Road Cycling - How fast can I expect to go on a road bike?

I have only ever ridden mountain bikes, and have come to the point in my life where I'd rather ride for speed and distance, rather than risking my life on mountain bike trails. The fastest I've ever gotten my mountain bike on a level road is 22mph. I realize that road bikes are much lighter and much more efficient than mountain bikes... how much faster I can I expect to go on a road bike? What's your top speed on a road bike, with a level road and no tail wind? I'm really curious what kinds of number are possible.

on a level road, no wind and no hills, you could probably sprint to 40+ without too much training.

of course, i don't know where you'll ever find such a place lol. most of the time i average about 18-20 mph, but i live at altitude and ride in a mountainous area. top speed ever? 65 mph coming down a 10% grade with a tailwind. some scary **** ...

btw, welcome to road cycling. i too started out as a mountain biker, but gradually came to love the road.

on my XC full suspension i can sprint up to at least 52km/h (32.5mph) on a level road with knobby tires... on the road bike it's maybe 15%-20% faster (37-40mph), but as i spend more time on the mountain bike i can't say exaxctly as all my numbers get jumbled (most of my road riding was in mph and now i am in Germany with km/h)...

track racing is even faster! man i miss that!

dexmax posted this a couple of months ago - interesting comparison.


-----------------------------------------------------------
I tried using my xc mtb on one of my routes (roadbike routes -- highway), just a few minutes ago.

The experience was cool.. here's what I have found out.

Total Distance: 26km
Road: Very smooth asphalt road (highway)
Traffic: light, high speed; 100kmh speed limit(cars)
Weather: slight headwind, cloudy, cool (about 28 deg C).

Roadbike
Gearing: 52T-42T. 12T-23TCassette; didn't have the chance to use the big ring.
Wheels/Tires: 700c, 700x23C Maxxis
weight: 18.5lbs
Top speed: 46kmh
Ave speed: 32kmh
Fun Level: Excellent


MTB (hardtail)
Gearing:44-32-22T. 11-32TCassette
Wheels/Tires: 26", 26x2.1 WTB NanoRaptor
Weight: 26lbs
Top speed: 35kmh
Ave speed: 23kmh
Fun Level: Good workout; won't be taking this route again on this bike...

Anyway, this numbers seem to be correct..
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how much faster I can I expect to go on a road bike?Noticably faster, gauranteed!

Well On2, I just made the switch two weeks ago. There is a very big difference. I would say that average speed over a given distance is the real measurement. But, I could get my mountain bike over 30 mph with knobbies for a very short distance. I actually haven't tried a full bore lung burner on the roadie yet. Now, see what you going to make me do?

I would say that the numbers above, by Dexmax would be about what you can expect.

Highest speed I can hit is about 52 on about a 5 or 6% downhill on the roadie. Not sure I'd try that on my mountain bike. Maybe on the fixie, though (obviously, not quite the same speed coming down. Or going up for that matter.)

on a level road, no wind and no hills, you could probably sprint to 40+ without too much training.


Why aren't you in the pro peloton?

I average about 15-20 on my road, while on my old mtn bike the fastest sprint i ever had was 24 and i averaged about 12 or so.....so yea speed is a guaranteed on a roadie

40+ mph with little training. ok.

40+ mph with little training. ok.

On my mountain bike, going down a pretty steep, long section of road, i was passing cars that were going most likely 5 over the 45 mph speed limit. So fast, i burned my hand from touching the rim. If you think im full of sh**, check out Pete Fagerlin's website, where he has video of his brakes boiling his water bottle water. It was white knukle all the way, i only pedaled for the first bit, i was worried that if i pedaled much faster than 40, i would throw off the gyro-effect of the wheels, and end up dead. Very scary, fun descent, and damn was it a lot of work going up it(I feel guilty if i don't earn my speed)!!

Highest speed I can hit is about 52 on about a 5 or 6% downhill on the roadie.

Same here!

Downhills will of course skew the numbers. On a flat level road, I can sprint to the upper 30s and burn myself out. If I can have someone pull for me until I'm at around 35 or higher, I can launch into the lower 40s before burning out. Mind you that the duration is probably around 10 seconds or less.

On my mountain bike, going down a pretty steep, long section of road, i was passing cars that were going most likely 5 over the 45 mph speed limit. So fast, i burned my hand from touching the rim. If you think im full of sh**, check out Pete Fagerlin's website, where he has video of his brakes boiling his water bottle water. It was white knukle all the way, i only pedaled for the first bit, i was worried that if i pedaled much faster than 40, i would throw off the gyro-effect of the wheels, and end up dead. Very scary, fun descent, and damn was it a lot of work going up it(I feel guilty if i don't earn my speed)!!

On a downhill????

Downhills will of course skew the numbers. On a flat level road, I can sprint to the upper 30s and burn myself out. If I can have someone pull for me until I'm at around 35 or higher, I can launch into the lower 40s before burning out. Mind you that the duration is probably around 10 seconds or less.

Oh, totally. On flats on my MTB the most i can muster is 30(measured by my buddy driving his car) and that was before my legs were about to give out and my lungs were about to explode. The lower gearing and fatty tire of a MTB really slow you down.

top speed ever? 65 mph coming down a 10% grade with a tailwind. some scary **** ....

Now that's a rush!!!! The fastest I have ever gone is 53 mph and I walked down the "mountain" and checked out the road before I did it to make sure there were no rocks, etc. to wreck me!

Oh, totally. On flats on my MTB the most i can muster is 30(measured by my buddy driving his car) and that was before my legs were about to give out and my lungs were about to explode. The lower gearing and fatty tire of a MTB really slow you down.

ok, that makes sense.

If you are aiming for 40+ Mph with little training, I would suggest that you invest in a new cycle computer as well. If you can still sprint at that range, you have a great future in a pro team. However, I bet you will have difficulties with maintaining 35Mph for over 30 seconds.

Cheers

40+ mph with little training. ok.



If you are aiming for 40+ Mph with little training, I would suggest that you invest in a new cycle computer as well


jeez this was not meant as a penis measuring contest.

40+ is not that fast - and i said i could hit it, not maintain it for any length of time. nor did i say how long it takes me to reach that number. the top pro sprinters can hold up to around 50; moreover they get to speed a lot faster than i do.

i'm a rhythm climber type, at a low-end category 2 level - can't sprint for ****. picture jan ullrich, only much slower. but yes, on a flat road with no wind i can get to 40. and i was able to do it years ago, so i don't think it's something that will require too much training to get to. just do intervals for a while and it'll come.



Now that's a rush!!!! The fastest I have ever gone is 53 mph and I walked down the "mountain" and checked out the road before I did it to make sure there were no rocks, etc. to wreck me!

yeah lol it was. i was coming down the canyon and decided to see how fast i could go before i got scared. the answer was about 50, but i decided to push it higher anyway. when the odometer said 65 i couldn't keep myself from braking any longer lol.

i have a friend with a speeding ticket framed on his wall - it says 73, in a 25mph zone, on his bike. i wouldnt have believed it if i hadn't seen the ticket ...

To answer the original question. On a road bike a semi-fit (someone who rides 160km per week) rider can average 32kph on the flat for hours. In a sprint most could hit 60kph or very close to it. The main difference with a road bike and an MTB is the ease that an RB will go up hills and how quickly it will accelerate downhill. Also a MTB takes a lot more energy to propel, extra weight, fatter tyres etc, this also add to the riders recovery time. Over short distances 40km the difference is only a few minutes, but over long distances 100km+ the difference is huge.

CHEERS.

Mark

How fast one can go in a sprint depends on the person and conditioning. That you hit 22 mph on a mountain bike suggests to me that you are not going to hit 40 mph on a road bike.

Road bikes accelerate faster then mountain bikes and you are more aerodynamic. I would think that if you can hit 22 mph on your mountain bike, you should be able to easily exceed 25 mph on a road bike. Now some people get really encouraged by the performance of the switch like from a mountain bike to a road bike (they get a bit discouraged by the difficulty of pushing a mountain bike to high speed). If you have that experience, you may even break 30 mph in a sprint.

Will all this bragging, perhaps Lance should leave the Postal Team. It seems as practically everyone on the forum can beat him!

WOW!

http://www.trekbikes.com/news/news_detail.jsp?articleId=1321&category=hot_news



Armstrong won his only stage of this summers Tour de France aboard the new frame, finishing with the second fastest time trial average speed in the Tours 87-year history. Armstrongs average speed of 53.986 kph (33.5 mph) was second only to Greg LeMond, the only other American to win the Tour de France.

Top speed means nothing but to brag about something,its avg speed over a nice ride,over 20 miles at least. My avg stays the same,15 or 50,it 15-16 mph,not very good but i maintain it. Of course that includes warm up and cool down.

Will all this bragging, perhaps Lance should leave the Postal Team. It seems as practically everyone on the forum can beat him!

i do not see how that follows at all - lance can average 33.5 mph on his own (on a hilly course, i should add - i saw that stage) for an hour. on a flattish course at see level i once managed 25 on my own for that long. once i averaged 23 for two. and in my original post i clearly stated that "most of the time i average about 18-20 mph."

that's a big difference. and nobody else here has posted an average time even close to lance's. hell, lance averaged over 25 for the entire tour, which you may have noticed wasn't exactly flat.

anyway, i'm done with this thread.

I met my SO while commuting. We are of somewhat different ages & I passed her nearly every day. One day while we were stopped at a light she asked why I was able to fly by her with the hidden implication of our age difference. I quickly commented on the difference between riding a 17lb road bike & a 28lb mt bike. When we next met up she asked for more information which was the opportunity for our first date to discuss bikes. On our second date I took her bike shopping. That turned into a regular weekend event where we would ride to different bike shops and try out bikes. The upshot of this story is she in now the happy owner of a Litespeed titanium road bike and whishes she had switched much sooner. She now has no trouble keeping up with me now and says that alone makes it more than worth the horrendous price she paid for titanium. She now makes the trip to work in 21 minuets instead of the 34 it used to take and figures she will recover her investment in less than a year from the ten extra minuets she has time to work each day.

What 17lb bike do you have?

The fastest that my road bike ever run is at, 80 MPH!!! .




In the roof rack!!!! :roflmao: :beer:

80! i think mine has hit atleast 90 on the roof:)

I hit over 30 for the first time the other day on my MTB. I maintained this speed for about a mile with a STIFF tailwind. That don't mean much though because my average for the 14 mile trip was a little over 14MPH.

I have ridden nearly the same route for the past 7 months on my mountain bike. THis has been through some pretty diverse conditions. Some were over 100F and some were in the single digits with snow on the ground. With the exception of snow, it is remarkable how it takes a very similar amount of time to complete my trip each time.

ONe thing to mention is that even though you will go faster on the road bike you will burn less calories than you will on the Mountain Bike. If you and a friend line up on the same stretch of road and you have a Road Bike and he has a Mountain Bike, you may go faster and farther but he is getting a better workout.

That is what i just read in this month's Bicycling Magazine.

80! i think mine has hit atleast 90 on the roof:)

On the roof is a different story...my mountain bike has done 110 in the bed of my pickup!!

on my XC full suspension i can sprint up to at least 52km/h (32.5mph) on a level road with knobby tires... on the road bike it's maybe 15%-20% faster (37-40mph), but as i spend more time on the mountain bike i can't say exaxctly as all my numbers get jumbled (most of my road riding was in mph and now i am in Germany with km/h)...

track racing is even faster! man i miss that!


MY question is how long wil you could hold in this speed?

Who can maintaining 45m/h for one hour or more ?If anyone can maintaining 45m/h for one hour easily i think Armstrong mabye could not as god of road biking!

I'm not sure what you're asking, Chenhao.

The world hour record is 49.441 kms. Since the UCI changes, it's now 56.375 kms.

last night i reached a top speed of 39 mph. i ride a fixed gear road bike w/ 44x16 gearing, so i was pretty much spinning just as fast as possible for me. i don't know how people handle going 50 or 60 mph. i was scared at 39 for 5 seconds.

I have only ever ridden mountain bikes, and have come to the point in my life where I'd rather ride for speed and distance, rather than risking my life on mountain bike trails. The fastest I've ever gotten my mountain bike on a level road is 22mph. I realize that road bikes are much lighter and much more efficient than mountain bikes... how much faster I can I expect to go on a road bike? What's your top speed on a road bike, with a level road and no tail wind? I'm really curious what kinds of number are possible.

I did a test today. With my racing bike flat road and slight head wind I can sprint up to 27mph and hold it for a few seconds. Turning around and sprinting with the tail wind I got 32mph and could hold that till the road climbed up it was about 2/10ths mile or so. on the same ride I hit 44.9 mph on a down hill. I've done 53 on it before and if you are fearless I bet you could hit 60 on this road. Anyway so you will go a heck of a lot faster on the road bike for sure.

fastest commute i have ever done was 13.5 kilometers in 22 minutes. top speed 72 kmph. on a giant FCR 3. yesterday. giant fcr 3 had 700cx 28 tires. 52 tooth crank and 12 in rear i think.

there were heavy winds that day. usually it take me ten minutes longer to do that route.

fastest i have done that with a mountain bike is 35 minutes.

here is a profile of the route http://maps.google.ca/maps?rlz=1C1GGLS_enCA345CA345&sourceid=chrome&q=l6p2g5%20to%20m9w6v3&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wl

5 1/2 year necro-post ...02-24-04, 12:37 PM ..... not bad, but not a record.

on a level road, no wind and no hills, you could probably sprint to 40+ without too much training.


I suspect not. That's close to the world record speed for a kilometre on an undrafted bike:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/track/2005/mar05/wtc05/



of course, i don't know where you'll ever find such a place lol. most of the time i average about 18-20 mph, but i live at altitude and ride in a mountainous area.

Rather a big gap there - cycling at 40mph requires EIGHT TIMES the power output of cycling at 20.

Anyway, I'd expect that changing from offroad tyres to slicks will make a difference of about 3mph, and then aerodynamics might add another 1-3mph, depending on the geometry of the MTB.

OP -

OP doesn't live here any more ...........

thanks Homebrew I deleted it - I was suckered into it

OP's not here, man.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_drUMJ9HF-tQ/SgrzuQJg0oI/AAAAAAAAIQg/pTAMjV5ftls/s400/dave.jpg

With the right tailwind you should be able to hit ludicrous speed......if not, you should be able to easily hit plaid.:innocent:

5 1/2 year necro-post ...02-24-04, 12:37 PM ..... not bad, but not a record.

Wonder how many of those 40+ mph sprinters can still do that being 5 1/2s older?

I rode a mtb. until about 3 months ago when I finally got a road bike. I don't have a computer yet, so I don't know how fast I go. I do know that I ride about twice as far with my road bike, because I don't get tired as quickly.

How far is twice as far?

This thread is a clusterfark...I think I'll start digging up ancient threads at random too!

I think we should start a new thread on this topic... I would think that with advances in design and materials the 40mph+ sprinters here should easily be able to hit 50 by now.

This thread is a clusterfark...I think I'll start digging up ancient threads at random too!

Whatcha complaining about. It's only been about 5 years since the previous post!!:D

It's new to you because you didn't even join until 2005!

How far is twice as far?

How fast can I ride 5 years from now?

One of these days I'm going to have to sprint and see what I can do... :)

My fastest under any condition has been 47 on a one mile descent. Yes, that's fast. Oh yes, faster than that has to be scarier the #%^&....but fun as hell I'd imagine...I wish I had a place I could reach that speed.