Does Bicycle and body height affect how fast you can ride?

[kajero]

I have been riding now for 7 years, four of those on an XS Specialized Ruby Elite Carbon bicycle. I'm 5'1." I'm very long waisted with very short legs.

Do people over 5'7" who ride much larger bicycles have an advantage with speed?

I would think they could cover a lot more distance with one pedal rotation because their wheels are bigger and their legs are longer, than I can with my very, very short legs and "toy" bicycle as my SO calls it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I have also decided that I am going to sell my XS Ruby and by an S. I just feel so cramped on the bicycle and I think it would be beneficial if I could stretch out more.

[ny biker]

I once asked a friend if the small wheels on his folding bike affected his speed relative to his regular road bikes, and he gave me a technical answer that basically was no, they don't make him slower. Though I don't remember the technical part.

As for longer vs shorter legs, I guess the crank length might matter if yours are shorter than most, but I don't really know. On the other hand shorter people can have a weight advantage over taller folks, especially when climbing. I am 5'7" and will never weigh much less than 140 lbs barring serious illness.

[kajero]

I figured weight may have something to do with it. I weigh around 142 so I am lugging around some extra weight and it's all from the waist down. I figure if I lose some weight it would help and I've been working on losing it . . . like forever. . Then again, I am 65 in February so maybe I am allowed a few extra pounds or not.

[rebeccaC]

Power-to-weight ratio, aerobic efficiency and conditioning are probably more important than size. The kind of riding, climbing vs sprinting etc comes into it too. I’d say good frame geometry and mechanicals for a person’s size and how they ride is the most important aspect. Smaller wheels do have a positive impact on initial movement and climbing…..the world speed record was also done on 18” wheels.
Thinking we should just understand what our strengths and abilities are geared towards, build a bike accordingly and enjoy riding. I have a larger heart and lungs than the women’s norm and I can do climbing well so that’s the challenge I enjoy doing most.

weight certainly plays a role by itself but then i feel we should place more importance on enjoying the riding we do and work on things like weight as we can or even not ...especially if someone is healthy otherwise

[Crankin]

Kajero, I agree with all of what's said above.
I am the same height as you. Do not sell your x small Ruby. I can guaruntee you will be too stretched out on the small. I am also long waisted, so while I am petite, in every other sense of the word, my torso is longer than other women my size. I think that what Rebecca said is important, in that power to weight ratio is the most important thing. Losing weight and maybe doing some targeted strength training will help. I am just a couple of years younger than you, so don't think that you can't improve with age. If I did more than I do, I would be faster, but I also know I am not super slow. I can put the hurt on if I need to. What I've found is that a lot of women don't want to "suffer" and have issues dealing with the pain it takes to improve. I certainly don't want to do this on all of my rides, but sometimes, you need to, in order to see change.

[north woods gal]

The answer for the technical part is that, assuming the same pedaling cadence, wheel diameter (rim + tire) does make a difference in your speed, in that you do travel a greater distance with one revolution of the pedal as the wheel diameter increases. If you pedal a bike with smaller wheels, then, it will require more pedaling (increasing your cadence) to keep with someone with larger wheels. Not the end of the story, though.

It does take more effort to pedal larger wheels up to the same speed. Larger wheels accelerate more slowly. Finally, larger wheels are typically heavier and that also increases pedaling effort. This poses no problem for us gals with longer legs, since we have more leverage, plus we get to use longer crank arms with our pedals which also provide more leverage. If you have short legs, though, those smaller wheels might already be the most efficient for you in terms of effort expended versus distance traveled. Going to larger wheels may actually slow you down if they force you to drop your cadence too low for lack of leverage and strength.

All is not lost, however. There are things you can do to your smaller wheeled bike to increase speed and efficiency. I've upgraded several bikes to lighter wheels and tires and noticed a real improvement in my speed. Even a small decrease in weight with your wheels makes a difference, since the rotation of the wheels is a magnifying factor. The bad news is that upgrading wheel sets can get very expensive, but it really is something to consider. Even going to tubeless tires and not having the extra weight of tubes can make a difference.

Really, though, I'm with the others on this. Keep your XS bike, maybe upgrade it to better wheels, but mostly work on your cadence and conditioning. In the meantime, maybe test ride a S with bigger wheels, but make it a long distance test and an honest one. A ride around the parking lot or around the block won't cut it.

Be warned. Wish I had a dollar for every bike I bought to solve one issue, only to discover that it creates others. Probably why I have a garage full of them.

[kajero]

Thanks for all the feedback.

You would think that after riding 679 miles this summer my speed would have improved. I no longer have to walk up any of the hills I used to, except for one hill that I don't know if I will ever be able to conquer. Most of my rides include some type of hill. I find I like the challenge of not having to walk up them anymore.

I don't really like to ride groups but I do have a group of friends, The Purple Pumpers, that I would like to ride with occasionally. They alternate riding in the St. Paul Classic and Minneapolis Bike Tour every other year. Everyone starts together but then everyone gets all split up. We meet at someone's house after for lunch. I don't feel so bad about my speed on these two rides. They also ride in the MS150 every year. I rode with them one year and they waited for me many times and I felt awful.

I kind of went with them on a "maybe the end of the season" bike ride on Saturday. I left 45 minutes earlier and then met them for lunch. I waited 30 minutes after they left before I rode back. I didn't want them thinking they had to wait for me. This is the only arrangement that works for me where I can kind of ride with them and not worry about holding them back.

So how can I increase my mph? I thought maybe riding a lot and going up hills would help, but I am still where I was four years ago! Most of the time I don't care because I like riding alone, but I really would like to be comfortable riding with the Purple Pumpers a couple times a year.