How much difference does road surface make?

shimanobottombracket

Heavymental wrote:

Out in France at the moment and as usual enjoying the riding but got to thinking today about how much difference to speed the generally smoother roads make? Usually when returning to West Wales after a cycling trip in France I feel slower despite the fact I’ve got good miles in whilst in france and I wondered if the slightly worse surface was to blame? I guess riding on a rougher surface is going to slow you down but to what extent?

Fukcin enormous difference! At least between tarmac and concrete. During a winter commute I had to leave the tarmac B road I was on due to it being more like an actual glacier than a road. I ended up cycling along a dual carriagway (ice free) and it was very tiring. As soon as I got back onto tarmac I was able to go up a gear strait away. I'd consider that a big difference. Fuck knows how much that must affect MPG when driving.

bompington

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!!!
Glen Lonon (route 78 to Oban) tarred and chipped for MILE after MILE after MILE after MILE after MILE after ******* MILE
I had to walk round roadworks when I was up that way at Easter, and was delighted this time to ride the half mile or so of smooth tarmac... then round the next bend, there was the crew again, only this time it was chip'n'tar the whole way; all the same potholes but with a nice cushion of a couple of inches of gravel. With a scattering of larger stones just to keep you thinking about what might happen if they got caught between wheel and frame.
Glen Lonon is beautiful, it has some lovely smooth grassy meadows - I actually took to riding on the grass a few times.
What a way for the last 15k to spoil a great 120k ride.

itboffin

They did a 13 mile stretch of my old commute about 2 years back for seemingly no reason other than to fill a handful of potholes, even today it feels deadening the minute you hit that section