I recently got a Dahon Speed D7 after been away from cycling for 18 years. Great fun and such a joy to reconnect with my childhood, the old feeling of freedom is as good as it ever was. I started out a few weeks back and decided to just potter around until I got used to the twitchy handling. I sort of expected to fall off and didn't want to be going very fast when it happened. Well I still haven't fallen off and my speed has been creeping up. I'm wondering - what's a typical speed to be reaching on everyday riding - fun, exercise, commuting and popping to the shops?

I'm getting between 9 and 13.5 mph depending on the surface and wind, on a good surface on a clear day I can sustain 18mph for long stretches. Unfortunately I don't see any folding bikes around here and don't know how I'm doing. It's not that I'm out to be fast or anything but I am curious about my fitness level as that was a big part of my decision to get back into cycling - having recently moved to an area with no swimming facilities, swimming being my usual sport. I'd like to have some sort of yardstick to bear in mind but without getting all hung up my speed. I'm there for the fun and I'm certainly getting my heart pumping so that's good enough.

So - am I normal? :)


In a moment of madness I reached 28.5 mph pedalling like a madman going down a steep hill the other day - it felt seriously dangerous on those little 20" wheels and I wont be trying that again soon. I overtook some lycra clad racer types with all the gear and trappings perched way up high on my seat in my 'upright granny' position and with my trouserleg tucked into my sock. Emasculation was the order of the day! :lol:

18MPH is a great average speed. I would say that the average amateur 30-40 yo ****** who rides 25 miles per day pushing it would achieve that average speed after 6-8 months across a range of riding conditions.

You can't say ****** on bike forums? Is this site run by religious fanatics?

You're probably normal :) You're certainly no worse than me- though I haven't stopped cycling, I stopped doing it for fun/exercise 17 or 18 years ago, since then mostly just my commute. I've only just got back into longer runs over the last six months or so, built up to doing 20-30 mile runs at weekends on top of 20 or so miles commuting. I have little in the way of muscle- average just over 12mph over 350+ miles since I got the computer, cruising speed about 15-16 mph, 20-22 with a tailwind...though the winds in my neck of the woods seem always in your face.
Descending on these bikes does get a bit of time and practice to get used to. I always chickened out and kept braking. Then last week, on a fast long downhill stretch, I just let it it roll...got up to 31 mph, and it felt absolutely fine. Never did that on my 26" hybrid either...! Once you get a bit more used to the bike and how it handles, perhaps you'll be OK with it too.

I'm currently doing around 15 miles a day, with a good mix of short and longer rides. I'm glad to know that I'm fairly normal, don't ask me why! I'm glad to know others have felt the terror of just giving in to the hill and letting gravity take it's course. When I was belting down the hill I mentioned earlier the bike felt perfectly stable and indeed was probably more than capable of this and plenty more - the shakiness was entirely in my mind. I was enjoying the thrill and adrenaline when my eye fell upon the speedo and reality kicked in. I thought, "What the heck am I doing? CARS with seatbelts and airbags do these speeds?! Look at my funny little wheels! I'm about to die!!!".

Of course I didn't die I just emasculated some racers. Perhaps they smelt my fear as they ate my dust?

:lol:

A typical folding bike will be about 10-20% slower than a road bike (with exceptions on both sides). The speeds you re doing are nice, also typical.

What you have to watch for when going fast is speed wobble, where a sudden steering movement from rough road, cross-wind or inadvertent hand movement, initiates extremely dangerous speed wobbles from which it is very difficult to recover but easy to crash. I have only had it once in my life as a child but that was enough. So don't be afraid of speed just don't have a death grip on the bars which makes things worse. Just have a relaxed grip and go for it. I have reached over 80km/h on my Swift and 74km/h on my Mini.

No speed wobbles as of yet although I had some in my youth so I'm familiar with them. Ended up in Accident and Emergency a few times as a kid crashing my BMX so I think that's where my old lady caution is coming from. I'll remember your advice about the death grip as that sounds like something I would likely do.

80mk/h is around 50mph. That's actually too close to motorway speeds for me. I'll stick to leisure riding with occasional moments of madness.