I’m toying with the idea of selling my car, partly to save money and partly as it usually just sits on the drive. My wife has a car which I could use if need be.

My commute is 13.5 miles each way, which I do on my GT ZUM with slick tyres. Average time is around 54 minutes, average speed around 14.2 mph. I’m just wondering how much quicker a proper road bike would be and would it better/faster than a boardman hybrid or similar?

If I’m to cycle everyday I want it to be as fast/comfortable as possible.

Thanks in advance.

It’ll be a bit faster. Can’t be any more scientific than that! 10% for a given amount of effort is a reasonable basis for calculation.

I was told that anything over about 10 miles a road bike would be quicker and easier. I do a 12.5 mile commute on my cx bike that takes me about 45 minutes, wouldn’t fancy the same trip on a mtb.

Depends how fit you are and how hilly it is and all that. But the thing I find with a road bike is its easy to keep a high top speed on the flats. If you dont have a head wind you’ll probably be able to zip along to work at 25mph.

Depends – what slick tyres are you using? What pressure? If it’s 1″ tyres at 100psi then little savings, if it.s 1.75s at 60psi then a bit.

Actual time saved ain’t going to be huge but it will become much more fun.

You will prob not be much faster (one or two min) but you will be more comfy and it will feel more efficient, especially when you are tired and there is a head wind and you are going up hill and …

Average speed for me through traffic on my commuter road bike is anywhere between 16 and 18 mph. Depends on the lights, how heavy the traffic is and the weather. It’s all downhill on the way in, all uphill home so my overall average there and back is about 16.5mph.
That’s over a distance of 17.5 miles each way so factor in your own calculations for your distance and terrain.

When I did my 25 mile each way commute it was about 10 mins quicker on the road bike than on the CX bike, even with slick tyres. The lower gearing and the slacker geometry combined to knock a bit off the average speed, the road bike just said “ride me faster!”

A rough calculation leads me to suggest 7.

having done my 10km commute on various bikes over the years including geared roady, fixed roady, SS cross bike, SS mtb, full suss, jump bike, 140mm hardtail. IME the biggest impact is traffic.

On a normal day the commute will take 35 mins. if i do it at 6am or early on a sunday it will take 25 mins (20 mins geared roady). the only bike that was significantly slower was the jump bike (45 mins) but thats to be expected.

however the effort put in varies hugely. road bikes always seem as if you have worked a little less hard to arrive in the same time.

Also depends on the roads along the way – if it’s 13 miles of A-road with no lights you’ll gain much more time than if it’s a stop-start commute through a town centre.

FWIW I saved ~5 minutes on a 1 hour commute through London (lights ahoy) – not really worth the bother so I sold the roadie after a year and bought more MTB parts 🙂

You appear to have a 26″ wheeled bike. 700c wheels are loads quicker, then thinner tires are also massively quicker.

My guess is that you’d average 16-18mph on a road bike rather than 14.

I used to ride an MTB with 23mm slicks way long ago, and when I borrowed some 1.9 slicks it was like riding through treacle by comparison. Then years later when got a quite heavy and wide tyred hybrid but with 700c wheels that was noticably fast too.

I reckon you could knock 10 mins off if it’s open road, compared with what you have which is essentially an MTB.

I agree with crazy legs, my cx bike isn’t nippy on the road but once up to speed it cruises happily faster than a Mtb. You’ll save a few minutes, maybe five but not a huge amount.

As above:

*It’ll be a bit quicker
*Depends on your route (traffic, etc.)
*You’ll arrive a little less knackered…but a road bike will encourage you to push on
*Davidtaylforth is a riding god if he can cruise to work at 25mph

Most of my route is along the A414, so virtually no traffic lights to worry about. No major hills and plenty of flat bits. My gears are a bit of a mess so I’m stuck in middle ring and spin out quite often. Obviously fixing the gears will make me quicker, but larger thinner wheels sound appealling to me.

My 13 mile back road commute pb is 39 min with a tail wind [its pretty hilly] This was on a Road bike. On the Mtb its around 48-52 min average. [Average generally with no tail wind]
I allow myself an hour and dont see the point in having multiple bikes to save 10 min. Now got just 1 bike, But its a lovely bike 🙂

14.2mph average now, 20ish on road bike i reckon

20 mile Commute on Road bike over undulating (and potholed to buggery ATM) Berkshire and Oxfordshire A-roads…

My Road Bike Average commute time is 70.12 Minutes, Average speed (according to my geeky Spreadsheet) is 15.84 MPH… of course that all depends on traffic, weather and how knackered I am…

I prefer to do 3 out of 5 days on the bike if I can (Not always possible): Mon/Wed/Fri is ideal, always quickest on the Wed…

So not staggeringly quick (but then I’m not a staggeringly quick rider), the main difference between using a road bike and an MTB for the same journey is that you do notice that the Road bike is easier work overall, I arrive at work a bit less tired basically, think of it like buying a slightly more fuel efficient car and not driving much faster, you simply burn less fuel with better rolling tires and less weight to shift (in theory at least)…

Never kept a spreadsheet for the handful of MTB commutes I’ve done but I’d guess the MTB was 15-20 minutes longer and I was more puffed at the end, Heavy MTB with Knobbly tires though so don’t read too much into that…

I’d agree with njee at a 10 to 12% increase in speed for the same effort. So your 14.2 average would probably go up to around 16 mph.
If davidtaylforth can cruise to work at 25 mph average then he is in the wrong job – unless he already is a pro cyclist!

I currently ride in four times a week, but have the safetly blanket of a car available if too tired. Sometimes the route in feels like a real chore, so I’m thinking a lighter bike with larger diameter wheels will just make the journey more pleasurable.

My journey is mostly along sometimes smooth, but often rough cycle paths. Tha change in bike would mean using mostly road, but as I’m riding in between 5 and 6am, there isn’t much in the way of traffic.

Well the proof is in the pudding, so I will probably borrow my friends Boardman hybrid and see how it goes.

Thanks for your responses.

Unfortunately I walk to work.

But in the right conditions (smooth flat road, no head wind) you can happily cycle at 25mph on a road bike, but I could never dream of getting anywhere near that speed on my mtb (perhaps cos its too small for me and the tires are too nobbly)

FWIW I saved ~5 minutes on a 1 hour commute through London (lights ahoy)

FWIW a BMX is quite a bit quicker than a roadbike on most city centre commutes 😉

FWIW I did an experiment the other day. Did a there & back ride of just over 9 miles on the MTB with a slick on the back in 36mins 02 secs, av speed of 15.5ish An hour layer I did exactly the same ride on a borrowed road bike in 32mins 40 secs, which (I think) works out at an av speed of 17.4ish. Slight headwind & a couple of rises going out, so a fair bit quicker coming back.

I converted my MTB with specialized all condition pro 2 tyres (26 * 1″ 100psi) and a 48t chainset and road cassette. There was no noticeable difference in speed with this and a road bike for commuting 10 miles with lots of traffic and roundabouts

700c tyres are only very slightly more efficient and then only at higher speeds. Remember the ‘contact patch’ size depends on tyre pressure, not wheel size. Most people don’t use the drops so theres very little aerodynamic advantage unless you’re in full on lycra and not carrying anything.

MTB was better in town, road bike more comfortable on the open road.

oh and i’d say the tyres on the MTB make a massive difference. The 1.3 conti sportcontacts felt very slow (they weight 450grams!) compared to the specialized (250 grams) dspite being a similar size.

about 2 1/2 minutes

14.2mph average now, 20ish on road bike i reckon

20ish (or anywhere above that) puts you in Elite racing league. It’s unbelievably difficult to average 20mph on a solo training ride never mind on a commute with lights/traffic etc.

20mph in a group is do-able – most 3rd/4th Cat races will average about 21mph though so that gives you an idea of how fast it is. Not having a go, just a comment on how people always over-estimate their speed.

But in the right conditions (smooth flat road, no head wind) you can happily cycle at 25mph on a road bike

Hmm, it’s actually quite hard. I’ve a flat commute in currently still conditions, and in sections I am at 22-24mph but that’s going for it. And I’m not a particularly slow cyclist.

I find that wheel size makes a difference not to the contact patch size, but the angle with which the tyre approaches each bump. The bigger the wheel is relative to the bumps it’s riding over, the less resistance. To make an extreme comparison, try skateboarding over gravel on a path – you’ll not get far. Riding over them on a bike you won’t notice much.

Now I know that the bumps on road surfaces are small and that percentage wise there’s not a lot of difference btween 26″ and 700c, but to me at least it’s definitely noticeable. Bigger wheels roll better.

Hmm, it’s actually quite hard. I’ve a flat commute in currently still conditions, and in sections I am at 22-24mpg but that’s going for it.

is that with supermarket cooking lager or a decent strength premium brand?

25 MPH?-hellfire-the only time I hit that is with a mahoosive tailwind!!
Computer generally hovers around the 16-18.5 range on my 12.5 mile 46min commute so giving an average of around 15.5-16.5-thought I was doing well until I read this——-

It’s unbelievably difficult to average 20mph on a solo training ride never mind on a commute with lights/traffic etc

Agreed. Even when I was much fitter last summer, the best I could do was 19mph av to work, and that involved battering myself all the way.

GW – edited 🙂

reluctant – road bike or mtb?

I’ve ridden in 3 times now. It’s 16 or 17 miles depending, and ostensibly flat as a pancake with a hill at the end, and the start is suburban with a few slow traffic lights and cycleways. I’ve not done any exercise since November, and so far my best was the time before last when I got 30.1km/h average or 18.8mph. 32km/h is definitely on the cards I think, hopefully faster.

Comfort.

I’m only marginally quicker on the road bike (would probably be a bigger margin if I were fitter), but I damn site more comfortable.

Don’t trade in you GT thinking you’ll be orders of magnitude faster on a road bike.
Do trade it in if you’d like better feeling riding position for the road and a more direct feel.

Hmm, it’s actually quite hard. I’ve a flat commute in currently still conditions, and in sections I am at 22-24mph but that’s going for it. And I’m not a particularly slow cyclist.

Perhaps i shouldnt have said “happily do 25mph”

It is tough but doable, as soon as you encounter any slight rises or headwinds then your ****.

25mph, slightly quicker than the average speed of last year’s TdF winner then. hmmmmmmm……

I hate to weigh in with some actual scientific evidence but someone’s done a randomised trail and found no statistically significant difference:

http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/doc-says-carbon-no-quicker-than-steel

Actual study as published in the British Medical Journal: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c6801.full

I quite like the pithy conclusion in the abstract: “A lighter bicycle did not lead to a detectable difference in commuting time. Cyclists may find it more cost effective to reduce their own weight rather than to purchase a lighter bicycle.”

It’s funny how many people confuse the speed they read on their cycle computer whilst barrelling along the flat, with their actual average speed.
I’m regularly rolling along between 20 and 25mph, depending on effort levels – 25mph is tough, on the flat bits of my london commute (road bike). But the actual average including traffic, lights, inclines is about 14-15mph.

Also I’m under no illusions that without lights I’d be wafting along at over 20mph, the lights give a handy rest so I can go faster on the bits when I am moving.

ok used to do a 15 mile commute best times as follows : Hardtail mtb with knobblies 43minutes, cx bike 41 minutes, Full on road bike 37 minutes (mind you I was pushing it) would normally be around 39minutes

that’s 21 mph on the hardtail and 24.3 mph on road bike – good going!

ok used to do a 15 mile commute best times as follows : Hardtail mtb with knobblies 43minutes, cx bike 41 minutes, Full on road bike 37 minutes (mind you I was pushing it) would normally be around 39minutes

I didn’t know Bradley Wiggins posted on here!

I’m regularly rolling along between 20 and 25mph, depending on effort levels – 25mph is tough, on the flat bits of my london commute (road bike). But the actual average including traffic, lights, inclines is about 14-15mph.

yeah but I look down and see 25 load and the times it not 25 is when I’m not really trying so it doesn’t count and I’m not looking at the speed then so it defiantly doesn’t count and that’s how average speed works.