gaucho777 

Modern bike? I wouldn't know.

big chainring 

I've been riding a modified 1973 Schwinn Super Sport on fast group rides for the last two weekends. Flat rides, 22-25mph range usually. I can't see that I am at any disadvantage to the rest of the group on their modern bikes. I actually like my longer wheelbase as it's more stable and absorbs road shock.

Cougrrcj

Yeppers!

My most 'modern' road bike is already 30 years old. It is my only 700c road bike, the others are 27". All are friction-shift with 6-speed freewheels.

So is my 23-pound 700c '86 that much 'faster' than my 26.5-pound 27" '74? Nope. The same engine drives both. The weight difference between the two - once rider weight is added to them - is around 1.5%. On the flat terrain where I live, and the distances I ride (including time spent at traffic lights), that doesn't man squat.

noglider 

I think many improvements contribute. Closely spaced gears and the ability to shift quickly and easily and reliably helps me apply the amount of power I want to apply. Light weight helps for obvious reasons. A good fit which distributes my body's weight in an optimized way for the way I want to ride helps. Admittedly, a good fit was available on old bikes, too, but there have been small improvements for many of us and big improvements for short women. Snap-in cleats also seem to offer slight improvements in power transfer.

I haven't ridden my Lemond Ti much yet, but when I do ride it, I'm astonished at my travel times. It's not that it uses my energy so much more efficiently. I think it's that it gives me a comfortable platform to put in my best effort. The question is, would I be able to stay on that thing for many hours? The ride is pretty harsh.

old's'cool

FIFY

plonz 

I ride a 40 mile shop ride every Saturday with a fast group. My experience:

-2011 Specialized Tarmac with full Dura Ace: My fastest option.

-1984 Raleigh Competition modernized with same full Dura Ace: Sometimes able to average what I do on the Tarmac but takes noticeably more effort to hang on during an acceleration.

-1985 Schwinn Tempo friction 6 speed: I get dropped any time I've tried it; always during the accelerations. Something to be said for more gears and brifters.

RobbieTunes

I consistently rode the first 75 miles of centuries faster on my 15.5 lb carbon Cinelli, 2004 model, with 2x10 Record Carbon and carbon Reynolds wheels. I've maintained 20+ during that time on several centuries. I paid a price, though, as the last 25 miles was often very trying, as I was simply exhausted, wondering if I'd even finish. On steel, since I didn't hurry, but paced myself, I finished in about the same overall time, being more relaxed and simply smarter about riding.

My best tri leg was on the same carbon Cinelli, but a year later, on the same bike, I couldn't match my best steel bike time on the same course.

My 15-mile "no time to ride" course is set up to go fast but has rollers. My best time on it, always in a hurry, was my Simoncini, which was steel but rivaled any of my carbon bikes for how it felt.

My best climbing day was, by far, on an Ironman with a 48/34 front setup, 2x8 Campy Ergo. Would I have liked to try that gearing on my carbon Cinelli? Sure, but I didn't.

None of my bikes are "faster." Some are on better days, some aren't. I still get tired and slow down.

I've had easy 100's and tough 40's. The bike didn't matter much. As hard as I've tried to compare, the difference was never very apparent.

jamesdak 

Hmmm, I don't really see any significant difference among my bikes for the most part. In fact most of my PRs for set routes I ride routinely belong to my 2000 LeMond Zurich. My now sold 2011 Trek Madone 5.9 and 2008 Scott CR1 Pro never could beat the Zurich's best times and I did try. Here soon I'm going to go after those PRs on the the old Giordana Antares because even on my worse day that bike is fast.

I've done several centuries lately using 4 different bikes. 2015 Lynskey R265, 1989 Greg LeMond Ventoux, 2008 Scott CR1 Pro, and 1997ish Giordana XL Super. All of them have given me an overall avg pace within a tenth or so of a MPH the same. The real difference was how comfortable some where vs the others.

iab

For how long are these routes? Are they the same route? How many data points do you have for each bike? Same season? Same time of season? What was your riding the day or two before the data points? Your diet the day of the ride?

Chrome Molly

Each route is 20-30 miles.
Comparisons are for the same routes ridden by the four bikes I ride most for evening workouts.
Each bike has at least 30 data points of comparative data to other bikes on the same routes, most have well over 40.
Averages over three and a half seasons of data from evening rides (back to the point I started logging routes with map my ride).
Over time the average day before and after rides probably work out to some degree.
Wieners and beans.

I also log the average speed of each bike for all rides done in that year. That data would suggest about the same gap between modern and vintage average speeds (possibly even more since the modern bikes keep about the same difference in average, but are taken on much longer routes where I'm nowhere close to the near AT efforts on the 20-30 milers).

Scientific, no. But it's the result from my data over a relatively decent amount of time. I think it's fairly representative of the OP's question of how much faster I can ride my modern bike than my vintager stuff.

easyupbug 

I get a new weight weenie carbon every few years beginning with a Trek 5500 in 1993. My average speeds have improve by as much as a 1 mph but they soon are not in the weekly rotation and I sell them.

Daveyk15

One of my favourite 23 mile (flat) courses I am quicker by about .5 mph on my old vintage 1985 time trial bike than my new Carbon Colnago CX Zero.

The vintage bike is about 2lbs heavier than my Colnago but has a more fierce riding position so is probably more aero than my new bike.

Enjoy riding the old one more even though the brakes are poor in comparison to modern dual pivot jobs.

Hypno Toad

I started a thread that may help address your question: https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...ead-sorry.html

In short, this comparison shows a 5% to 10% advantage with the modern bike. I feel this analysis is still incomplete, and I plan to work on it more this summer and update my thread in the fall. Basically, the older bike was new to me at the end of 2014; it was getting many upgrades and adjustments in 2015; and it missed the last four months after a twig got into the rear derailleur, I just got it back on the road yesterday.

One other data point, but very limited comparison - last year, I did the same solo century route with the Felt and the Mondonico, the Felt was a 1% to 2% faster. Here is the total time for both rides:
2013 Felt Z85 - 5:33:26
1996 Mondonico - 5:38:35

Lastly, my Mondonico is a mid-90s bike with first generation Campy Ergo shifters...

vinfix

This comment makes a key point, riding with a group and acceleration is where the differences show up. I discovered when I went on a B level group ride with my DT friction shifting bike, the "modernists" were shifting more, more quickly, and accelerated more easily. And because of their narrower gearing, I had a harder time matching pace, too.

This doesn't mean the modern bike is faster- it means you have to work harder on an older bike to hang. Ultimately that may make you more tired & eventually fall back. No big deal unless you're racing.

randyjawa 

How much further can I ride on a modern bike? I have no idea, but I guarantee it will be further!

Though I love my vintage bicycles, I do not fool myself into believing that they are competitive in today's ultra light high tech frame/fork, coupled with user friendly bicycle components world.

corrado33

It's never the bike. It's the rider.

If a rider is better than you on bike A, they're almost definitely going better than you on bike B, and C, and D....

Ride your bike and turn your thoughts from "If I replaced part X with part Y I could save Z seconds" to "If I trained a bit harder I could save X seconds."

dweenk

No modern bike in my garage, and at nearly 67 years old, I am happy to ride my steel bikes for fun and exercise. When I am feeling a little nostalgic I may spin my road bike to a decent pace, and then settle down to a good ride. Around town I ride a single speed or 3 speed. WTF, I'm still having fun.

FullGas

my 'modern' bike is 18 years old...

dim

I'm 6km/hr faster on my carbon Giant TCR vs any other older lightweight steel bike which I have ridden on the same routes with the same weather/wind conditions and with the same effort .... (fact)

Bandera

My Evil Twin Skippy is exactly as much better on a bike than I am better than he is.
Who would be faster on my old bike "A" vs. my new one "B", Skippy or Bandera?

-Bandera

corrado33

Skippy would be faster on both bikes. Evil twins always have more motivation. (Probably running from the cops.)

look171

Modern bike will be a tiny bit faster. Not so much that anyone can really tell the difference unless you are one of those geeks who look at numbers all day while riding. I don't ride much of my steel bikes anymore, but when I do, the time is within a minute on my 18 mile loop. I will say this, the wheels. With my dished carbon wheels, I can push one more tooth with the same effort. I always come in around 50 minutes. There are a lot of variables on the road such as wind and the corners you cut through. It will play a second on your time if that's important. Steel bikes, alum, carbon, all the same. They all hurt just as much. I finish my Saturday hammer head about the same place and feel about completely empty at the end of the ride no matter what wheels or frame. Oh, I don't have a computer on my handle bar and never will.

look171

That's a lot. You sure you are trying? Same area of the road? Try the same wheel. I bet you will get a surprising result.

My disclaimer: I am not a time trial rider, not by a long shot but have done them in the past when I was racing. In a road race or crit, speed or strength can be made up by sucking wheel for another 10 pedal stroke when its your turn and it will far exceed the fast bike, no matter how aero or fast it maybe. Or, I jsut wouldn't come through, and kick all the fast bike's ass on the last hill.

ppg677

A vintage bike that puts you in more of an aero position will be faster than a 15 pound modern gee whiz bike that has you upright.

Biggest Bang For Your Buck In Time Trial Equipment | CyclingTips

ppg677

Also Lemond's Tour de France time trial speed in 1989 was not broken until 2015:

Rohan Dennis breaks the fastest Tour de France Time Trial Record - Cycling Passion

Lemond rode a heavy steel Bottechia bike. Aero and engine. It is what really matters.