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Say you were averaging 10 or 11mph on a mountain bike on roads.
This is on 6 inches of travel with 2.35 draggy tyres at 45psi.
I'm tempted to have a go on a road bike for the summer, but have no experience whatsoever on them.
What average speed can I expect to do over a 2 to 3 hour run?
I would say at least 15mph given the speed you are quoting for an mtb, probably more like 17mph
I'm fat and just getting into road and I average about 14 mph around Worcestershire roads on my own. My boss is fitter and averages about 16mph on his own and nearer 20 in a group.
I would say at least 15mph given the speed you are quoting for an mtb, probably more like 17mph
Maybe less if you're not used to the continuous effort.
It depends how fast you are.
People will be along with various 'average speeds' which will indicate that should British Cycling be destroyed by a freak earthquake tomorrow, we could fill the Olympic road race team by asking a few commuters and mountain bikers to step up.
Good job lycra is stretchy, Eh?
Realistic, door-to-door, riding in traffic, with junctions and traffic lights and all that jazz average speeds; 18 mph is doing well. I managed 20 mph on an 80 mile solo training ride when I was racing, and thought I was bloody flying.
I do about 15mph on my commute and that's with a fair number of traffic lights slowing me down - had a road bike for a month or so.
Iam normally around 16-17 mph on the road bike over that time.Over the same route on the mtb I`d be similar to you.
Also depends on climbing - I did 16.3 mph on a 25 mile ride but with 2000 ft of climbing sat (after being off the bike for a little while) - I seem to average about 15-16mph on steady but quite hilly rides around Dartmoor - only get 18+ mph on flat stuff?
My ride into work (19 miles)in the snow the other week on the MTB which involved a mixture of road/cycle path I averaged 13.5mph (both directions). The wind was quite still.
A few days later a near on identical route to work, just all on road, and no snow I managed 15.5mph on the way in, and 18.7mph on the way home. Strong headwind in, tailwind home.
Averaged 18.2mph on an undulating circular 100k route on the road at the weekend on the winter bike. Was in a group for some of it, but rode with just one other for most of it.
Suspension was locked out on the MTB, and my MTB is lighter than my winter road bike.
Would the 15-17mph be enough to keep up on a group ride?
I see the local club heading out on weekends. Again, no Idea of what they're averaging or distance covered.
Probably, however it will take you some time to get used to pace, group riding and sustained speed.
On my 22 mile commute to work I'm averaging about 15mph, however there are 127 traffic lights - about half of which I caught this morning.
In most clubs yes.
Our club has a couple of groups. One tends to be for the older guys, new to or returning to cycling - they tend to ride 12-24mph. Our group usually averages around 16-17mph in winter and 18-20mph in summer.
If you can average 15-17mph on most rides by yourself, you're probably good for adding 1-2mph for the advantage of riding in a group. Group rides should be a constant effort, but I found my in my early rides I struggled on hill and out of corners as the effort level just seemed to increase more than I was used to.
Would the 15-17mph be enough to keep up on a group ride?
Again, it depends on the group. If they are riding for pleasure/ as a cycling club, it would be sufficient, provided you know how to ride effectively in a group. If it's a chain gang, ie training to race, things get a bit more pressured; my local one was 40 miles and took a few minutes over 2 hours, and if you got dropped, you rode home alone.
Off road, on a MTB normal sort of trail riding, you're lucky to get to 10mph: 7mph is more realistic.
Off road XC racing, 13mph is properly quick.
On road, on a road bike, over an average sort of road distance of 100km most club roadies can do 16-18mph on their own, maybe 17-20mph in a group. Yes, it's possible to go quicker but [b]averages[/b] of much over 20mph are difficult on your own unless you're really going for it. Anyone who says their average speed on a commute, with traffic, lights, junctions etc is >20mph is lying or they have a very downhill biased commute!
Road racing: varies wildly depending on the course. I've done hilly 3/4 races which averaged about 21mph, I've done E/1/2 crits which averaged 30mph!
Not totally relevant to your question, but if I'm planning an offroad mtb ride I reckon to allow 7mph plus 5 mins in every hour per rider involved for stops and "catch up" time.
I think a road bike is 15-20% quicker going by some trips I have done on both
I would say 18mph is a good average speed to a fit group of roadies 🙂
Did an offroad mtb ride with a group of roadies around Xmas, nothing too technical, a few fire road climbs. The "catch up" was just that. As they were resting up I had barely time to catch breath then they were off again! If that's what a road ride involves I think I would seriously struggle. Don't mind pushing myself a bit but there was no enjoyment in that one.
Road riding is hard work. In some respects it is harder than an MTB ride, there are certainly less chat stops. I ride both and I am definately faster on a road bike compared to an MTB. Road rides can easily average 18 mph over 50-60 miles. The best I ever managed was 15.7 over 100 miles. Try that on an MTB.
The roadies I ride with are a seriously fit bunch and I need to get more miles in to keep up.
Come on you guys, you know the rules, this is an unacceptable breach, I hope you are all thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!
[i]Rule #24 // Speeds and distances shall be referred to and measured in kilometers.
This includes while discussing cycling in the workplace with your non-cycling coworkers, serving to further mystify our sport in the web of their Neanderthalic cognitive capabilities. As the confused expression spreads across their unibrowed faces, casually mention your shaved legs. All of cycling’s monuments are measured in the metric system and as such the English system is forbidden.[/i]
You should all try an MTB ride with us then.......Our average is usually between 5-7mph......... 8O. That would include some daft hikerbike and some stupid techy descent 😉
I usually cruise on a road bike at an average of 15-16 solo and with a group roughly 19, in a TT it`s then around 24-25mph.
Just getting back into road after 11 years out 🙄
Best I've managed on my own is just under 20mph av. But I was pretty fit.
These days, on the long road back to fitness, I'm around 15-16 av. But my rides are only a couple of hours. Over any distance, and if there were any hills - it's pan flat where I ride - I'd be much slower.
No entry for the Olympics for me, thanks.
I forgot to mention that i live in a very hilly area as well 😉
As I've got far more important things to do I decided to procrastinate and look at my training diary thing to see how fast I go on average. Since the beginning of 2009, my average speeds on road and trail are this:
On road, I've ridden 12,136km at an average of 28.3kmh (at average HR 77%), majority of that is solo, but also group rides, recovery rides and a (very) few races. Mainly around Bristol/wales/Dorset/mallorca
On the mtbs (mainly a patriot, so no lightweight), I've ridden 4,284km at an average speed of 12kmh (av HR 70%) - mainly riding to the top of DH courses, then back down, but with a few trail center type things in there and local rides too. Mainly in S. Wales, Scotland, and the bristol area.