Still not convinced what, if anything, makes a difference. The bike that happens to be under me when I ride "fast" is usually a bike with 29x2.1 wide semi-knobby tires and handlebars about 6 to 8cm above the saddle.
Again, like the original poster, my testing is very unscientific. Just about 1,000 on each of the bikes so far this year. So not a strong enough database. Am just trying to not worry about it and ride instead. Knowing no matter what, just about every other cyclist out there is going to pass me. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN On Aug 4, 5:23 am, Angus <angusle...@sbcglobal.net> wrote: > Ignoring weight changes of a fully loaded touring magnitude...the > biggest difference to bicycle speed I've noticed is due to tire > choice. > > When I purchased my All-Rounder many years ago it felt like a bit of a > dog and was about 1.0 - 1.5 mph slower than my Road Standard. A tire > change (Ritchey Tom Slick 26x1.4 to Pasela 26x1 1/4) negated the speed > difference. I've since gotten over the speed thing. > > I have had, at a time, all my Rivendells set up with the same reach, > bar height etc...made for an easy comparison. > > Angus > > On Aug 2, 7:54 pm, Bruce <fullylug...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > > > having a few spare minutes this week, I looked at the performance/weight > > ratios > > of my stable of 4 bikes. This will probably surprise no one, but there isn't > > much difference between them. The bike that feels fastest, and the one I > > ride > > when I want to "keep up" is actually third fastest, and so on. I weighed > > the > > bikes as they are currently built up. (I've had the Ram lighter before but > > have > > made some comfort based changes) Brass bells, leather saddles, racks, > > fenders, > > saddle bags (emptied out though, pedals, bottle cages. No tools or frame > > pumps. > > No carbon, no titanium anywhere. But real world weights. Relative speed is > > as > > compared to the fastest bike. Shame about how slow "fastest" is precludes my > > providing hard data points. There may be others who can relate. > > > Rambouillet - 23 1/2 lbs Fastest > > Nashbar Mark III - 24 lbs +0.01 mph > > Riv Road - 24 lbs +0.5 mph > > Saluki - 29 lbs +0.82 mph > > > Less than 1 mph separates all of them. The Nashbar is probably the fastest > > if > > all the miles were on the same course. I practice hills on it because I > > really > > like its mustache bars for climbing. It was originally designed along the > > lines > > of a crit racer, iirc. It's not my favorite for anything over 30 miles, as > > the > > position is a bit aggressive. The Riv road is what I prefer on medium to > > long > > rides at speed, and the Saluki for loaded longer hauls, or very steep grades > > with the 26 low ring that its prior owner thoughtfully provided. So how > > come the > > fastest bike and the one with the most miles over the years is the > > Ram? Because it's just about as perfect a fit as I can imagine and handles > > really well. And its easy on the eyes as well.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
