General Cycling Discussion - HELP! My bike rides like a pig!

Ive just got out my old bike (I say old but it's still a modern mountain bike) The thing is, it's always been a pig to ride. I have to pedal like crazy to get anywhere fast, if I pedal moderately it'd be faster to walk most of the time. I've changed gears but it did little to nothing to change this problem, it's either easy to pedal and I get no speed or a bugger to pedal and I can keep up with a jogger. I know I'm not fit but my cousin's bike rides a LOT easier than this so I know it's not me. Any ideas how I can make my bike shift without having to pedal like crazy just to go at a fast jogging pace?

Could a bad gear system be the cause of this? If so how much would a good gear system cost in pounds sterling, and what make would I need (not talking top of the range just eaiser than the pig I have at the mo)

Thanks for any help peeps

Do you know the current gearing? How many teeth on each of the two or three (front) chainrings? How many cogs on the rear cassette and teeth on the smallest and largest cog? I'm no bicycle expert, but it's hard to imagine a top gear (largest chainring w/ smallest cog) that wouldn't be able to get you up to 15-20 mph, your conditioning permitting. Experts will weigh in.

Gave the chain a good oiling and cleaned it up a bit which helped, was kinda dumb not to think of that one eh? It's better but there's still no way I can see it getting 15-20 MPH unless you've got a pro athelete on it it feels sluggish even after the cleaning. Will check the cogs later mate thanks for your reply

Put the chain on the largest ring on the front, and in about the middle on the rear. Try again.

Air up the tires and check for dragging brakes.

Is your cousin's bike a mountain bike too?

Knobby tires slow you down,do you weight a lot? (no offense), yeah,,air up the tires.clean and lube the drive train,good luck.

Nah I'm average weight I guess it's going better now thanks :)

Did you check the tire pressure?

Gave the chain a good oiling and cleaned it up a bit which helped, was kinda dumb not to think of that one eh? It's better but there's still no way I can see it getting 15-20 MPH unless you've got a pro athelete on it it feels sluggish even after the cleaning. Will check the cogs later mate thanks for your reply

Getting up to speeds like that often has more to do with the engine than the bicycle.

If speed is what you're after,at least you can go to narrower and slicker tires,those with higher TPI.

If it's so bad that pedaling slower is actually as fast as slowly walking there's something seriously wrong with your bike. Maybe the bearings need to be rebuilt. Are your brake pads rubbing on the wheel? Are you dragging a boat anchor behind you? hehe

But seriously - I'd check to see if the brake pads are rubbing. If you pick up the bike and spin the wheel, it should go round and round and round without stopping. If it doesn't, there's something wrong on that wheel.

Turn the bike upside down, spin the wheels, see how they spin. Also, how well does it coast? You could have bad bearings, something adjusted wrong, who knows.

On my old $100 mountain bike, I could ride 14 mph okay, at 280 lbs.

If speed is what you're after,at least you can go to narrower and slicker tires,those with higher TPI.

When I started riding I started with a mountian bike. After changing to slicks for the road I found the top gear was no longer high enough. I was constantly looking for a higher gear (good thing overall).

Tires make a wold of difference.

Also for the OP. Is this suspension bike? If the suspension is flexing there can be a huge amount of wasted energy.

I could only managed to get up to about 16 mph on my FX,that's with 700X32 slick and a 15 mph down wind, geeze,,i need to eat more corned bread.

Turn the bike upside down, spin the wheels, see how they spin. Also, how well does it coast? You could have bad bearings, something adjusted wrong, who knows.

On my old $100 mountain bike, I could ride 14 mph okay, at 280 lbs.

ditto - that's what you should check