Why is my bike SO slow?!

[zoom-zoom]

It could be due to many things-
-the grease in the wheel bearings is "packed up" (sorta solidified)
-the freehub needs cleaning & lubrication
-the wheels are not tensioned properly
-tires a/o tubes are clunkers
-the frame is misaligned or the dropouts are misaligned.

Frame and/or dropout misalignment (i.e., the front and rear wheels are not spinning in exactly the same plane) is often overlooked, but I had this problem on one of my bikes and the effects are very noticeable.

Those are all interesting possibilities. How easy is it to determine any of these possibilities and diagnose? The tubes and tires would be my last suspicion. I have Kenda Nevegals, which people around here always seem to rave about.

What is so frustrating is all the glowing reviews I read of the Cannondale F5. I have a friend with the EXACT same bike (Cdale had a bunch of the petite size sitting in a warehouse and essentially liquidated them about a year ago). She rides far less than I do and on the road with our road bikes I can ride circles around her. On trails I can barely keep up with her and end up beating myself up trying to do so.

[laura*]

The tubes and tires would be my last suspicion. I have Kenda Nevegals, which people around here always seem to rave about.

Could the tires be inflated too much? It sounds counter intuitive because higher inflation means less sidewall flex and thus less energy lost flexing the sidewalls. However, overinflation also makes you bounce over every little road/trail irregularity. Lifting you up a millimeter and then dropping back down takes a lot more energy than you might save in reduced sidewall flex.

A nearby university has a sidewalk / utility road where one side is concrete and the other is asphalt. Riding on the concrete is annoying because of the constant thump-thump across each expansion joint. However, it is the easier and faster ride. In contrast, the asphalt has constant rolling irregularities that just sap all my energy and speed.

[zoom-zoom]

Could the tires be inflated too much? It sounds counter intuitive because higher inflation means less sidewall flex and thus less energy lost flexing the sidewalls. However, overinflation also makes you bounce over every little road/trail irregularity. Lifting you up a millimeter and then dropping back down takes a lot more energy than you might save in reduced sidewall flex.

Nah...I have a hard time going even 9-10mph on the paved road with this bike and have to kill myself to do so--it feels like the bike is fighting me every pedal stroke. By contrast my POS Schwinn that I had years ago that was too big, had much lower-end components, and weighed more was easy to roll at 11-12mph when I had no cycling fitness. I can get a heavier Salsa Mukluk fat bike going much faster on the road than the F5, with FAR less effort. Generally we have the tires on the F5 around 30psi, IIRC.

[Biciclista]

I think if the bike is not a good fit for you, you cannot get your legs moving well enough to do speed. I remember when I changed from a trek hybrid to a bianchi. The bianchi just wanted to go go go. The difference was very obvious.
Different frame angles can definitely slow you down. It's just physics. It doesn't have to be a heavier bike or a defective bike. It just has to do with the way it was made and the way you are made. Sounds like you need a new bike, i mean, after all you are "zoom zoom" go get you a bike that zooms.

[zoom-zoom]

I think if the bike is not a good fit for you, you cannot get your legs moving well enough to do speed. I remember when I changed from a trek hybrid to a bianchi. The bianchi just wanted to go go go. The difference was very obvious.
Different frame angles can definitely slow you down. It's just physics. It doesn't have to be a heavier bike or a defective bike. It just has to do with the way it was made and the way you are made. Sounds like you need a new bike, i mean, after all you are "zoom zoom" go get you a bike that zooms.

That was DH's theory, too, but then it makes no sense that I can get my friend's even smaller Ala Carte up to speed without much trouble. That thing feels positively zippy, even though the bikes aren't all that different in size and geo. Both bikes fit my DS really well, but he ends up really frustrated on the Cannondale and can only ride about half the distance before he's exhausted and wants to quit.

[Hi Ho Silver]

Those are all interesting possibilities. How easy is it to determine any of these possibilities and diagnose? The tubes and tires would be my last suspicion. I have Kenda Nevegals, which people around here always seem to rave about.

What is so frustrating is all the glowing reviews I read of the Cannondale F5. I have a friend with the EXACT same bike (Cdale had a bunch of the petite size sitting in a warehouse and essentially liquidated them about a year ago). She rides far less than I do and on the road with our road bikes I can ride circles around her. On trails I can barely keep up with her and end up beating myself up trying to do so.

The first thing to check would be wheel trueness. "Dish" (proper spacing of the rims between the dropouts) and "lateral trueness" (no side-to-side warping of the rims) are most relevant here. Roundness of the rims (vertical trueness) wouldn't affect tracking.

The easiest way to check the rims is with a truing stand and a dishing tool, but you can improvise tools to do a quick check of trueness (http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#improvised). Spoke tension can be checked with a special tool, or in a pinch, by listening to the tone when the spokes are plucked (http://www.bikexprt.com/bicycle/tension.htm). Check Sheldon Brown's web site for truing methods.

Checking the frame alignment is best done with a special tool. You could do a preliminary check of alignment by improvising (http://sheldonbrown.com/forkend-alignment.html), but your best bet is to take the bike to your local bike shop -they should be willing to check alignment for for free, or for a very minimal charge.