SylvainG

Not true. Take for example a 30 seconds red light and going 35 km/h. To gradually (and linearly to simplify the maths) slow down to 5 km/h at the turn of the green light, then 5 seconds to go back to your 35 km/h from the 5 km/h, your average speed would be 20 km/h. If on the other hand you stay at 35 km/h until the last 5 seconds then stop (moving speed also stops counting) then go from 0 km/h to 35 km/h in 7 seconds, your average moving speed would be 29,3 km/h.

SHBR

The most logical reply.

/end thread

This is quite important on a singlespeed where momentum is key.

SHBR

Full stops and starts require substantially greater effort, great for interval training, not so great for relaxed commuting or long distance riding.

kbarch

Yup. Stopping is more work than a lot of people acknowledge. So is overcoming complete inertia, especially when working against gravity. Quite often, the first few meters from a stop at an intersection are up a ramp to the crown of the road being crossed - another thing a lot of people seem to forget. I'm always shaking my head at the folks who won't switch to a lower gear before crossing a highway from a stop. Maybe 5% of the guys who stay in a relatively high gear can and will crank up the torque sufficiently, but all the others are always creeping across, struggling and all out of the saddle just to get started. Are they trying to conserve their shift cables or something?

SHBR

No shifting on a SS/FG. One learns quite quickly to anticipate and reduce full stops as much as possible, and when they do happen, restart as gently as possible.

Gears have made me lazy, I use my geared bikes for more relaxed riding.

SylvainG

Except that in the example above, it's just 5 km/h difference between a full stop and the rolling cross on the green light. That 5 km/h is reached in a few pedal strokes. Also, 25 seconds rest isn't to be frown about. And to the post after yours, indeed, I switched gear and also replaced my 52 teeth chainring for a 46 teeth (I stop and go more often than go at 50+ km/h during my commute so a 46 is better for me than a 52) to have better torque when starting in my 24 teeth cog without having to change chainring. Last time I fell clipped was actually because I concentrated on a car parked near the curb and forgot to change gear. When I pushed on the pedal to start, bike fell instead of moving forward

noisebeam

It doesn't matter where one rides. If the red light is in the distance I keep pedaling or maintaining speed until I can assess the intersection.

Per the OP: "[The red light in the distance] could have just changed or it could be changing to green any moment. What do you do? "
The only practical answer is pedal until one can get more info - whether it be a change in light or being able to see x-walk signals or change in cross traffic, etc. This will happen much closer than 1/2 or 1/4 mile away.

PaulRivers

Same thing here as well. You don't know how things will go, no point in losing energy by breaking, no point in continuing to pedal because you might need to break and lose it as well.
Plus it's the best for being able to look around and be aware of traffic.

While I do watch traffic signals I first watch cars. "The light was green but I got hit by a car" is a terrible outcome for me, much worse than "I accidentally went through a red light but there were no cars" or "I stopped but turns out I didn't need to".

NoWhammies

This ^^^ This is my approach. I don't see the point in losing energy by braking and no point in continuing to peddle. So I've just taken to soft peddling as a way of trying to make the best of the situation. Of course if I were riding in a group, that's whole other ball of wax.

Reeses

1. Look for any cute honeys on the sidewalk

Yes? -> Brake and downshift in one swift motion, unclip and assertively set my foot down on the pavement as my wheels simultaneously roll to a stop. Set my forearms on the tops of my bars and give them the Lance glance

No? -> ???

kbarch

One point to (soft) PEDALING when approaching a signaled intersection is to keep track of what gear one is in, and to adjust as appropriate to set up for the re-acceleration.