Commuting - Do messenger bags make you more aerodynamic?

The reason I ask is that today was my first day with my new messenger bag, and I zoomed to work. 6mi in 21 minutes, which is normally a 30 minute commute for me. Maintained 20-21mph for extended periods on my rigid MTB w/ slicks.

Or am I just that awesome?

Must be the bag!

I'm just stoked to have made my commute that fast. I've never done it in under 25 minutes, let alone 21!

I'd doubt a bag differential would have that much impact on your aerodynamics. Perhpas the redistribution of weight may have improved your posture, but by 33%? All that work Lance did on aerodynamics for the tour was supposedly only to net him mere minutes.

Maybe you're just hitting your groove. I know I suddenly jumped from an average of 16 to well over 17 of late. Then again, I sand-bagged it in this morning and posted a lowly 14 mph......

Might have just been wind, that makes a very big difference.

Yesterday, I was wondering if the Cytomax Preformance (which tastes absolutely horrible, by the way) got me over 22 for my ride. I averaged 18, when it's usually 16.5, for my 10.5 mile ride to work.

Do messenger bags make you more aerodynamic?

No. According to everything I've read, there's no concievable way your bag helped, except possibly in terms of psychological effects.

After re-reading my post I guess it wasn't clear that my post was purely tongue-in-cheek! Oops! With all the inane posts about "which doodad should I get" I thought I'd mix it up a bit LOL.

What it is, is that I realized that I've been doing this thing where I pedal to 20-22mph, then coast down to 16 or 17mph, then pedal again, etc. I made an effort to do nothing but PEDAL this morning. Maintained 20+ much longer than usual, and only got stopped once at a stoplight, so it all helped :)

Now, POSTURE. That's an interesting subject as I have bad posture. Maybe the bag made me straighten my back a bit? I dunno.

pedal to 20-22mph, then coast down to 16 or 17mph, then pedal again, etc.

Get yourself a fixed gear, and you'll never coast. Then clock yourself.

Get yourself a fixed gear, and you'll never coast. Then clock yourself.

That has crossed my mind ;-)

What's that story with the turtle and the hare? You may go slower on a fix, but you will end up hitting every light green once you get it down.

DO IT!

Yeah, ......Yeah..., that is why that dude with the messenger bag (on a MTB) always dusts me towards the end of my commute, it's not that he is fresh and stronger, it's his messenger bag! Thanks, for helping me work that out! My ego feels much better now. :)

What's that story with the turtle and the hare? You may go slower on a fix, but you will end up hitting every light green once you get it down.

DO IT!

Once I get a second bicycle, I plan on making my current ride a ss/fg reversible wheel and try it out :-) Gonna replace the BB and crankset with a single and do it right, make it purty. That, along with a new paint job, and a single brake in the front. But, gotta have a primary bike first :-)

Yeah, ......Yeah..., that is why that dude with the messenger bag (on a MTB) always dusts me towards the end of my commute, it's not that he is fresh and stronger, it's his messenger bag! Thanks, for helping me work that out! My ego feels much better now. :)

Glad to be of service!

The reason I ask is that today was my first day with my new messenger bag, and I zoomed to work. 6mi in 21 minutes, which is normally a 30 minute commute for me. Maintained 20-21mph for extended periods on my rigid MTB w/ slicks.

Or am I just that awesome?

Must be the bag!

I'm just stoked to have made my commute that fast. I've never done it in under 25 minutes, let alone 21!

I've never made such a jump in improvement. My improvement has been steady.

The only explainations are 1. Excellent tailwind, 2. you never really tried hard before.

Al

I've never made such a jump in improvement. My improvement has been steady.

The only explainations are 1. Excellent tailwind, 2. you never really tried hard before.

Al

I think I just was trying really super hard is all. There was 0 tailwind, or any wind for that matter, at 6:12 am.

I can definitely say the messenger bag probably slows me down more than the tear drop shaped lowe alpine backpack that i have that cinches tight around my body and forms a sloping aerodynamic shape across my back.
But the fact that I have complications in my right hand means I have to wear a messenger bag across my left shoulder so my right arm doesn't go numb.