What a difference!

tomhowells

Ok, so I have been commuting on my Halfords hybrid, twice/three times a week for the last 3 months. It's 10 miles each way, fairly flat, a few hills. My best time (according to strava!!) was 53 mins.

I borrowed my friends bike on Friday, as I wanted to see if I was outgrowing my bike.
No extra effort, it took me 38 mins. His bike is an older model Pinarello, schwalbe marathon tyres, campag groupset etc.

It has really made me want to get myself a proper road bike! My friend & me train together, & have started training for triathlons, went to the gym together & were neck & neck on the gym bikes, yet at the event (sprint tri, 25k bike course), he was 17 mins quicker than me on the bike!

I know the engine does the hard work, but judging by my ride on his bike, by christ, the bike makes a huge difference!

Preaching to the converted, I know, I just wanted to share! I now have my eye on a Ribble Sportive ...

Enjoy the road, people!

thistle_

Keep the heavy draggy hybrid for commuting (more effort) and get a road bike for events (or really long rides).

simon_masterson

A big part of it is psychology. I did my old 18 mile commute on my old Raleigh leisure bike from the 80s in 43 minutes once (just over 25 mph average). Heavy (relatively) plain gauge tubing, steel rimmed wheels with 35mm hybrid tyres, flat bars... Not made for speed at all.

But that's not to say that you don't want to get a road bike. In addition to feeling faster you can of course go a bit faster on a road bike. Drop bars, clip in pedals, lighter wheels with smaller tyres, and stiffer frame (etc) all make for a faster ride, as they facilitate greater power transfer, reduced drag and reduced rolling resistance.

However, the difference you've experienced is abnormal, and if not psychology I would identify your fit on the bike as the culprit. Your typical trip being reduced from 53 minutes to 38 minutes indicates a change in speed of about 30%, by my calculation. As if that isn't improbable at face value, if I had done my trip on my road bike 30% faster, my average speed would have been 36 mph. Yes it would be nice to be able to ride that fast...

I should tell you incidentally that the disease is incurable.

bails87

thistle (MBNW) wrote:

Keep the heavy draggy hybrid for commuting (more effort) and get a road bike for events (or really long rides).

Why? If most of the miles are done on the commute then why use a sh1tty, unsuitable bike?! :?

desweller

Either your fit is wrong or something is wrong with your bicycle.

When I swapped from my hybrid to a road bike the speed difference was ~1mph over the same 25 mile loop (admittedly this particular hybrid had 28c tyres on it).