bicycle126312

I have a White Interceptor 19, I'd post a link, but I'm not allowed. The full specifications can be found at whitebikes's website though (Whitebikes.com), under /bikes/rc-interceptor-19. I suppose this isn't against the rules.

My question is, how can I make it faster?

I can spend money, but I'm curious what would give the most performance for the money. This bike sees commute which includes flats, a bit of downhill and uphill.

Moe Zhoost

Conditioning

General Geoff

That bike is already very light at 17 lbs, and it's already an aero frame with a good quality groupset. Any gains you obtain from upgrading components will be marginal at best, and still be very costly. You could go to skinnier tires at a higher PSI to reduce rolling resistance slightly, if your commute is mostly smooth pavement, but otherwise the only way to go faster is to train your body and lose weight if you are not already very fit and trim.

bicycle126312

Thanks for the feedback.

I was told it is possible to cut into the head tube to make the handlebars sit lower, thus making me able to bend over more aggressively. This is something the store I bought it at offers to do for free, actually.

However, this is a permanent modification and I'm a bit cautious having the store permanently modify the frame.

What about installing an electric motor on the bike? Are there any options? It doesn't have to be inexpensive.

I'm also not using clip-in pedals, the pedals installed on the bicycle are dual ones, that has a normal flat pedal side, and a clip-in side. I only use the flat side, with regular shoes, because I've read that clip-in pedals are pointless in terms of efficiency (Kautz, Feltner, Coyle, Baylor, pedaling technique of elite endurance cyclists, changes with increasing workload at constant cadence, Intl J of Sport Biomechanics, 7, 29-53, 1991, and (40) Coyle, Feltner et al, Physiological and biochemical determinants of elite endurance cycling performance, Med and Sci in Sports and Exercise, 23, 93-107, 1991).

While clip-in pedals may improve handling, I'm not concerned with that, I only care about efficiency and overall average speed.

General Geoff

If you're not opposed to external power, and don't mind spending some coin, I humbly suggest a second-hand motorcycle to supplement your bike.

Adding an electric motor and battery to your super light, high-end aero road bike will defeat much of its design purpose.

downhillmaster

By all means you should definitely cut into the frame and you should also consider removing all brake levers and cables to drop weight and reduce drag.

Wileyrat

I think your shop meant cutting down the steerer tube, and not the head tube. You want a lower more aggressive riding position, slam the stem and try it out before you cut the steerer tube and see what you think.

You cut the head tube, your next question here will be what frame should I buy.

Fwiw, I looked up your bike, and it's already pretty decent. If you're wanting to upgrade, I'd look at upgrading those wheels first.

zarbog

Buy a cheap speedometer and clock your speed, then repeat over and over until you go faster.

caloso

I think your shop meant that it would cut the steer tube. Before you do that, try bending your elbows more.

Marcus_Ti

Ride more.

DrIsotope

Push down on the pedals harder, more often. The bike itself has no speed-- if you were to ghost ride it, it would move at the same speed as any other bike until it fell over. A bike is as fast as the meat engine sitting atop it.

Metieval

spend the money on a coach.

off the top of my head

lower the bars
clipless pedals/shoes (pedal in circles) people that say clipless is pointless don't pedal in circles.
pull on the bars don't push.
breathing
nutrition , cut the junk!
EPO is a good place to spend money
tight clothing.
Wheels and tires, I never looked the bike up. but tires make a huge difference as do wheels.
If you have money to blow (and often) then over sized ceramic RD pullies.

again spend the money on a pro mechanic!!!! so many tweaks to be made here that all add up to speed.

Wilfred Laurier

There may be minor improvements to be made by getting a better set of wheels - I am not a fan of Formula hubs, but they aren't bad... just not fancy.

But that's about it. For commuting, the 32mm tires are probably the perfect size if you want to go fast. Switching to a tubeless setup with the same tires and rims might give you a tiny boost.

But really, if you are too slow on that bike, it's not the bike's fault.

indyfabz

Viich

What's the quote? "Don't buy upgrades, ride up grades."?

I read the first of the two articles you cited on your decision not to buy cycling shoes, and it did not comment on pedal attachment at all. They concluded that for most cyclists there is little contribution to overall power from the 'upstroke', at maximum speeds around a 40km TT. Two things - the point of the clipless pedal (or clips) is not to 'pull up', but to locate the foot on the pedal, and they did not study sprinting at all. I think trying out clipless might be worthwhile - virtually every competitive amateur and pro use them in cycling disciplines of road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, bmx racing, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I use them commuting (spd's) - my feet don't slip on the pedal. SPD is very walkable, so not really an inconvenience commuting in any way, as I change shoes at work anyway.

The window of rider skill/fitness in which the bike actually makes enough of a difference to go faster than someone who's going faster than you otherwise is pretty narrow. Even more so given that you're pretty far up the bike performance ladder already. The only obvious place for more than the most marginal improvement is in the wheels and tires - that doesn't look to be even one of the most aero of aluminum rims, so you could probably get some improvement by upgrading rims and tires.

You seem to like studies/testing, so take a look at November Bicycles Wind Tunnel Testing Part 1 and Part 2 , and https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ . None of it is perfect, but are relatively well designed experiments for freely available info.

In looking at all of that though, remember this from the November write-up (explaining some of the standard comparisons) "using the 30mph parameter, 10g of drag roughly equals 1 watt, and 1 watt roughly equals 3 seconds in the mythical 40k."

I don't know how fast you're riding, the tire rolling resistance is comparatively constant over speed, while aerodynamic resistance goes up very quickly with speed.

Viich

100% agree - I use 32 front and 35 rear at the moment (put all my gear on the rear rack) on Vittoria Zaffiro's, and they're faster than 28mm Clement LGG (I saw in the store they seem to have changed brand names to Donnelly, but the models seem the same as when they were Clement - mta - found this article with the google machine.)
I wasn't completely happy with the LGGs. They're an interesting tire, but I preferred both the 23/25mm Vittoria Rubino IIIs, and the 32/35 Vittoria Zaffiro's.

superdex

(not enough posts, you'll get there)

RC Interceptor 19 - White Bikes

Wait -whut?

Listen, kid: that bike ain't holding you back. move along, move along...

burnthesheep

...I'll answer the OP's question: given the information online about that bike.........just go with some new GP 5000's with latex and flip the stem for the time being until you decide you like a slammed cockpit or not. They're plenty durable if you're concerned with speeding up at all.

cb400bill

This is not the place to argue about forum policies or rules. If you don't have something to add to the topic at hand, please move along.

cb400bill

Why?

terrymorse 

In case this is a serious question, the first thing to replace are those Maxxis garden hose tires.

Here are some tires with low rolling resistance. Take your pick, any of them will be much better than what you have now.

bicycle126312

Just to make this clear: Yes, this is a serious question.

Why wouldn't I want to do this? Riding a fast bicycle is more fun than a slow bicycle. Any improvement that actually results in a noticeable improvement in performance is welcomed.

There's also something to be said for the placebo effect in this -- simply knowing that the bicycle could be faster I'm sure is something that makes people upgrade their bicycles.

cb400bill

Then the biggest difference that you can make is your fitness level. Or, as Eddy Merckx said, ride up grades don't buy upgrades.

bicycle126312

Yes, this is a serious question. I don't mean to be rude, but is this question that strange, just because the bicycle is somewhat high-end? To me it seems like nothing on my bicycle is optimal, it could be lighter, it could be more aerodynamic (at the same time!), it could have dura-ace instead of ultegra, furthermore the compliance is horrible on my bicycle, just to mention a few things.

Yeah it is a decent bicycle, but it stops right there. A really high-end bicycle like a Madone SLR 9 is much more expensive and features much better ... everything.

While I appreciate all the replies I've gotten so far, it seems that the general consensus here is that it is pointless to buy something like a Madone SLR 9. Considering how little bang for buck you appear to get --- a gain measured in a few seconds at best --- I must say I'm inclined to agree.

All of that said, your advice seems very good, because the tires don't exactly appear to be good ones. Thank you.

So perhaps I should look into tires and clip-in pedals, and lowering the bars?

Beyond this, I suspect there is a much higher diminishing returns. Does that seem somewhat accurate?

Caliper

Not surprising that expensive things have better parts, right?

You (or your bike shop) can lower the bars without cutting the steerer tube. A lower position is more aero, but also may be less comfortable depending on your core strength and flexibility. Leaving the steer tube intact lets you experiment and go back if need be.

Better tires will make a difference, but we're talking 10-15W kind of stuff here. Noticeable but not earth-shattering.

I much prefer clip-in pedals. While they may not improve power transfer in lab conditions, in the real world they do keep your feet properly positioned over bumps and such which helps noticeably. Plus, cycling shoes with a stiff sole will help.

In general, the biggest upgrade you can make is to the rider though. Since it sounds like you are a newer cyclist, developing better form and fitness on the bike will do more for your power than any of these things