Bikexln

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john4789

Lies, damned lies, and statistics, my friend.

Trust no number quoted on BF no matter the circumstance. That being said.....

I typically average 19-20mph on my fixed gear 'hybrid'. I call it that since it is a track frame, fixed gear, but has touring tires and road drop bars. My max speed? 30 mph flat = 125 rpm for my gear ratio and slight down hill. Not sure you need any more.

What are the rodies are doing? Who give two shiites... Unless you have the gear like them then don't compare. End of sentence.

Roadies be roadies, leave it at that.

ColinL

blunt, crude, but true.

average speed doesn't tell much of a story for many rides, considering there are things like stoplights and intersections which slow us down, but also give us a little rest. there's also wind and elevation, which are huge factors.

ok, now that we have all that out of the way, I'm glad you are enjoying your hybrid and have returned to biking. maybe you were asking about steady state cruising speed, or flat road sprinting? 22 mph is not a good sprint, but it's a start. 22mph cruising speed is fast and most people here can't sustain that for too long on a typical hybrid.


oh. final question, how fast did I ride my road bike today? well, I did an eight minute interval with a 15 mph tailwind with no stopping or slowing (country road) at 24-29 mph. during the second such interval into the wind the same power, 260-275w, gets only 14-18mph. (full disclosure: I pace my riding partner, who has a power meter. I can't convince my wife to let me buy such things. )

ColinL

sustained cruises above 15mph are pretty good on a hybrid. below 10 is pretty slow unless you're climbing a big hill.

sustain 25mph on a hybrid and you need to be racing.

jsdavis

I've gone 38MPH according to the road side "Your speed is: " signs.

Sustained speed I have no idea. It takes me about 45-50 minutes to cover about 9 miles which is about 11-12 MPH. That takes into account every stop sign, stop light, pedestrian, traffic, and road obstruction I run into so it's not a sustained speed really.

One location I have to commute to, I have a 4 mi ride that takes about 25 minutes, about 9.6 MPH, but part of it involves climbing 300 ft with an 8% mean grade.

What do roadies do? I have no idea and not sure if I care, but I have passed them from time to time but I cannot say what they did before I passed them either.

giantcfr1

Don't have a bike computer on my hybrid.

PatrickGSR94

wow, I can only hope to maintain 15-18 mph when I start commuting to work. It's about 13 miles one way, but with very few intersections and only 2 traffic lights. Lots of hills, though, we we'll see.

Igo

I gain 500 feet on my commute in. I average about 9 mph. I'm never in a hurry, especially on 60psi 32c tires. On the way home, about 18 but again, this is just casual riding. I've been thinking about a 28c tire with higher pressures to increase my efficiency a little. I'm an old guy and enjoy just putting along.
I'd say my commuter/hybrid is about 15% less efficient uphill and about 35% less efficient than my road bike at speed or on a downhill.

ColinL

I commute on my road bike and wear a backpack.

my hybrid has eyelets for panniers, but it's in "MTB mode" and big knobby tires are not efficient on the road at all. I would be quite pleased to average 12 mph riding to work on it. when/if I ever get a proper MTB I can make it a much, much better commuter starting with the tires.

EsoxLucius

Sustained 18-20 mph is a good workout on my bike.

I have reached 45 mph going down the County F hill from Bingham County Park near Blue Mounds, WI. Pretty scary!

WC89

Depends. A respectable average speed, and a respectable maximun speed are indubitably, two different things.

What roadies are doing depends on: Terrain (flatter terrain would generally = a little higher avg speed compared to a hilly/rolling terrain), distance of ride, type or rider, strength and fitness of the roadie, whether one rides w/ a fit/fast group or solo, purpose of riding (experienced racers out training will typically be moving swiftly; non-racers but fit riders might have a little slower avg speed; fitness/recreational riders might be a lttle less, still).

Condorita

Why does it matter? Are you racing?

jsdavis

Perhaps you should stay on the 32mm tires if you're just putting along. I like riding around on my 42mm tires. It doesn't quite flatten the road, but it's not far from it. Then again if you have good roads, then it might not be justified.

Igo

I'm looking for a little more speed with the same effort.

EdgewaterDude

I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned frame geometry/body position while on the bike. Hybrids give a more upright position, which will not be good for high speed due to wind resistance. I've got a Trek 7.3 (hybrid) and Jamis Ventura (road). While each has its own positive and negative points, I can achieve and sustain a much higher average speed on my road bike due to being able to get aero on the hoods and drops. You encounter a lot of wind resistance relative to power output much, much faster on a hybrid.

Bikexln

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Seve

The winning rider in the TDF averages around 40 kms/hr over ~3,500 kms.

Time trials with TT bikes will of course be faster than the average -- at least 50 kms/hr

Keep in mind that these are closed courses, clear roads and no stopping, therefore, virtually impossible to duplicate those riding conditions for most folks.

Your speed on a hybrid will be substantially less due mainly to the riding posture being more upright. Most energy is required to move the air out of the way of your progress, so aerodynamics is extremely important when it comes to speed on a bicycle.

There are so many variables to consider, so I don't know what a "respectable speed" on a hybrid would be?

In the city with all the lights, cars, stops, pedestrians and everything else I am having a good day if I average 20 kms/hr [12 mph]. That's total distance/total time.

GaryPitts

Lots of good info for increasing your speed in this thread https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...h-avg-to-19mph

ColinL

excellent reply.
I assumed you want to improve and needed a benchmark. but as I explained above, and others have as well, it's hard to compare speeds because traffic, wind, hills and other things are hugely impactful. comparing against yourself when you repeat the same route is possible, though, and I highly encourage it.

totally agree, in theory. in reality there are a number of riders who actually do ride their road bikes in the same body position as their hybrids. there are other road bikers who cannot or do not use the drops at all.

for a road bike to be significanly more aerodynamic than a hybrid, you need to be in a proper position. you don't need to have a horizontal torso (0 degrees) like a pro, but you can't be sitting up in the hoods in the 50-80 degree range and expect any advantages in the wind.

JimCanuck

I aim for a comfortable 32km/h (20mph) when commuting or biking in general, between stop signs, lights etc. It tends to keep me going just as fast (or faster sometimes) then the traffic when I'm on the road.

I've pushed it up to 37km/h (23mph) a few times, its possible, but only for a short while 10 minutes tops at the moment still relatively out of shape due to not biking all winter like I normally do. Give it a couple more months and I'll maintain that speed as my comfort zone.

Jim

bjjoondo 

LOL, the ONLY time my Coda Sport is quick, is going "downhill"! Man you all must be monster's my overall avg. is 10 mph. I seem to be at 12 mph. a lot but I really SLOW down uphills! Badly arthritic knees don't make for a "SPEEDY" rider.

Condorita

Then compete against yourself. Why do you care how fast anyone else goes? Is it a race?

Igo

When I hit 11 mph, my lips start flopping around the back side of my head and I hear whistling in my ears. Terrifying.

chet31

He might just want some figures to see if he is in the range of other riders. I use my phone to track, I almost always average 12-15 mph on various loops around the city on my hybrid for 20-30 mile fitness rides. Stoplights, traffic are an issue, limestone paths seem to slow me down 1-2 mph.

AdelaaR

I agree that setting goals is a good thing, but if you are going to compare speeds you will need a lot of variables.
You said: "I've hit 22mph".
That doesn't say anything that's even remotely comparable to anything else.

If you would say: "I've hit 22mph max speed on a downhill road section" ... that would be much more descriptive.
If you would say: "I've hit 22mph max speed on a flat section of road" ... that would be a greater feat, right?

All those are "max speed", meaning that you only did that for a second or so, and "max speed" is quite meaningless, actually, because the fastest speeds simply need steeper downhills. You don't even need to pedal to go 45 mph downhill, you know.
What matters much more is "average speed" and particularly over a certain distance and over certain terrain.
This is why comparing roadies to hybrid riders is difficult since roadies tend to ride much longer distances than most hybrid riders.
For many roadies, 50 mile rides are considered "short rides" and on top of that roadies tend to climb a lot more and a lot more steep hills.
If you can average 22mph over 1 mile ... that would be something entirely different than averaging 22mph over 10 miles ... and that again would be something entirely different than averaging 22mph over 100 miles.

Now ... coming back to your case: let's assume that your "max speed" on your hybrid is 22mph.
That's not bad ... if you are old or out of shape.
That's pretty modest ... if you are middle aged and in good shape.
That's downright slow ... if you are young and sportive.