alexaschwanden

As the title states, do have to be the best you can be while riding a road bike? My spectrum from slow to fast is different , 1-8 mph slow, 8-16 medium, 16+ is fast to me, avg speed on the flats with almost no wind. What do you think?

pgjackson

Ride whatever you can afford. 99.999% of us aren't getting paid to ride, so who really cares? Just have fun, that is all that matters. Is you have an expensive bike and don't enjoy riding it, you completely wasted your money. If you have an El Cheapo bike and love it, that is return on investment that no bank can match.

Drag

Must you drive a nice car exceedingly fast?

fishymamba

+9000

Chickenstrip

Yes,,,,, or I will drope you!

alexaschwanden

I do enjoy riding my road bike, but people have very high expectation of me which I don't like.

Chickenstrip

Seriously, no! However I find having a nice bike does make me want to push harder to justify it.

svtmike

Who are these people?

If it makes you feel better, I have very low to nonexistent expectations of you.

Phil85207

If I had to be fast to ride a nice road bike then the road bike police should arrest me and give me life. I got a nice road bike because I had a close call with the grim reaper and decided that if I didn't get one now... Life is short eat desert first.

Rx Rider

16+ mph isn't slow, but how nice a bike? Super Record or RED would be a waste of money, but it's not my money.

Dilberto

I like a nice bike, simply because it inspires me to try going faster. Truth of the matter is....a light, high-end machine really does go faster - one I can get my lardy ass to spin it up to speed.

SlimRider

Yeah, but it truly must be painful to get dropped by a GMC Denali, if you've got a high end road bike...

At any rate, to answer the OP's question...No! You don't have to do anything. Should we assume the converse of the implied inference and ask, " Should you be inclined to ride slowly, if you have a crappy-looking bike?"...

What sense does that make?

Vlaam4ever

no you dont have to be fast, but you have to know what your doing. Please dont show up with a $4k bike and clip my wheel.

pdxtex

no, but whats the point of going slow on something meant to go fast. sure driving your porsche on city streets is great but isn't it better on those twisties out to the coast??? exactly! and its not like you have to be built like boonen to go fast. i like to think im a pretty strong rider but i get dropped by tubby dudes all the time. granted they probably are not the best climbers but on the flats they haul some serious ass, literally...

I <3 Robots

Does it really matter? If I have the disposable income to build a 20k bike...I'd do it in a heartbeat!

Young Version

This wouldn't be acceptable on a beater, either. It doesn't really have anything to do with the bike.

7bmwm3gtr

It's a very subjective topic, people will have different perspectives of what a "nice bike" is. Doesn't matter if it has a 5-figure price tag, or even a 4-figure.

Don't be too concerned about what other people think. At the end of the day, it doesn't even matter. It's your bike, you're the one who gets to decide how you want to ride it, not other people.

Probably the only case you would HAVE to ride a "nice (err..any) bike" fast is if you're a professional and sponsored of course.

Machka 

If you've got the money ... buy the bicycle.

mpath

Yeah, what people?

chasm54

Yes, you have to be fast. There is a law in most US States to the effect that those who ride expensive bikes slowly must have their bikes confiscated and donated to those who can do better. They have to pay the shipping costs, too.

Terry66

I get what you are saying. I mean there are a couple of groups I ride with that if you showed up on a high end bike and got dropped on a regular basis, you would certainly be subject to "somewhat" good-natured ridicule.

I don't think 16+ on the flats is necessarily slow, but it certainly isn't fast either. I wouldn't worry about it and just keep pedaling. If it bugs you what others think, then turn that into motivation to get stronger/faster.

Right Said Fred

Based on the number of Porsches I see crawling along in freeway traffic while the owner babbles on a cell phone sipping a latte, i would say the answer is No.

KoolAidnPizza

This is the 41, it's full of people that have equipment better than there strength

hyhuu

What's considered a "nice bike"? Mine are not expensive but I think they are very nice.

JustinNY

Even the most expensive bikes are cheap compared to most other adult toys (sports cars, boats, motorcycles, etc.) so of course there will be plenty of people out there riding bikes way above their skill level.