Boy am I slow...

[SadieKate]

From roadbikereview issue dated 11/09/06 :

1. Weekly Dispatch o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o o^o

We heard the buzz about a surprising new tire test in Bicycle Quarterly, a nifty magazine published in Seattle and edited by Jan Heine. The name was Vintage Bicycle Quarterly until recently, but "vintage" has been axed because it implied the mag was about old, collectible bikes and equipment.

Well, plenty of pages are devoted to arcane and interesting gear, history and randonneur-style riding, but Bicycle Quarterly also publishes cutting-edge material. The tire test is testimony, appearing in the Autumn 2006 issue.

Heine gave RBR permission to summarize several major findings. Interestingly, they confirm lots of what Uncle Al has been ranting about for years regarding tire width and inflation pressure.

Some test conclusions will be particularly enlightening if you're riding on narrow, high-pressure clinchers seeking more speed via lower rolling resistance. Your skinny tires may not be as fast as you think.

For the full eight-page report on tire performance, order the Vol. 5 No. 1 issue from http://www.bicyclequarterly.com. The test included nine 700C tires, seven 650B tires and two tubulars. The protocol and results were reviewed by industry experts. These are eight findings:

---With roughly the same power output, the rider's speed can vary by as much as 20% depending on tire choice. For example, the rider on the fastest tire [in this roll-down test] moved down the road at approximately 16.4 mph (26.2 kph) while the same rider on the slowest tire went approximately 13.6 mph (21.7 kph).

---Many longtime riders believe tires with a cotton casing are faster than modern casings made from nylon. Testing seems to confirm this. The best-performing tire in the test, the Deda Tre Giro d'Italia 700x23C (actual width 24.5 mm), has a cotton casing.

---Tire pressure has only a small effect on the rolling resistance of most tires. Narrow 23-mm tires seem to roll fastest at pressures of 105 psi (7.2 bar) or more. However, running these tires at 85 psi (5.8 bar) for improved comfort increased the test times only 2%. Wider 28-mm tires are as fast at 85 psi as they are at higher pressures.

---Tubular tires perform worse at very high pressure. At 130 psi (9 bar), the narrow Clement Criterium rolled slower than it did at a more comfortable 105 psi. The wider Clement Campione del Mundo rolled slightly faster at 85 psi than at 105 psi.

---Wide tires do not roll slower at lower pressures. In fact, testing indicated that a wide tire at lower pressures rolls faster than a narrow tire at high pressures, if all other factors remain the same. Even narrow tires can be ridden at comfortable pressures with only very small concessions to performance.

---Tires rolled slightly slower with Michelin's relatively thick latex tubes than with butyl tubes. Thinner latex tubes, like used in tubular tires, may offer better performance, but when used in clinchers they are more prone to punctures caused by friction between tire and tube. Latex tubes do improve comfort.

---Perhaps the most important result of the test is that tire pressure does not significantly affect rolling resistance. Wide tires in particular do not need high pressures to roll fast. But because many current wide tires are designed to handle high pressure, they have strong casings that lack suppleness. This results in higher rolling resistance than necessary.

---The test's findings point to a new direction for performance bicycles. For most cyclists, wide, supple tires at low pressures offer more speed, better comfort, increased versatility and improved safety than today's narrow high-pressure tires. However, this type of wide, fast tire currently is not available. Hopefully, these test results will help persuade manufacturers to produce them.

[Veronica]

Will helium in my tires make me faster?

I just got red tires. Red is a faster color than gray, right?

V.

[maillotpois]

From Sheldon Brown:

CO2 is heavier than air, you will make your bike heavy and slow if you
use it. Helium is lighter, the only way to go if you want speed and
safety.

If you are willing to live dangerously, Hydrogen is lighter and cheaper
than Helium, but don't smoke while riding your bike if you use
Hydrogen...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I've ridden about 3,500 miles now, and my average speed is still remaining between 9 and 10 mph. I pedal actively but I'm not concentrating on upping my speed as much as I am working on doing longer distances. I managed a 52 mile ride last week in 5 1/2 hours. We have lots of hills around here, and my bike is not a super lightweight carbon racer. For me, it's not about speed. It's about getting healthy, riding more, and just having fun.

[Kano]

I think that the most important lesson I've learned about riding so far has been to ride my own ride.

There's always someone with more experience on the road. We want to be good at this, and we want to be good at it right now. It's hard to accept not being able to keep up, and it's hard to be passed. Other riders can be mighty daunting, and if we don't learn that lesson, I think we defeat our efforts to become riders, and those lovely bikes we have sitting in the garage, or wherever do just that: sit in our garages. (hmmm, thinking about it, this was more a "life lesson" than a "bike lesson" and appllies to a whole lot more than bike riding!)

I'm amazed at how much easier it is to climb the little inclines I struggled so hard with last spring when I started out (and I took the winter off) and how easy it is to cruise along at 15-17 on stretches I worked my tail off to "fly" at 12mph. My "average" speed is still 10-12 most days, but I don't worry about that, since I've got a lot to learn yet! Anyway, we do get better with time and practice, and eventually, we may not pass that guy that gets us today, but there will be someone we pass along the way!

Karen in Boise

[northstar]

I think that the most important lesson I've learned about riding so far has been to ride my own ride.


Karen in Boise

Yes, yes, yes! Well said, Karen!

[Veronica]

I only averaged 12.9 mph on my last ride. Nobody told me I was slow.

V.

[Jolt]

That tire article was interesting--maybe I can't blame it all on the tires after all! It's more likely that I'm just plain slow, given my 10-11 min/mile running pace and the fact that I was never a speed demon on the swim team either (however, if I go to the local Y to swim laps I blow by a lot of people even though I generally swim a 500 in about 10 minutes--there's more of a range of swimming speeds there). I will probably still give that group ride a try in the next few weeks and see how it is, but I'm starting to get the feeling that I might do better to just ride at my own pace.

[mimitabby]

Jolt, the tire article wasn't talking about underinflated tires.
None of those tires were down to 35 lbs of pressure!
When tires are as low as yours were, there is a LOT of resistance.

I have tires that had directions right on the package for how many pounds of pressure per pounds of
weight of the rider. It took me months of trying to convince DH to leave my tires at 90 instead of blowing them up to 120 which is the max.
Did you notice the other thing in the article? the faster tires were not the 23cm ones; they were the 28 cm ones!

and Karen, right on. Ride your own ride. But don't make it harder on yourself with squishy tires.

[Jolt]

Jolt, the tire article wasn't talking about underinflated tires.
None of those tires were down to 35 lbs of pressure!
When tires are as low as yours were, there is a LOT of resistance.

I have tires that had directions right on the package for how many pounds of pressure per pounds of
weight of the rider. It took me months of trying to convince DH to leave my tires at 90 instead of blowing them up to 120 which is the max.
Did you notice the other thing in the article? the faster tires were not the 23cm ones; they were the 28 cm ones!

and Karen, right on. Ride your own ride. But don't make it harder on yourself with squishy tires.

Well, it will be interesting to see how much of a difference there is with more air in the tires the next time I make this trip (the weather has been rotten today and is expected to be equally rotten tomorrow, so that probably won't be for a couple of days). Maybe I got confused with that article because they said higher pressures weren't necessarily faster; you're right, that probably doesn't apply to ridiculously underinflated tires like I had! Having seen that article though, I think I'll just stick with the 38's for the time being rather than switch to something like 32's as I was starting to consider doing. If it won't make much of a difference for speed, I might as well have the wider ones that will handle sand, gravel and potholes better.

[Geonz]

That tire article was interesting--maybe I can't blame it all on the tires after all! It's more likely that I'm just plain slow, given my 10-11 min/mile running pace and the fact that I was never a speed demon on the swim team either (however, if I go to the local Y to swim laps I blow by a lot of people even though I generally swim a 500 in about 10 minutes--there's more of a range of swimming speeds there). I will probably still give that group ride a try in the next few weeks and see how it is, but I'm starting to get the feeling that I might do better to just ride at my own pace.

Performance in other sports doesn't reflect on cycling. I was also a serious non-contender on swim teams, but I learned a *lot* about training and technique. THere are two categories of swimmers - swim team types and the rest of the world. In the assorted triathlons I've done (the teeny tiny ones) sometimes they separate out the "slow" swimmers and I barely make the "fast" classification - basically, I'm at the back end of the people who know how to swim efficiently. It has a *whole* lot to do with my puny little arms and thunder thighs

Once I got some technique and time in the saddle - but it took me three or four years (most of which weren't where I am now, so these folks think I was an overnight success), I found cycling was pretty easy and had to admit after it was proven a few zillion times that I am good at it. I didn't *really* believe it - 40 years of being a slug doesn't go away - but since for years I've taught bright students who were convinced they were stupid, I recognized the thought pattern ("they're just being nice," "she was having a bad day," "they were holding back," "it's easy for them")

It wasn't even overnight here... I got physiologically addicted and started riding 9 miles almost every morning, then adding a four mile loop to that, then another one - and I'd try to do specific intervals in those loops faster each time. SO, I was "riding my own ride," but pushing the pace... at *my* comfort level, slowling down when I felt like it. WHen I could do 8 miles and hold a 15 mph average, I went out to our "low-key but not beginner" ride and was pleasantly surprised to be more than ready to keep up (with the *back* end). I had some real Cinderella experiences that I savor to this day
Ride your ride... as one of our retired riders says, "There will always be somebody older and faster than you are!"

[MomOnBike]

Some day I'm going to find a jersey for my hypothetical "racing" team, Equipo Tortuga and wear it proudly whilst being passed by the hares.

I want that jersey!

And what Thorn and others have said. If you haven't paid entry fees for a race, who cares if you are slower than someone you've never met before. Pump up your tires and enjoy your ride.

[madscot13]

You are all right I love to pedal. Speed has just become one of my benchmarks for measuring my improvement, and keeping up with cars gives me great fun!

[rij73]

Jolt, you can definitely develop skill and fitness on the bike you have. It can be a great training bike, I'm sure. Just don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others. There are always going to be people much faster, and if they are on a road bike, that's a definite big advantage. Just keep working hard and you'll improve! Then, one day, you'll go for a spin on a road bike, and you'll just fly!

[Geonz]

... just getting back from my group ride which last week a couple turned back & didn't go the whole distance for; this week they hung with us but SLOW (as in <9 mph) ... and so at the halfway point I felt compelled to peek at the bike and yea, those brakes... I picked up the wheel and spun... I mean dragged the wheel around.
We managed to get 'em adjusted better (tho' they were at the end of the adjustment point) and yes, that rider feels stronger - but pretty tired!
I think what was nagging at the back of my mind was that she was *never* coasting. We were going into a 13 mph wind but still... welp, between less friction and a tailwind, the ride home was much faster.
Fill them tars up and go for a ride