I coast down hills faster than everyone and can't figure out why.

I'll be in a group and when everyone coasts down a hill I will go faster than everyone else. Sometimes it is just a little and sometimes just a little more. I usually catch up to the person in front of me and have to brake or, if the hill is long enough, I just go by.

It isn't weight. It happened when I was 200 lb but I'm 171 lb now and still coast faster than everyone else. Someone said it today, "You lost 28 lb and you still go to the bottom of the hill faster! Do you have bricks in your pockets?"

The bike isn't aero although I did put an FSA K-Wing bar on it. Still, its just a 2002 Fuji @ about 18 lb and I also coasted faster when I rode a Panasonic 2500 back in the day.

I thought it was because I was behind people catching a draft. That would make someone catch up to the person in front of them, right? So I've tested many times over the years trying to figure out why and even when I'm on point I pull away a little bit.

Do Mavic and Dura Ace wheels have bearings with less drag? That can't be it because it has been happening my whole life. Even as a kid riding three speeds I would get to the bottom of the hill first.

Regular road clothes - Sidi's, bibs, thermal jersey, Giro helmet, etc. Not riding like a triathlete or in some radical Saganesque tuck. Not hitting the top of the hill any harder than anyone else.

I don't mind. It's pretty cool. Just trying to figure out why.


-Tim-