I have a Trek 1.2 road bike. Nothing special, but it does the job. I am stuck at an 18 MPH average on a moderately hilly route.
How fast would my average MPH be one of these high end / all carbon bikes? Does it really make that much of a difference?
20.3
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20.356 to be more accurate
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For only an $8,000 investment, you could maybe increase your average on a flat course to 19mph
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I averaged 18.5 on my last sprint race in 2010 using a Trek 1.5.
I bought a Cervelo P3 last fall, trained hard during the winter, and bought an aero helmet… Averaged 21.9 at HIM-Racine.
I have a Ridley Dean and I’m actually slower than I am on my drop bar road bike:
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20.3
In all seriousness, do you think it makes a 2-3 mph difference per hour?
20.3
In all seriousness, do you think it makes a 2-3 mph difference per hour?
Just the bike? No. The additional winter training motivation from owning a crazy-expensive new bike and needing to prove it was justified? Yes. Well…maybe not 2-3 mph, but easily 1 mph. Plus another 0.5 from the bike.
edit - I don’t mean “easily” as in no hard work required. I mean as in “that much or more.”
20.3
In all seriousness, do you think it makes a 2-3 mph difference per hour?
Improved, more aerodynamic position of your body will be likely to provide more improvement than the frame members themselves.
If you were to sit on it the same way as your Trek, we’re not talking about very much improvement.
Not enough info. Fwiw I can hold 22 on a caad9 no aero gear for an hour on a rolling 5 mile loop but the effort is hard. Same thing on my tt bike with full on aero gear is a cakewalk for 2 hours.
Not enough info. Fwiw I can hold 22 on a caad9 no aero gear for an hour on a rolling 5 mile loop but the effort is hard. Same thing on my tt bike with full on aero gear is a cakewalk for 2 hours.
And what do you attribute that to?
OK, here is my n=1 experience. Same course, same distance. same year. Similar fitness, similar effort.
2009 Litespeed saber w/rear disc, neuvation front wheel about 19 lbs, tri bike 12 miles @22.44 mph vitoria 320 tpi tires
1987 Centurion/ dave scott w/mavic expert wheels about 25 lbs road bike 12 miles @21.08 mph conti race tires
1987 Centurion/ dave scott converted to aero position w/ gatorskin tires. rear wheel cover 12 miles @21.70 mph
So… my conclusion a buttload of money buys you a little over 1 mph. That is all.
I’ve been gathering a bunch of data since I got my powermeter.
Pretty much the only consistent result so far is that keeping all else equal (power/garments/wheels/tire pressure), my badly-fit clip-on aerobars on a road bike are worth about 2km/h (35.5km/h → 37.5km/h over the same loop). Since you’re going a bit slower, your results may be a bit worse.
If you’re not using aero bars and don’t have any targeted aero position, then you could go 1.5-2mph faster. Switch tires and tubes, and you could go another mph faster, especially if you’re using commuter tires (ie Gatorskins).
I have a Trek 1.2 road bike. Nothing special, but it does the job. I am stuck at an 18 MPH average on a moderately hilly route.
How fast would my average MPH be one of these high end / all carbon bikes? Does it really make that much of a difference?
Assuming same rider weight/fitness/postion and same components you might squeek .1 mph on the hills due to lighter frame weight and .1 on the flats due to more aero frame.
As part of your upgrade you will see benifits (in order of effect):
- get fitted properly
- have aero frame/components/wheels
- have lighter frame/components/wheels
You could pick up even more speed.
Lose 10 lbs, train harder/smarter, dial in your position, etc… These would all make a bigger difference than a new bike most likely.
But if a new shiny bike gives you motivation to do that, then go buy one.
Also 18mph over a non-disclosed distance is pretty vague.
Tires and tubes 1mph…uh No
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20.3
In all seriousness, do you think it makes a 2-3 mph difference per hour?
Just the bike? No. The additional winter training motivation from owning a crazy-expensive new bike and needing to prove it was justified? Yes. Well…maybe not 2-3 mph, but easily 1 mph. Plus another 0.5 from the bike.
x2
I got the new P3c with power, rotor cranks etc and found myself working my ass off so I wouldn’t be “that guy” with the expensive bike that couldn’t ride. I nicknamed the bike “no excuses” and got much faster over all distances (even my hill climbing ;-))
So buy the best and you will definitely get significantly faster
85% position, 5% aero helmet, 5% wheels 3% bike, 2% magic
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I went from road bike with aerobars last year to high end bike, aerohelmet, good wheels, wheel cover, good tires, good tubes. Now I am 3 mph faster. But, I also train much harder so I don’t know how much speed I bought and how much I earned. My guess is 1.5 mph bought, 1.5 mph earned. The bike was by far the most expensive purchase, but probably didn’t get me more than .5 mph.
For $400-500 you could get clip-ons, aerohelmet, wheel cover, fast tires and latex tubes and probably get 80% of your possible gains. Next 10% about $2000 more , next 8% about $3000 more , last 2% $5000 more. Rough guesses, but you get the point.
If you can afford the shiny new bike. Get it. It will make you happy and faster. If not, don’t waste your money.