Making my bike faster

yorkshiretri

having been at my LBS today and asking about wheels il tell you what i/ they said, i went to pick up my front wheel that they have trued for me, my wheels are alexrims da22, kenda 700 x 23 tyres, i asked if less spoke wheels would be better for speed and he said, keep doing the 60 mile hill route (strines at derbyshire) and the 3 x 20 mile route per week, then when you feel you could go faster then start thinking about wheels etc, im currently in my 6th month of owning a road bike for the 1st time in my life (im 33) done 4 triathlons on it, dropped it afew times, fell off it afew, i enter my local bike clubs weekly 10 mile tt and always go under 30 mins, so average just over 20 mph. please remember the guy at my LBS could have made some easy money and sold me some wheels that wouldnt have made abit of difference, so i know what he said was the truth. my advice would be find a hilly route with some 1 in 3 climbs then after afew months of riding it see how faster you are, and all its cost you is time on your bike which is at the end of the day the reason we all buy/ use bikes. enjoy your climbs mate.

Bordersroadie

A good mate of mine and my main cycling buddie was a successful amateur road racer way back when but nowadays has other (expensive) hobbies like rock climbing.

This leaves little cash for cycling but he still does it to a high level, albeit mostly Sportives these days. It's proper hilly round our way and this guy bags Strava KOMs wherever he rides, including local club routes and TT courses. much to the disdain of the 7kg bike brigade, no doubt, if they knew what he rode.

The point is he clocks superb fast times on his £300, 10kg+ second hand Focus Alu bike and equally on his mudguarded winter bike, because the engine is so powerful and well-trained, regularly caning riders on very very expensive and lightweight machines.

Having said all that I'm comfortable with being a weight weenie, as far as my budget will allow, and I know it makes little difference to my "times", just like most of us. It's just nice to have a light bike, innit?

bompington

Bordersroadie wrote:

£300, 10kg+ second hand Focus Alu bike

Pah, lightweight. You need old-school steel, the Rusty Raleigh is 11kg at least!
Although I was thinking as I headed into work this morning that trying to be as aero as possible is not totally ridiculous if your initials aren't BW - I may only have been averaging 16mph this morning but that was into a wind gusting over 30mph at times: an effective headwind of 50mph does wonders for forcing me to try and fold the belly into some kind of aero position :oops:

dodgy

Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.

Chris James

Bordersroadie wrote:

A good mate of mine and my main cycling buddie was a successful amateur road racer way back when but nowadays has other (expensive) hobbies like rock climbing.

Expensive? Rock climbing? The main expense would be the petrol I would have thought. My rock rack only cost about £800 which is probably quite modest compared to what many people spend on bikes.

My only bike is a 631 steel framed, 105 equipped bike which I like very much. Occasionally I get a bit jealous when someone buys a new piece of shiny bling, but I know that I am far way from being held back by my bike. My bike is probably the heaviest of the group i go cycling with and I am amongst the fastest.

His name has cropped up many times on Bike Radar, but for those who don't know him then google Andy Wilkinson to see what can be achieved on relatively modest equipment with an eye to aerodynamics, and how important the rider is rather than the bike.

Pross

yorkshiretri wrote:

...... my advice would be find a hilly route with some 1 in 3 climbs then after afew months of riding it see how faster you are, and all its cost you is time on your bike which is at the end of the day the reason we all buy/ use bikes. enjoy your climbs mate.

When you find the route with 1:3 climbs on it can you let us all know as I'm only aware of one in the whole of Wales that is around that gradient (and that's very short)

styxd

Hardknott Pass is a 1 in 3 near enough. Not for long though.

Pross

styxd wrote:

Hardknott Pass is a 1 in 3 near enough. Not for long though.

Exactly - short sections are all you get at that sort of gradient and even then they are few and far between so 'get out and ride some 1:3 hills' is hardly great advice

Bordersroadie

Chris James wrote:

Bordersroadie wrote:

A good mate of mine and my main cycling buddie was a successful amateur road racer way back when but nowadays has other (expensive) hobbies like rock climbing.

Expensive? Rock climbing? The main expense would be the petrol I would have thought. My rock rack only cost about £800 which is probably quite modest compared to what many people spend on bikes.

You're on the right track with petrol, except my buddy likes to go off to the Dolomites and such places on a fairly regular basis and he also has two sons to finance in the same hobby, oh and he has an expensive wife, so it leaves little cash for cycling! It's impressive to see him flying past the blingyboys though.

RoadMeridaBen

iampaulb wrote:

This post is getting interesting, see what different opinions people hold. Although it all points to getting out on the bike and training harder. Although i am just doing that, was just curious to see what could make the bike faster if you took out the rider. As in component wise - curiosity and all that...

since my rides, i have noticed a little marginal increase in performance...time will tell.

RoadMeridaBen wrote:

In a month or two when the weather gets crap and the old salt is back on the roads I'll be using my old alu bike.
To be honest I dont notice the difference even with the cheap wheels and unbranded tyres, 18 averages take no effort at all, im a similar weight to you at 5 '11 and 63 kg's.

Some people do seem to develop faster than others though, I was averaging 18 mph on my rides within 2 months while my brother 2 years later has only just managed it. (not many flat routes in Wales though! )

Just started following you on Strava

Your one of the lucky ones then :P
doing some good rides this week and enjoying riding the bike again after my chest problems