How long before you saw improvement

awavey

Simon Masterson wrote:

SmoggySteve wrote:

I challenge you or anyone to go and sprint as fast as you can for 100m with flat pedals and again with clipless. You are going to be using the same bike, same setup, same muscles.

Tell me that you can sprint just as fast with the flat pedals as you can with the clipless. I bet you now you can't because for every rotation of that crank at speed you cannot possibly apply as much power through a flat pefal for as many degrees of a rotation as you can with clipless that are fixed to the pedals.

Argue all you like, that is efficiency of your ability to transfer power from you to the rear wheel via the transmission.

Which is exactly what Coggan et al were measuring in that study. If you go for it hard enough on your flat platforms, your foot might just come unstuck on account of your coordination, but that's a different problem. I get the impression that you prefer your version of reality!

might ? well then my coordination must be quite shoot then as on flats if I sprint really hard, and fair enough gearing does play a part in this, but I can hit a limit on cadence (which sorry I dont have the tech to measure directly though I might try some complicated maths to work it out) in my biggest gear before I hit a limit on what power my legs are now capable of generating, and I just cant keep my feet in contact with the pedals anymore. Leading up to that point where it just goes completely nuts and I start bouncing around like a loon,upto that point Im also increasingly losing effiency in the transfer of power to pedal because Im occasionaly slipping off the pedals, and I have to back off (ie slow down) to regain control.

with clipless, I wouldnt lose any power transfer by slipping off the pedals anymore, and I might just be able to go beyond the point at which currently I totally lose pedalling rhythm because Im pushing at thin air instead of the pedal. equally I could just put a bigger set of gears on and that might deliver the same power application improvement, but it might be harder to spin up to get going.

but definately flats on a sprint, not optimal IMO

whoof

Getting back to the orginal post. The first 10 mile time trial I did I averaged 25 mph. Over the next three seasons I managed to improve by a full 10 seconds! I had changed a lot of bike stuff (including adding tri bars which had just been allowed) with very little improvement. Then at the start of my fourth season my speed jumped from 25 to 28 mph. The reason was a change in the way I trained. I went from trying to ride reasonable fast (especially up hills) all of the time to taking things easier for most of my rides and then going really hard for other specific efforts. I did intervals or hill repeats as stand alone sessions.
For those that are interested all of the bikes that I rode had pedals on them.

norvernrob

I try and do the same 19.3 mile/1,000ft of elevation training run once or twice per week, and since I first did it in March I've gone from 15.8mph average to 19.3 last time out. (That's total elapsed time from start to finish, if I'd used the Garmin with auto stop instead of the strava app it would have been 20mph+ average).

My 50-60 mile, very hilly Peak District rides have followed a similar pattern, going from around 12mph to 15+, and in June did the Lincolnshire Arrow sportive, 103 miles and 3500ft of elevation @17mph average.

I did my first ride on a road bike in February this year and hadn't ridden a bike at all for 12-15 years before that. I guess it depends if you just ride for pleasure or for training too. I enjoy seeing improvements and push hard on the bike. I've dropped 5kg in weight and am now 68kg, lighter than when I was in my early 20's (I'm 38 next week).

Basically I'm really enjoying it and seeing the benefits, what you get out of cycling in so much as improvements, weight loss etc depends entirely on what you are willing to put in.

poacher13

Thejensierocks wrote:

Errrrr.....this was only supposed to be a light hearted post about how good it feels to begin to feel like a cyclist rather than a guy pottering about on a bike peeps.

Wish I'd never mentioned clipless now

Chris, you been working that out since yesterday? Cheeesus.....chill mate! Haha :roll:

I don't for one second believe that my performance has increased overnight simply by riding clipless.
I was more trying to say that all of my efforts over a two year period SEEM now to be making me feel as though I am improving as a cyclist and I was interested to hear how long it has taken others to feel the same.
The clipless pedals are simply the last acquisition to help me along the way.

Having said that, simply making the step towards clipless has indeed totally changed the way I ride my bike.
I feel more connected (obviously......even more connected when I fell over ) and more efficient. Maybe, and I'm throwing a curved ball here, maybe I'm trying harder simply because I feel more of a cyclist......
Judging by the way my legs feel after tonights ride I would say this was probably the case. :-)

Perhaps it was the way I worded the original post....

Tell you what....I'll fetch my coat.

Well i say good luck to you mate, fingers crossed you will continue to improve and have fun, which i thought cycling was meant to be about not arguing about pointless bollocks, Jesus people, lighten up!! :roll:

oldbazza

The main thing that helped me improve was joining my local club;doing the club rides has pushed me farther and quicker than I would have done on my own.

chrisaonabike

NorvernRob wrote:

since I first did it in March I've gone from 15.8mph average to 19.3 last time out. (That's total elapsed time from start to finish, if I'd used the Garmin with auto stop instead of the strava app it would have been 20mph+ average).

Think I'll just shoot myself now

norvernrob

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

NorvernRob wrote:

since I first did it in March I've gone from 15.8mph average to 19.3 last time out. (That's total elapsed time from start to finish, if I'd used the Garmin with auto stop instead of the strava app it would have been 20mph+ average).

Think I'll just shoot myself now

Just push yourself every time you go out and you'll get quicker. I did the same training run tonight, 1.00.11s, 19.2mph average and with some wind assistance on the way out bagged a couple of top 10's and several top 15's, averaging 25mph on the flat on some stretches. The last 10 miles into a headwind were pretty grim though!

https://www.strava.com/activities/183444555

birdie23

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

I've been riding almost two years as well, and I'm generally about 1-1.5 mph faster on average over the same sort of routes.

So about 15.5 rather than 14.5 - which I was thinking was a pathetic increase, until I started thinking about power... that works out to a 20% power increase in two years, which I'm actually quite pleased with!

In two years my pace has gone from about 15mph trying really hard to 17mph with average effort. I wouldn't say the OP's gains are unusual.

whoof

NorvernRob wrote:

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

NorvernRob wrote:

Just push yourself every time you go out and you'll get quicker.

This is the way to route to middling speeds.

birdie23

Should probably add that average speed is an awful way to measure progress anyway since it varies depending on so many factors.