Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
Bikes aren't fast, bike riders are... or not. The difference in ET between my minimalist road racer and my fully tricked out commuter is around 10 minutes. Some of that difference is that I naturally hammer harder on the road bike because I know I should. If I hammered as hard on the commuter I could probably get the elapsed time difference down to around 5 minutes.
I don't worry about 10 minutes... but the OP seems to be concerned about it.
20 miles in 1 hour: 20 MPH
20 miles in 1 hour 10 min: 17 MPH
A HUGE difference for riding.
One could probably calculate watts for riding and watts for drivetrain and other losses...
I certainly have no problem with someone wanting to ride a "nice" commuter. Will they find what they desire? I don't know. I know that my Tricross stays parked most of the time since I don't like the feeling of a little extra rolling resistance, real, significant, or just perceived.
Plus, there are often reasons for a tight schedule, for example juggling two independent schedules and needing to start at one time and end at another time without an option to change either time.