You Londoners are cheating.

SimonAH

Riding around the city / embankment. / Hyde park / Kensington yesterday I was astonished at how fast it is! An almost total lack of wind and lots of traffic gives (I reckon) at LEAST a 5mph advantage.

FFS I hit 30 on the flat on the fixie and held it with (relative) ease several times. Out here 25mph is the same effort bracket.

Mind you. Some serious filtering skills required for long term survival :shock:

willy b

You obviously didn't hit the Millbank Wall of Wind.

I do however think cycling in a built up environment gives the impression of being faster.

Pufftmw

Depends what direction you were travelling...

But I would suggest that a funnelling of the wind might occur in places

SimonAH

Speed not from impression (though I agree there is an effect) but from my Cateye strada. Also hit roads in both directions so can rule out funnelling.

When you hit the more open and traffic free spaces of the park the effect (almost) goes away.

I put it largely down to the traffic providing a constant low level tow, and the boxing effect of the buildings giving almost a velodrome dead air effect magnifying the tow.

I assure you.that it's very real.

Possibly if you commute into the city you don't notice due.to the "boiling a frog" principle?

il_principe

SimonAH wrote:

Speed not from impression (though I agree there is an effect) but from my Cateye strada. Also hit roads in both directions so can rule out funnelling.

When you hit the more open and traffic free spaces of the park the effect (almost) goes away.

I put it largely down to the traffic providing a constant low level tow, and the boxing effect of the buildings giving almost a velodrome dead air effect magnifying the tow.

I assure you.that it's very real.

Possibly if you commute into the city you don't notice due.to the "boiling a frog" principle?

I completely agree, the traffic can give you a tow even if you are not explicitly drafting. Same reason some riders are griping about the sheer numbers of moto cameramen etc giving breakaways an advantage in pro races.

Pufftmw

SimonAH wrote:

Speed not from impression (though I agree there is an effect) but from my Cateye strada. Also hit roads in both directions so can rule out funnelling.

When you hit the more open and traffic free spaces of the park the effect (almost) goes away.

I put it largely down to the traffic providing a constant low level tow, and the boxing effect of the buildings giving almost a velodrome dead air effect magnifying the tow.

I assure you.that it's very real.

Possibly if you commute into the city you don't notice due.to the "boiling a frog" principle?

I can add another possibility though it should lead to wider variations and that is "building reflection". This is where the GPS signal is received by the unit having "bounced" off the side of a building. When traiangulated, that slight difference can lead to positional and speed inaccuracies. Hence why the effect is reduced in open spaces.

itboffin

Yeh these Londoners bloody bastards everyone of them, think they're so clever

cyclingprop

itboffin wrote:

Yeh these Londoners bloody bastards everyone of them, think they're so clever

The beer's working then.

il_principe

itboffin wrote:

Yeh these Londoners bloody bastards everyone of them, think they're so clever

Clever enough to use punctuation correctly.

:P

SimonAH

Pufftmw wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

Speed not from impression (though I agree there is an effect) but from my Cateye strada. Also hit roads in both directions so can rule out funnelling.

When you hit the more open and traffic free spaces of the park the effect (almost) goes away.

I put it largely down to the traffic providing a constant low level tow, and the boxing effect of the buildings giving almost a velodrome dead air effect magnifying the tow.

I assure you.that it's very real.

Possibly if you commute into the city you don't notice due.to the "boiling a frog" principle?

I can add another possibility though it should lead to wider variations and that is "building reflection". This is where the GPS signal is received by the unit having "bounced" off the side of a building. When traiangulated, that slight difference can lead to positional and speed inaccuracies. Hence why the effect is reduced in open spaces.

Yes...but my Cateye is just a speed and cadence sensor on the bike - no GPS involved....

Pufftmw

SimonAH wrote:

Pufftmw wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

Speed not from impression (though I agree there is an effect) but from my Cateye strada. Also hit roads in both directions so can rule out funnelling.

When you hit the more open and traffic free spaces of the park the effect (almost) goes away.

I put it largely down to the traffic providing a constant low level tow, and the boxing effect of the buildings giving almost a velodrome dead air effect magnifying the tow.

I assure you.that it's very real.

Possibly if you commute into the city you don't notice due.to the "boiling a frog" principle?

I can add another possibility though it should lead to wider variations and that is "building reflection". This is where the GPS signal is received by the unit having "bounced" off the side of a building. When traiangulated, that slight difference can lead to positional and speed inaccuracies. Hence why the effect is reduced in open spaces.

Yes...but my Cateye is just a speed and cadence sensor on the bike - no GPS involved....

Well, we can rule that one out in this instance then

itboffin

Il Principe wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Yeh these Londoners bloody bastards everyone of them, think they're so clever

Clever enough to use punctuation correctly.

:P

Wandsworth is fringe at best - nice big prison near by eh!?

roger_merriman

Embankment is certainly quick, though can also be a slog against the wind, but for most part it does tend to be quick.

I think the other thing that helps is the fairly good surfaces and wide open roads. plus flat as you like.

bigmat

Old Kent Road quick as well - held 30 for the last stretch west up to the roundabout this morning. Thing is, there's so much traffic and so many sets of lights - I'd rather be cycling on open roads given half a chance.

cyclingprop

Yup I'll second that Mat, though I don't often hit 30 on the OKR other than coming off the flyover.

I could deal better with traffic if I didn't have to deal with pedestrians too. That said open road is the preference.

Kieran_Burns

London cyclists are the American Footballers of the commuting world

Anything over 1/2 before they have to stop for a set of lights and they're looking for oxygen...