I wonder about these things. I used to own a Giant carbon/alu road bike. I did faster average speeds on it than on my Rivendells. But my all time commuting speed record was on my Rivendell with Marathon tires. But my all around average speeds are slower on my Rivendells. I haven't ridden the Giant bike in several years. Perhaps I was in better shape back then. But I weigh the same. Also, I have not seen a change in average speed on my Rivendells whether I ride Marathons, Nifty Swiftys, Rumpkins, or Hetres. Thought he Hetres seem to feel like they keep momentum up longer when starting to go up hills, so I don't have to downshift as soon. But the average speeds seem the same. I was faster on the Giant bike with Conti Gatorskins.
This all makes me think that maybe optimized tires and lightweight bikes may only give significant benefits to people who are very fit riders. Maybe only the pros are fit enough to benefit from the light bikes and fast tires. Maybe a 5'7, 170-lb, non-training rider like me will always go the same pace no matter what I ride, until I drop to 140lbs, and become racing fit? Hard to say. But I think its mostly the engine that makes a bike go fast. I know that when I am in top condition (for me), turning those pedals seems much easier than when I am more out of shape. I wonder if I could beat Andy Schlek if he rode a Bomba and I rode the Pinarello. I don't think so. Now I think a certain bike can impart a better or worse ride quality than another. But speed I think is 98% up to the engine. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
