By the way, how does the new Genesis ride? It is the equilibrium? They look rather nice and well made.

Bronzie

goosey wrote:

Ok, so I replaced my 16 year old Peugeot gaspipe special with a nice new steel framed Genesis that weighs 4lbs less and has all nice bits but my average speed is pretty much exactly the same. How can this be?

You need to upgrade the engine as well

ride_whenever

losing weight shouldn't make much difference to your speed, and with the same wheels it'll feel fairly similar to accelerate etc. It does suck a little but you have a nicer bike!

nmcgann

Bronzie wrote:

You need to upgrade the engine as well

I thought that too, but I was being tactful

twotyred

Ok, so I replaced my 16 year old Peugeot gaspipe special with a nice new steel framed Genesis that weighs 4lbs less and has all nice bits but my average speed is pretty much exactly the same. How can this be? Could the switch to a compact chainset cost me speed?

Because 4lbs as a % of the weight of you and the bike will have a practically insignificant effect on your speed unless you weigh 8st dripping wet or you are a racer and literally every second counts. Sorry but that's just the way it is. People on here obsess about the weight of their bikes but in the real world it doesn't make that much difference.

Stay off the pies for a bit and you'll probably notice a difference.

smithy1.0

Well, given the same route, I pretty much always average 1mph faster on my race bike than my training bike. The most difference I notice is on the climbs.

twotyred

Bet you try harder when you're on your race bike.

goosey

Cheeky lot!
To answer a few specifics:

Stay off the pies for a bit and you'll probably notice a difference.

I'm 6'2 and weigh 11st (70kg) so I don't think I need to lose too much weight!

Have you just had 1 ride on it? Is it set up as well for you as your old bike (presumably) was?

It'll probably take a while to get used to it and make the most of it. Possibly a bike fit as well?

Well, I've done about 250 miles on it now. True I am still fine-tuning the ride height but I'm happy with the position (less backache!)

I've come to the conclusion that shiny new kit is no faster than crappy old kit. It just looks nicer, is sometimes marginally more comfy, but crucially motivates me to get out and use it more!

The motivation thing is very valid of course. I thought I'd notice more difference from a much lighter wheelset than I had on the old bike.

By the way, how does the new Genesis ride? It is the equilibrium? They look rather nice and well made.

Yup, the Equilibrium in cherry red (that's supposed to be faster too!). I got frame and fork only and built it up. total bike weight is 20lbs. The ride is lovely, especially after the old Peugeot. It feels like all the roads have been resurfaced! Not sure how much that may have to do with the carbon fork though.

twotyred

So you're climbing Alpe d'Huez with an average power output of 220 watts. Doing it on your new 4lbs/2kg lighter bike will enable you to do it approx 2 min faster. No wonder you don't detect any difference in good old blighty.

what brakes

sagalout wrote:

I've come to the conclusion that shiny new kit is no faster than crappy old kit. It just looks nicer, is sometimes marginally more comfy, but crucially motivates me to get out and use it more!

Not neccissarily...
Last year i changed bike to one that weighed a few pounds lighter but much better bike and dropped about 7mins on a 27mile circuit that i used for evening training 1st time out on the new bike! So sometimes new kit does really work!

side note
i changed from a Orbea onix to a willier Izoard so my first bike was no heavey crap thing.

goosey

Getting back to the question in my original post:

Could the switch to a compact chainset cost me speed?

I have to say the big gap in ratios between the inner and outer ring is causing me problems - on a normal chaoinset a shift from big to small ring is often all that's needed to hit the right ratio but on the compact I'm having to shift up 2 or 3 gears at the back as well to stop my legs spinning madly- it really upsets the riding rythm.
Maybe I'll change the 34 for A 36T??

jgsi

goosey wrote:

Getting back to the question in my original post:

Could the switch to a compact chainset cost me speed?

I have to say the big gap in ratios between the inner and outer ring is causing me problems - on a normal chaoinset a shift from big to small ring is often all that's needed to hit the right ratio but on the compact I'm having to shift up 2 or 3 gears at the back as well to stop my legs spinning madly- it really upsets the riding rythm.
Maybe I'll change the 34 for A 36T??

No.
What costs you speed is being a lazy feck riding the bike

twotyred

You're not listening Goosey. You have an unrealistic expectation of what a 4lb lighter bike will give you in terms of speed whether its compact or non-compact. Speed can't be bought only earned. Eat less pies and cycle harder and you'll go faster.

vorsprung

Goosey,
feed in the numbers for your bike and your favourite hill into this calculator

http://analyticcycling.com/ForcesLessWeight_Page.html

I did a 80kg total for person+bike, 800 metre long hill rising 6%, 1.81kg( that's 4lb) weight saving and the time saving was 3.22 seconds

You will not notice the time differences, as Twotyred said

I was concerned with my time/speed over the 1000km Mille Cymru in Wales. With 13,500 metres of ascent you'd have thought that weight difference would have a major impact
but no