Originally Posted by
berlinonaut
Well - that's a bit of an invalid argument. In the first place there are no small wheelers in official competitions because they have been forbidden to take part in those races 50 years ago. Not because they would be slower but because they would possibly be faster (as proven by Mr. Moulton and his mates). There are no recumbents in these kind of competitions either as those have also been forbidden (as early as in the 1930ies) - because they were massively faster than conventional road-bikes (and still clearly are). Aerodynamics are not the least reason for a bike being faster in a race btw...
There's enough evidence through the various records held by moulton bikes that this laughter may be misled. A Birdy is not designed to be a race bike, some moultons are to a degree. As small-wheelers are not allowed in official races there is no point for manufacturers in developing small-wheelers dedicated to racing. Still at least the Moultons seem to be more than competitive though having a huge disadvantage in weight. If the same effort towards developing a dedicated racer that went into conventional bikes was put in small-wheelers I could imagine they could be more than competitive. We will never know.
I am sure there are fast group rides in your area, take your small wheeler and see if you can keep up. I've ridden a lot of bikes, and done more than a little competitive racing. My Birdy weighs 18 pounds, has the same components you would find on any $3k road bike, I have even set it up so the riding position is identical to my road bike, same saddle, same pedals, same bar width. It is very fast for a folding bike, but it cannot touch a road bike in regards to speed, and the difference is not small, it is huge. On a road bike, I am a competitive rider in any group, on a small wheel bike, I can't even keep up with the B team.
Racing associations didn't adopt the 700c standard because it was inefficient, or made the bikes slower. It has more or less boiled down to be the optimum size for racing. And a standard was needed so spares could easily be supplied. But group rides have no wheel size restrictions, you are welcome to see how your 20" bike fares against the big boys. If anyone else here has tried it, it would be interesting to hear your experiences.