Originally Posted by
Mad Scientist
We have been focusing on the OP's desired speed which is not entirely fair. Having only ridden x-mart bikes before, it is hard to know how different riding a quality bike will be. She is interested in commuting by bike and this is a good thing! Most here would agree that 20 miles is a doable (although longish) ride. Let's help her start making that commute.
The OP may have an hour time constraint and didn't take the step of doing the math to realize she'd have to go 20 mph to make it in that time. The fact that the math is easy doesn't matter if you're not even thinking about it.
Also there may be a tiny bit of insecurity amongst BF members worried that some newbie might actually be able to go that fast when they can't ;-) There are definitely people who could do it if we're talking about a long country road with just a couple of stops.
Anyway, you're right, it was worth mentioning that one hour may not be realistic for that distance but there wasn't a need for a dozen different posts pointing that out.