Is my bike slow?

El Selb

I have had a Cannondale Synapse for the last 2 years and since I have had it, a lot more people seem to overtake me than I overtake. For the last 3-4 months I have been commuting into work 4 miles each way into Central London (can still get a bit of pace up though; cycle lanes). I'm 31, quite fit and active - do a bit of running, gym, squash etc. Am I just a distinctly average cycler, or is my bike the issue, do people think?

As I understand it the Synapse is a slightly more relaxed road bike that would make it a bit more comfortable than say, an Allez Sport. However you wouldn't really notice the difference to look at (well I don't) and I was told the performance difference wouldn't really be noticeable.

I should add that I don't use SPDs with my bike, just trainers.

Do I need to up my game or could I use this as genuine justification for buying a new bike? Our cycle-to-work scheme is now open and I'm very tempted...

mamba80

get the new bike, its xmas and your Cannondale is holding you back, feels almost as if you have the brakes on?
fitness and hrs of training are just gimics, that experienced cyclists know have nothing to do with speed.

sumosprintstar

It's not the bike.........but you know that.

imposter2.0

Bikes aren't slow - riders are.

chris_bass

yes, your bike is slow but only because you arent pedaling fast enough!

you'll find the faster you pedal in any given gear the faster it will go

bsharp77

Ahhh the very thing I thought when I first started cycling!!

First of all, you cant possibly compare yourself to any other rider, no matter what the age or how they look - you say you are active and fairly fit....bike fitness is totally different to say squash or football fitness, put on top of that you have no idea how much riding all the guys/girls that are passing you are doing....for example I have a 14 mile round commute, and used to get passed constantly for the first while too - then I started piling in regular high weekend mileage with a couple of mates and training properly - then you really start to see the difference!
Ive went from a 15mph average last year to nearly 19mph average on my commute now.

Thats not to say a shiny new bike wont help - and bike to work is how I got my first one, but to be honest the canondale synapse is a good bike for commuting.
ill also point out that a carbon soled cycling shoe is a world apart from a soft soled trainer, the difference is huge!

The catch 22 is, if you do start piling in a few miles, there is no doubt at some stage you will want new machinery....it happens to us all!! On my second bike now and always on the lookout.....welcome to the never ending world of n+1

noodleman

Nothing wrong with the bike. Four miles is a pretty small mileage to gain any meaningful cycling fitness. No offence but sounds like you probably do need to up your game a bit. Start getting some serious miles into your legs and see how you go. Getting another bike wont make any difference whatsoever.

Jon_1976

Agree with the others, nowt wrong with the bike 8) Theres a rider who has most of the Strava KOMs in my area and most of them were done on a hybrid. I used to have an Allez and now have a Defy (which is probably very similar to the Synapse in terms of geometry). In my opinion, I haven't noticed a massive difference in speed between the two. I'm sure a fitter cyclist might though.
I'd definitely recommend some cycling shoes, be it mountain or road though. I used flat pedals and trainers at first and got a lot of foot pain along with cramping.

earthvspace4XTuUWcX

Get some proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals.

the playing mantis

get some common sense...!

flashgorman

If you are good at running maybe it would be faster to run alongside the bike?

DavidJB

Thread of the day.

littledove44

What tyres do you have on it?

matt-h

Try a skinsuit

chrisaonabike

El Selb wrote:

...a lot more people seem to overtake me than I overtake. .... Am I just a distinctly average cycler

Technically, if the same number of people overtook you as you overtook, you'd be distinctly average (well, median, for the picky statisticians ).

So if a lot more overtake you than you overtake...

Moonbiker

Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.

markhewitt1978

If you really want to get depressed get into Strava and then see that you are in 939th out of 941 on just about every segment

Does it matter if people overtake you? Besides that's not a good way to determine your comparative speed, as you will only be seeing people who are a lot faster than you or a lot slower, those around your level of fitness won't catch you up and you won't catch them up!

As said 4 miles each way is basically nothing; get out and do a 100km ride and report back.

markhewitt1978

Moonbiker wrote:

Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades.

Upgrading your bike *does* make you faster, it did for me. It's just that it won't make you as fast as you want to be.

mpatts

Simply put, this is an excellent excuse to buy a new bike, and some carbon shoes. They will DEFINITELY* speed you up.



*they won't.


In all serious though, there is little speed difference between bikes - it's all about the engine. But don't let that stop you buying a new carbon fibre bike with deep dish aero wheels.

RDW

You should read this: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c6801

The author is having fun in the Christmas issue of a medical journal, but he's making a valid point.

markhewitt1978

Of course the only way to be sure is a double blind trial, which is next to impossible for this purpose. The reports author could, even subconsciously, wanted the steel bike to 'win' and so put in comparatively more effort.

Ride hard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlJjbnrdjjw

Moonbiker

Upgrading your bike *does* make you faster, it did for me. It's just that it won't make you as fast as you want to be.

What was the upgrade & how much faster?


My bike is about 20yrs old & weighs over 11.5kg so probably could make a few seconds difference on the hills for me to upgrade to something like the the OP's Cannondale Synapse bike.



How much do they weigh?

Also placebo affect propbably a bigger boost from upgrades than the weight or aero savings?

markhewitt1978

Moonbiker wrote:

What was the upgrade & how much faster?

From a Trek FX hybrid to a Scott CR1 carbon road bike. Made me a lot faster, but that you'd expect as you're comparing a £300 bike to a £2,000 one.

saprkzz

nothing at all to do with the bike, my mate owns most of us on his £300 carrera TDF. Even stayed with Ian Stanndard for a few miles

markhewitt1978

saprkzz wrote:

nothing at all to do with the bike, my mate owns most of us on his £300 carrera TDF. Even stayed with Ian Stanndard for a few miles

Sure; but he would be ever further ahead on a carbon road bike.

47p2

mamba80 wrote:

...feels almost as if you have the brakes on

I think we all go through that when we are out pushing ourselves to our limits. I came back to cycling after almost 30 years of not being on a bike and I don't know how many times I thought the brakes were jammed on. Of course they weren't it was me that was completely unfit. Now some 9 months 2000 miles down the line I still have this happen on the odd occasion and when it does I just dig in and it soon passes.

RDW

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Of course the only way to be sure is a double blind trial, which is next to impossible for this purpose. The reports author could, even subconsciously, wanted the steel bike to 'win' and so put in comparatively more effort.

"There was only one answer: a randomised trial. I toyed with the idea of blinding it but, in the interest of self preservation and other road users, decided against it."

slowbike

markhewitt1978 wrote:

saprkzz wrote:

nothing at all to do with the bike, my mate owns most of us on his £300 carrera TDF. Even stayed with Ian Stanndard for a few miles

Sure; but he would be ever further ahead on a carbon road bike.

yer right...

markhewitt1978

Why do you say that? If you give someone a £300 Halfords bike; or a £2,000 road bike, they are going to be faster on the road bike. Now you can argue exactly how much faster and if the extra money is worth it etc etc, but the fact is that the £2k bike will be faster.

slowbike

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Why do you say that? If you give someone a £300 Halfords bike; or a £2,000 road bike, they are going to be faster on the road bike. Now you can argue exactly how much faster and if the extra money is worth it etc etc, but the fact is that the £2k bike will be faster.

Have you ever gone from an entry level bike to a 2k bike? What difference did you notice?

The fact is that the £2k bike may make going faster easier, but to get faster it still requires the rider to pedal harder ...