Makes you wonder

themekon

With all the talk of go faster wheels and frames and people thinking of the difference they make I did a liitle experiment this week.
I have two fixed bikes, a winter one, steel frame and forks,full mudguards,heavyish wheels and good Heavy duty tyres.
Summer fixed , steel frame/ forks but lightweight wheels with ultremo tyres. Winter bike weighs about 2 kilo heavier.
Wednesday this week,30 mile ride on the winter bike. Today, exactly the same route on the summer bike. wind conditions about the same. I put the same amount of effort into both rides.Todays ride certainly felt faster but after downloading the Garmin, just under 1 mph faster.

diamonddog

So about a 3% gain on your speed on the lighter bike.

BrandonA

Two rides does not make a scientific test.

I think you are trying to state via your post that the difference was not significant. What were the average speeds, without these your stats are worthless? If they were 20mph and 21mph then this is a 5% improvement. The slower you go the larger the percentage difference. 5% is not an insignificant improvement.

Do you have a power meter? If not, how do you know that you put in the same effort on both rides? How can you be sure that your body was able to produce the same effort on both days?

I suggest you ride a few 1000 miles on each bike and then review the stats before you start making claims.

slowbike

I have two bikes too - one set up for wet/winter and the other a carbon road bike - they are different geometries though.

On climbs there is very little in it - I've got some uphill PBs on the heavier bike.... but road bike is usually slightly quicker overall.

Go faster wheels & frames - do they make a difference - yes - a bit...

Barteos

BrandonA wrote:

Two rides does not make a scientific test.

1+

A week or two on each bike would be a minimum.

hd_andy

It's never going to make a significant difference, a better bike doesn't turn you into a better cyclist

Anyway, as long as you are comfortable on the bike and you enjoy riding it, who cares if a better bike is 3% faster or 10% faster.

rolf_f

Yeah, I did a couple of commutes from Leeds to York and back. Over 76 miles, I was about 15 minutes quicker on a 1987 Raleigh tourer than on my 2010 Ribble Gran Fondo. Wind direction was 180 degrees different and wearing a backpack with the Ribble both made the trip harder on the modern bike.

But of course, all this proves is that the weather is a much greater variable than the bike.

If I take a much larger data set - all my runs on the Ribble and all my runs on my rather lighter Look, I find that the Ribble is faster than the Look! Why, you probably can't be bothered to ask? Simply because I commute on the Ribble and my average commute speed is higher than my day ride speeds on the Look.

hd_andy wrote:

Anyway, as long as you are comfortable on the bike and you enjoy riding it, who cares if a better bike is 3% faster or 10% faster.

Most people I'd guess. 10% faster means you can go 10% further in the same time. Makes for a nicer ride.

navrig

themekon wrote:

exactly the same route on the summer bike. wind conditions about the same. I put the same amount of effort into both rides.Todays ride certainly felt faster but after downloading the Garmin, just under 1 mph faster.

Highlights say it all.....

themekon

BrandonA wrote:

Two rides does not make a scientific test.

I think you are trying to state via your post that the difference was not significant. What were the average speeds, without these your stats are worthless? If they were 20mph and 21mph then this is a 5% improvement. The slower you go the larger the percentage difference. 5% is not an insignificant improvement.


Do you have a power meter? If not, how do you know that you put in the same effort on both rides? How can you be sure that your body was able to produce the same effort on both days?

I suggest you ride a few 1000 miles on each bike and then review the stats before you start making claims.

It wasn't a scientific test,just a light hearted observation. For what it's worth I've ridden many thousands of miles on both bikes. I've been riding long enough now to know that both rides were about the same ,effort wise. Crikey some folk on here do take themselves seriously.

simonhead

I get what the OP is saying i think. I have a 10 mile circuit that i do 2-3 times a week. I have done it one day on the winter bike and the next on the summer bike, i felt like i put the same amount of effort in and conditions were very similar. Using the summer bike i felt like i was going faster and thought i had taken a fair bit off my time but was surprised that it was such a marginal increase.

Neale1978

A lighter bike will accelerate, brake and climb better wether you like it or not :roll:

themekon

Neale1978 wrote:

A lighter bike will accelerate, brake and climb better wether you like it or not :roll:

Oh I agree with you. Just that it doesn't seem to make the difference you think it should do.

Neale1978

Ive found it does as ive changed bikes etc but not everyone is the same i guess

chris_bass

there are too many factors, you say the wind was about the same, but a couple of miles an hour different or slightly different direction and that might take 1-2% off the time, you can't pull out of a junction for a bit longer or get caught at some lights for a bit longer, maybe subconsciously (sorry if that is spelt wrong!) you don't feel like you have to put as much effort in on the good bike, etc etc

what you need to do to make this 100% scientifically accurate is clone yourself twice at the same time, make sure both clones are brought up exactly the same, eat the same and live exactly the same lives up to the point they are ready to ride the bikes, then set them off at the same time and see which wins. easy! I reckon ITV4 would make a documentary about it!

ben@31

I have 2 bikes, an average aluminium framed road bike and a better equipped carbon triathlon bike.

From reviews and write ups, they say i'd only benefit from aerodynamics of the TT / tri bike if you average over 20mph and most noticeably above 25mph. I can't average 25mph all day, especially on a hilly course.

Maybe there is not much difference in speed between the two bikes, but maybe one is slightly more efficient. Which may only be noticeable if you are Bradley Wiggins over long TT or a long triathlon (saving your legs for the run after the cycle).