Originally Posted by
Chief Brody
In terms of average speed, how much faster (if any) are you when you ride on your geared bike?
I average a little of 16 mph on my SS (42x18) on my longer rides and was just wondering how much faster (if any) I might be on a geared bike.
Depends upon your terrain. 42-18 isn't a particularly high gear so you should be a few mph faster on a geared bike with higher gearing available. I've done a few group rides with my San Jose at 42-15 and been fine keeping up with the others. Then I've been on "faster" group rides and had a guy riding his fixie and it was obvious he could go faster than me on any terrain.
I am faster on my geared bikes because I can match the gearing to the terrain. With a 50-12, I don't spin out on descents until I'm going ~40mph. The 34-27 gets me up long and/or steep climbs without killing myself.