Originally Posted by
daven1986
Hi all,
I know some of the answers will be "depends on the engine", "depends on traffic lights", BUT given some traffic lights and some nice clear sections where I can go for quite a while without being slowed by lights. Is 20mph average possible for a 5 a day commuter? I want to get my commute time down to 30mins (10 miles)!
The last time I measured my speed I was averaging around 14-16mph - that was about a year ago.
Thanks
Daven
I've personally averaged around 14mph through traffic over about 8 miles, through some areas of busy traffic but without a lot of traffic lights. I ride a mountain bike and although I'm a lot fitter than I was 12 months back I've still got scope to lose some surplus around my middle. Those 8 miles were also mostly pretty flat. Throw in red traffic lights and a hill or two and the average would drop, trade the bike for a more streamlined alternative and put slick tyres on it and you'll gain some speed.
My LBS reckons on adding around 30% to average speeds on a racing-type bike compared to a mountain bike so that would put my average speed somewhere near 20mph but still subject to being compromised by traffic lights. If you come to a complete or virtual stop you've got to work so much harder to keep the average speeds up.
But ultimately the only way to find out is to try it.