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no Tom
that's just you.(usually at the back )
The SS I speak of is a Pompino, being used on a city commute of 15 miles. I'm trying to talk myself out of purchasing an uber light road bike by convincing myslef that it won't be substantially faster...
my pompino isn't much diferent to my gered bike. Wheels make a big difference though - so upgrade those instead. 😉
82.4% of the time, gears are quicker.
brakes - Member
82.4% of the time, gears are quicker.
I like that kind of statistic......... 😉
Hmmm, in the simplest sense SS is not “Faster” I’d say over nice flat route my 2:1 geared 26er is at least about ~2mph slower than my geared bike chuck in some hills to go up and down and the average speed for the SS probably creeps down further relative to the geared bike... But then that’s rather a narrow view to take of the whole thing.
As others have stated the benefits of an SS go beyond simple calculations of ground speed:
My SS is much faster in terms of time spent on maintenance, and in terms of fitness benefits I’d say 30miles on the SS probably has a far greater impact on my fitness than the same 30 miles would on my Geared MTB, not only that but it forces you to find efficient ways to use (and conserve) your energy when riding, all of this is directly transferable to a geared bike...
So an SS will make you faster on the Geared bike (Over time)...
Of course ground speed is not the only measure of enjoyment, but it is one...
But if the aim is to get to and from work quickly on the roads, get a sensible geared road bike, the novelty of an SS will probably wear off within a week or two, and a geared road bike is a far more flexible tool than an SS TBH...
Gears are faster, unless it's a short/sharp hill in which case SS forces you to go faster, but there's nothing to stop a geard bike doing the same, it's just the rider knows they'll be faster overall if they spin up the hill slower and overtake/leave the SSer to get his breath back at the top.
Surely it depends upon the what your legs power curve looks like?If you can only develop peak power at one rotational speed, then you will be quicker when geared (as you can pedal at that speed no matter what your ground speed) or if you can provide the same power (note power, not force/torque!) across multiple rotational speeds then you will be fine on an SS.
Interestingly (or not) my critical power curve falls off mahoosivley below 5 minutes, i.e. I can ride well at threshold, but not sprint. This despite riding SS for 2 years.
I think you're thinking of quadrant plots though. I've only just started looking at power stuff, but haven't actualy found anything to say you should be on the line the whole time, just that cadence changes between different styles of ride/race, so training should try and match the race.
SS is faster because SS riders are fitter.
Ahem.