banerjek

Conditioning and eating enough are what you need to go fast. Eat a real breakfast and be sure to grab a bit to eat shortly before leaving work. It makes a huge difference.

For a 20 mile commute, it will be hard to make up more than a few minutes, especially when you consider traffic and weather variability. However, I think you should get a new rear cassette. The 520 comes with an 11/32. That's ridiculous for a commute. Swap that for something with much closer gearing and you'll be able to select exactly the ratio you need much more often.

HiYoSilver

Excellent point about the gearing. On current bike biggest improvement might be dropping the panniers and dropping the rear rack and putting on a seat post rack. The rack is for slower touring and not for max speed commuting.

Jeprox

+3, with a slight twist. I drive in on a Monday with all my "stuff" plus the bicycle. I leave the car at work. Bike to and from work thereafter. Drive home on the following Friday with all my "stuff" plus the bicycle. This way, should I ever need the car while at work, it's just out there in the parking lot. BTW, the company I work for operates 24/7 so my car isn't the only car in the lot at night. That is something one might consider.

chuckfox

If you want to significantly increase the speed of your commute, and your hauling capacity maybe you want to consider a hybrid human/electric drive. I don't have any experience with these, but have been reading about the StokeMonkey:

https://cleverchimp.com/

farkman

Aerobars have made a huge difference for me. I commute on a '05 Giant Rainier and I just added a profile design airstryke aerobar (the one with flip up arms) two weeks ago. The fastest part of my commute used to be about 50-52km/h with a moderate tailwind. On the areo bars this has gone up to 60-65km/h (It's nice to look in my mirror and see the cars behind me not getting any closer). When I'm on the aerobars I find that I can generate a little more power as well. Overall my commute time has gone from about 45 min to 40 min with about 50% of the time being on the aerobars. I do have 1.25" Panaracer Pasela tourguard tires pumped to 90f/95r as well.

As for hanging lights off the aerobars I've had no problem. I got two Light & Motion Solo headlights (with the batteries is a frame bag), two cateye EL-500's and a cateye EL-200 blinkie. My computer is attached at an angle on the bar but still easily read.

slvoid

You can always attach a motor..

billydscout

You can purchase pieces that connect the end of aero bars specifically designed to hold a speedometer, etc.

HiYoSilver

Forgot to mention, if you don't have steep hills or strong cross winds, this is impossible to beat for speed:

https://lightningbikes.com/f40.htm

BIGPAKO

+2

We have showers & lockers at work & cleaners across the street, it all works well.

cerewa

Some aerobars are connected at the front-center, some are not. The ones that are connected should work fine with regular light mounting-brackets.... at least they did for one guy I met.

tomg

at that dst, i have used mass transit (bus line) to cover 85% percent of route (leaving a 5 x 2 mile +/- bicycle commute) where the bus did not go. look at your options! not that i am anti-40 miles per day commute (if i had the time), and BIG (major) power to those that do (and can) but let us know what option works best for your specific circumstance!!

vrkelley

I'm interested! Does this newer stye aerobar allow you to manage braking and shifting? What sort of cruise speed and distance are you running?

Daily Commute

I wouldn't give up the fenders. They keep gunk of of you, your drive train, and your other equipment.

Look at your gear ratios. Do you have gears you don't use? Do you frequently want to shift into higher or lower gears than you have? If any of those apply, buy a different chain ring and/or cassette.

CBBaron

I have to go back to the bent issue as I have one.
Here are a couple of bents suitable for most types of commuting that are much more aerodynamic than all but the best TT bikes. They are also extremely comfortable and won't break the bank.
https://www.volaerecumbents.com/2005/...recumbents.php
https://www.bacchettabikes.com/web/products/index.html
I have an older Bacchetta Strada that makes for a great long distance commuter.

As for upgrades sounds like you have a good idea. Aero bars followed by lighter aero wheels will probably be your biggest upgrades after moving to a trunk bag. Also make sure you are wearing tight fitting clothes. Baggy shirts and pants can really add a drag. Ofcourse all of these upgrade probably wont reduce your 20 mile ride by more than 5 min. So you have to weigh the cost to benefits.
Craig

ken cummings

Hard to decide about the fenders. Skinny fenders to go with skinny tires would not slow you down that much. I do not notice a difference, my 38 armadilllos have enough drag by themselves. If you have a monsoon season; a month or two of regular rain yes fenders to save on bike maintainence. I did not use fenders in Denver due to all the snow. Slush would freeze inside the fenders and jam the tires . I have had a 42 milles round-trip and heavy rain would have stopped me.

madhouse

My areobars make a huge difference. I shift up one gear everytime before I drop down into the bars; two gears if there is a headwind. I'm a lot out of shape right now so it is uncomfortable to be in that posistion... but once I get more used to it I can stay tucked down for most of my commute.

AndrewP

I got a huge reduction in rolling resistance when I switched from Armadillos to Bontrager X-Lite Race tires, also improved handling. I run them with tuffy strips under the tread.

jtm

I commute 22 miles each way, in the summer with skin tight clothes it takes 70 to 80 minutes without going anaerobic, in bad weather with baggy clothes 75 to 90 minutes. These times are about the same for my Bianchi racing bike or my Univega 20 year old bike or for that matter my wife's mountain bike. Having parts greased seems to make more of a difference, as does eating enough before and after. As Lance said, "It's not the bike". How I take care of myself makes the most difference in speed as does aereodynamics. Food for biking costs about 60% of what gas costs for the same commute. Good equipment helps but I can get the same time out of a bike built from dump parts.

atbman

Another tip is to make sure you vary your speed a bit. If you do it 5 days/wk, then 200m is a respectable training week for most of us. You will need recovery days/rides where you take it easy, both ways. The tip about making sure you carbo-load within 20 minutes of getting in is good but also include some protein.

At 40m/day, don't worry about endurance - that's going to come without you thnking about it.

The rest of the tips look good - espec. the seatpost rack. I used one for years and the rack bag could take everything I needed.

farkman

vrkelley

The flip up arms allow me to still use the shifters and brakes when I'm not on the aerobar. However I can still shift when I'm on the aerobar by taking one hand off the bar, which causes that one arm to flip up and move out of the way of the shifter.
My cruising speed is about 30-34 km/h depending on how much of a tailwind I have. Average speed for the commute is usually 26-28 km/h. One way to work is 17km.

sestivers

Although they are available, brake levers on the aero bars are not a good idea for the vast majority of cyclists.

Jim-in-Kirkland

+1 for mass transit if option - cycle to bus in AM to reduce morning commute time and cycle home in evening... I currently cycle to bus & bus to town and then cycle 6 miles from end of bus route to work & then cycle 23 miles home in evening - total for 29+ miles or so. Morning bus ride is relatively fast. The evening bus ride is usually alot slower because of traffic patterns.

I also have found 2 routes home - one slower with better bicycle facilities for rainy weather with reduced visibilty and one shorter faster (less up hills and higher downhill speeds possible) more direct route (but with more traffic) when the pavement is dry.

I would keep the fenders and strong enough wheels for road conditions. I do not think my commute on rough roads and in the dark would work well for a lightweight wheelset.

Good luck.

pricklycommute

Thanks for all the good ideas guys.

It looks like I found a better route for the future commute after I move. My wife and I just made the visit to the Austin area a couple of weeks ago (after I started this thread) to check it out. The planned commute would have been way too dangerous (thin two lane road, no shoulder, with curves) to do everyday so I plan to live a little closer to work. Close enough where the distance will probably be cut in half (to 10 miles one way). Part of this new route will be on crushed rock, so it looks like I may end up going for a little less speed then I thought. Now I'll need 35c tires instead of 25c tires and aerobars.

Still like the rack bag idea though.

robmcl

What would be a good chain ring and cassette combination for commuting? I am in the process of changing the gearing, both the cassette and the chain rings, on my MTB commuter. For lack of a better idea I was going to go by what they do on the touring forum when they convert a MTB for touring.