Originally Posted by
Rick Imby
A fairly even comparison would be Jur on his Titanium Swift vs Jur on the Road bike he used to ride. Both are /were Tricked out to the max.
There are easy roll out comparison plans that could compare two maxed out road bikes. We just need to find one guy with both a really nice 20" and a really nice 700c that wants to spend significant time riding both bikes.--
I have good bikes for both 700c and 406, and I do ride a fair bit (in fact, 380-400km/week for the past 3 weeks on these mix of bikes since I signed up for some silly 2017km challenge
)
Raleigh MV8 (good wheels; Sora 53T/11-30T; Road bar setup)
Moulton TSR (good wheels; XT 55/11-36T; Road bar setup)
Tyrell IVE (good wheels, Saint 55/11-36T; flatbar setup - but when I lean down all the way for speed, its probably the lowest position of all my bikes)
The Tribike always carries x2 750ml bidons compared to only x1 for the Raleigh and Moulton, so its 750gm more if that matters.
My small bikes all give guys on more expensive mini velos a run for their money.
"Ideally" though, I would love a BF Pocket Rocket PRO with Dura Ace, 6-7kg.... maybe I'll get to that someday.
There is at least 3kph ave speed difference between the RB and the 3 small bikes.
To get the 'same' is not possible.
Too many differences to nit-pick on.
Frame is diff, wheel size diff, Aero characteristics, rider position, groupset diff
Eg. Is a Tyrell AM7 hub the equivalent to a Campagnolo Zonda? (there's just no measurement to such things)
So IMO, we will never get to 'same'.
I'm satisfied that with the same rider (ie. me), the speed is different.
However, at the end of a 200km brevet, after the beer and dinner, I just fold my Tyrell IVE and take a train home, while my friends discuss over sharing taxi or riding back.
Same thing with travel.
I just fold my bike and load up a coach (while friends on road bikes have to find out in advance if their bikes can be accepted; take off various parts to load up)
On flights, my foldie just goes into a box and on standard airfare, while my friends deal with booking a van to transport the bike in an even larger bike box, the fear of 'oversize' charges, and dismantling.