Leisesturm

I'm surprised you didn't realize I was being very tongue in cheek. But I wasn't really thinking of delivery riders. Nor did I say pedal bikes are faster, I said 'as fast'. IOW more has to do with rider skill than with sheer speed potential in a place like NYC. If you have the stones to do really sideways stuff you can turn in a shorter ETA on either craft. I personally don't have an issue with e-bikes but your city administration sure seems to in a big way.

JoeyBike

That is a really good average speed anywhere except during a race. I know delivery people have the "time is money" clock in their heads, but 17mph in a city grid is amazing. I spend a lot of time near 20mph but my average is 13-15 mph at best. And I am impatient, not a delivery guy. I also strive to keep up or stay ahead of motorized traffic when not gridlocked. Drafting cars may be involved up to 30mph for a few seconds.

Yeah, 17.5 average is impressive.

Leisesturm

The 17.5 average is for cars! All cars. Check your own GPS.

CliffordK

I'd have to say location makes a huge difference.

For riding around Eugene/Springfield, cars beat me just about every time, except for perhaps a few blocks in the center of the cities.

Get out to the suburbs, and cars are frequently moving 40+ MPH... no way I can come close. I also generally avoid running red lights that are on a timer and will eventually turn green.

Both myself, and my mother live 8 to 10 miles outside of the city center. It is about 15 minutes by car, and 1/2 hour to 1 hour by bike.

Parking was mentioned. For the most part, not a big deal for cars around here. It is often safe enough to simply leave a car unlocked, but with auto locks on cars, one can stop and run. On the bike, there is digging out the lock. Stripping lights, phones, etc off the bike. Remounting safety gear, etc. I'd say I'm at a definite disadvantage with parking.

Even when I go up to the "big city", Portland, there are a few downhill blocks in downtown that I can do quite well keeping up with cars, but I struggle with climbing back up those hills getting out of downtown, and once out of the downtown area, cars just fly past me.

JoeyBike

Ah. I missed that detail.

I only GPS track my skating data (3170 miles last year). Since my bike is my car, it's just too much trouble tracking all that every time. But I can assure you, my average even on my best day was less than 17.5mph. I could rarely average 20mph in a 10-mile time trial on a road bike. Always 19.X with few exceptions. I concede that award to the car you mentioned.

Maelochs

I used to figure a 15 mph average for commuting miles. naturally it varied depending on ... everything, from weather to traffic to fatigue, but I never got there late figuring 15 mph across the city. But .... some days I had to ride a lot farther, and i bet 15 would have been optimistic for all the rides of that day.

I-Like-To-Bike

Any credible reference or is this alleged factoid the product of more of your cryptic tongue-in-cheek figuring?

noglider 

It's funny that so many are faster riding home than into work. I'm the opposite, and that's even with heavier headwinds in the morning.

I usually ride my bike with dynamo lights, and they are bolted on, so that saves time. And I rarely lock it up. I usually bring it into my office. When I lock up the bike, I do remove my saddlebag and anything else not bolted on, so that takes a little time.

Hoopdriver

Yes, I understand this and routinely skirt the letter of the law under some conditions using quite a bit of judgement. T

The study did use a significant amount of data, which is good; however it does not support the the strong headline statement "Bikes are faster" for the reasons I mentioned in my post. I guess I could state that I am faster walking than in my car because I it takes me less time on foot to get to the attic of my garage.

noglider 

This happens all the time. I was born with a defective joke detector.

Leisesturm

Have you checked you GPS yet?

mr_bill

I-Like-To-Bike

Is "you GPS" where your figuring came from about the average speed of all cars? Or is that too also tongue in cheek?

genec

LOL... at one time my commute was uphill, both ways... I had to go down into a valley, and then up the other side.

genec

Does your ancient Hupmobile have an electronic odometer and or GPS? If so, check the accumulated average speed, tell us what it says.

Maelochs

Not quite sure what everyone is debating here ... oh, sorry, it is BF.

The results of any experiment are valid only within the context of the experiment (see: Scientific Method.) Within the precise limits of this experiment the results of this experiment are absolutely valid.

However, unless the rest of us are delivery riders in NYC, the results don't apply.

Simple.

jon c. 

The results are valid, they simply aren't especially enlightening.

I-Like-To-Bike

And would you, like Leisesturm, deduce that that tidbit of data would confirm or deny his weird/fabricated claim that 17.5 mph is the average overall speed for all cars?

BTW how did you determine from your odometer or GPS your own, let alone everybody else's, average speed for all your/their driving experiences? Did you punch in and out on an old fashioned time card, or use a stop watch function on a high tech electronic gizmo, every time you entered/exited your motorized vehicles for every trip?

noglider 

Jeez, guys, enough. The acrimony is not enlightening.

Leisesturm

If you can't, or won't bother to check your GPS your obvious skepticsm is unwarranted. My guess is that others have and have not found my observations regardless of how I came by them to be baseless. As to how unenlightening it is ... well this was a discussion about speed through town ... car vs bike at that. I don't know but I would think its ALL about 'moving average' in that context.

I-Like-To-Bike

I must not have any speed, average or otherwise, in my travels since I don't have a GPS in/on my car, bike or person.

Tell you what, you can send me a "you GPS" and I will be able to determine the average moving speed of all cars! just like you have, and the conclusion will be just as accurate as your ludicrous guesswork.

I-Like-To-Bike

Acrimony? Nope, just a request for enlightenment about the source, especially method of data collection of quantitative data reported as facts about car travel on this thread.

I recognize that some posters would prefer to have nobody challenge posted questionable claims/factoids that agree with their own beliefs or sacred cows.

I-Like-To-Bike

I believe an interesting and thread related comparison of speed related averages would be average total time spent on bicycle commuting trips of moderate length (arbitrarily set at 3-10 miles one way) when done in relaxed mode on lower priced bicycles vis-à-vis the same trips done in maximum effort or training mode on higher end light weight bikes with associated bicycling specific clothing/"kit". Average commute time would include bicycle preparation time as well as showering/change of clothing, bicycle security procedures.

Of course such data collection would require a suitable stop watch and pencil and notepad to record the time elapsed from beginning of commute preparation as well as arrival, ready for work, at work desk, factory/sales floor or other work site.

Each person's collected data, no matter how accurately recorded, would only apply to themselves, any extrapolation to others would have little if any validity.

mrodgers

My car is 2.5 years old and had 4 miles on it when I bought it. I reset the average speed and it is 33 mph from the time I bought it.

Takes me 48 minutes to ride to work. 12 minutes by car.

I'll be honest, I don't live near a big city and don't drive into the city to go to work. I would have to go through town on a bike.

Leisesturm

I like you better when you don't dig in on unintended generalizations that do nothing to blunt the bigger point!! Of course the 'factoid' doesn't apply to EVERY car but it does apply to MOST cars driven in URBAN/SUBURBAN areas that see a mix of grid, freeway and parking lot movement. It is NOT my own conclusion based on looking at MY GPS and going "oh gee golly whiz this must apply to every single car made because MY GPS says ..." give me some credit. Google 'hypermiling" when you have some time. 17.5 mph is agreed by a majority of hypermilers (full disclosure: I am not a hypermiler) as the speed that, when maintained regardless of posted speeds, results in an ETA not much different from those who slavishly maintain (or exceed) posted maximums. This is done to extend tire life, brake pad life, gasoline economy, rarely to increase safety. Hypermilers are usually driving safe enough SUV's or large pickups that the drivers cannot afford to operate. Again, not MY 'factoid' at all but when I come up behind one on a two lane without a passing lane for two more miles I am affected by the dissemination of 'factoids' online. I'm not sure why you are so exercised in the present instance.