Speed over 30 miles?

freehub

chalford wrote:

do you ever stop and read through your posts ,and realise how stupid you sound

I've got more important things to worry about than how stupid some people may think I sound on this forum.

chalford

well as you spend so much time on here , i say thats an answer in its own right ,

freehub

Lol wut? Spend so much time on here? It takes less than a minute to write a reply, I'm hardly on here.

Dave-M

I did the slowest ride I've ever done this weekend! Less than 14mph!!

I also managed to do a 21.5 last year....

.....although I was only 7 miles in to a 30 miles ride.

Not sure what this adds, but I've enjoyed the 10 pages.

sub55

There really is alot of bo**ocks typed in this thread.
Basically average speed means nought. Just to many variables.
As an example , i can go from a mountainous training ride at 15mph av to a competitive TT and average 28mph within a week.

inseine

There really is alot of bo**ocks typed in this thread.
Basically average speed means nought. Just to many variables.

So that's it, no more to say on the subject. I was just getting into it!!

chalford

a lot of people do work on av speed as an indicator of how they are goin, i use a power tap myself,all im pointing out is that 23 mph on a road bike over 30 miles is very very impressive, i ride consid faster than a 25 in aten ,and i know on a pretty flat foute on my road bike theres know way i could do that 23mph avg,.there are varying variables in any form of measurement that you use heartrate and power.and dont people use av speed as of what they do in att along with time, ?

freehub

I've never being on a TT bike before, but I don't really believe they make that much speed difference, obviously I can't really say without trying it, but I've got mixed impressions, some people reckon if I do 24mph average on my road bike, I could well be doing 27avg on a properly set up TT bike with the correct kit. But then other people say TT bikes make no difference and that the real benefit is the position which you can have on a normal bike anyway.

And tbh, 3mph sounds too good to be true.

sub55

The TT bike does`nt really make a difference, the riding position makes a little difference.
But its all the other variables that just cant be quantified . Ascent and descent , wind strength and direction, road service traffic volumes , temperature weight of equipment, the list is endless.

chalford

tt bikes have diff frame geom ,enablin you to get in a more aero position ,from when i started on a road bike , a 26 , and then on to a tt bike , time has gone down 5 half mins, how much of that is down to improved fitness and the bike bein faster,i have no clue. i was told a tt bike is 2mph faster than a road bike.how true that is ,i have no idea.again i sup to many variables for that to be accurate.i yhought weight of equipement wasnt as important in a tt?

freehub

I might try borrow a TT bike off someone, if I can get on a TT bike and see what I can do, on a nice day, I might be more enthusiastic about TT's and more confidence in riding TT's

sub55

Weight does make a difference , granted it makes a bigger difference if its hilly but it always makes a difference.
If anybody ever tells you that a difference in anything is worth x mins is talking out of their backside. It can only be described as watts saved or as a percentage . All to do with physics.

freehub

Well when I did TT's my bike weighed around 11kg, that's when I did 25:15, then on my old bike after writing my CAAD9 off I went and did a 10 mile and I did 25:55

freehub

Well when I did TT's my bike weighed around 11kg, that's when I did 25:15, then on my old bike after writing my CAAD9 off I went and did a 10 mile and I did 25:55

sub55

freehub wrote:

Well when I did TT's my bike weighed around 11kg, that's when I did 25:15, then on my old bike after writing my CAAD9 off I went and did a 10 mile and I did 25:55

so

freehub

WHAT?

neeb

I find that week to week trends in my average speed on a given route are useful for assessing my personal progress/fitness. But hardly for comparing with someone else on a completely different route.

One funny thing occurred to me last summer. I usually see my average speeds on particular routes getting better towards the middle of the summer and then tailing off slightly towards late autumn. I've always attributed this to increased fitness due to training much more from the spring onwards, and I'm sure this is a large part of it. However, I also have a tendency to go out as late as possible while it is still light on weekdays. This means that in the spring/early summer I might go out for a 40 miler between 6pm and 8pm, while at the beginning of July, when it's light in Helsinki until about midnight, I might actually go out for the same ride between 10pm and midnight. It suddenly occurred to me that the later it is, the less traffic there is in the suburban stretches before I get out into the countrside, and the more likely it is I can just fly through the 3 or 4 traffic lights / crossings in these bits (they actually switch the traffic lights off after about 10pm).

There's no doubt that even 2 or 3 brief stops at lights can knock quite a bit off your average speed even on a 40 mile route.

sub55

eggsactly :roll:

jonmack

freehub wrote:

I've never being on a TT bike before, but I don't really believe they make that much speed difference

So the frame itself might not make the biggest difference, but certainly some of the components do. Were you doing your 10 times with aerobars?

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2010/04/ ... equipment/

freehub

No, when I did the times I just rested low on the hoods.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v319/ ... 410469.jpg

Basically like in that pic, I find using the drops makes no difference for me.

sub55

jonmack wrote:

freehub wrote:

I've never being on a TT bike before, but I don't really believe they make that much speed difference

So the frame itself might not make the biggest difference, but certainly some of the components do. Were you doing your 10 times with aerobars?

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2010/04/ ... equipment/

that means nothing without more info, like how quick ou were going in the first place. drag increases by the cube of the speed.

danowat

Aerobars took 2mins off my 10mile TT time, same route, same bike, very similar weather conditions, concurrent weeks.

I agree that AVG speed is completely irrelevent for comparative purposes, so many different variables come into play.

Although I do find it very strange that you can manage a certain speed during training, that you can't match during a TT, thats just very strange, are you sure there isn't a timing / measurement issue in your training rides?

freehub

No, my Garmin reports almost the same time as the time keeper does in TT's and I use it on training rides and it's fine.

rokkala

sub55 wrote:

There really is alot of bo**ocks typed in this thread.
Basically average speed means nought. Just to many variables.
As an example , i can go from a mountainous training ride at 15mph av to a competitive TT and average 28mph within a week.

+1

a_n_t

sub55 wrote:

that means nothing without more info, like how quick ou were going in the first place. drag increases by the cube of the speed.

"These numbers are calculated for a rider over 40kms at a time of 48minutes".

genki

sub55 wrote:

There really is alot of bo**ocks typed in this thread.
Basically average speed means nought. .

Well there's one more bit that you've given us. Average speed means nought? Given a lot of people train on the same circuits, on the same bike and maybe ride the same TT courses I think short of having a power meter, average speed is one of the most useful indicators you have for measuring your progress. No-one is trying to say that you should compare a hilly ride with a flat one.

The same with your comments about the different effects aer0-equipment can have. Zero value? Not if you're looking at the relative benefits.

chalford

well said

Valy

sub55 wrote:

Weight does make a difference , granted it makes a bigger difference if its hilly but it always makes a difference.
If anybody ever tells you that a difference in anything is worth x mins is talking out of their backside. It can only be described as watts saved or as a percentage . All to do with physics.

To be pedantic, and not overly so - minutes saved, watts saved or % differences are all the same.

jibberjim

Valy wrote:

To be pedantic, and not overly so - minutes saved, watts saved or % differences are all the same.

No they're not! a 30watt gain could be worth 3 minutes on a 25 or it could be worth 1minute. Speed is not linear with watts so time saving has to be to a reference.

Valy

Yeah, but in a way you just confirmed how wattage can produce different results - just like time saved will vary with conditions if you quote "x" number of seconds off with "x" item. Not being a smart ass, just pedantic.

(not saying there is much difference between the two though )