Hey all,

Lately I've seen more road bike commuters out on the trail and they tend to just zip right by me. Obviously, their bikes are going to be much faster and with thinner profile tires and clipless pedals. Some days I'm pretty juiced and can really pump the pedals where other days I'm pretty lethargic... I'm sure part of it has to do with diet and what I had eaten beforehand, etc... I think the fastest I've ever clocked, according to Runtastic, is around 25mph or so on a short part of a flat with a slight decline. I was in the 20s yesterday probably when a roadie commuter zipped right by me. It would be nice to at least be able to keep up...

I ride an older 2003 Trek 7700fx with the original 700x35 tires and also old-fashioned platform pedals. I did order a pair of Gatorskin 700x32s to check out so that might help a little I'm thinking. Should I strongly consider going to clipless too? Or maybe just toe cages? My commute is only slightly over 4 miles. I do ride sidewalks part of the time (in the [commercial/business park] area that I ride sidewalks, it's actually safer amidst morning traffic on the main roads IMHO). There's been a couple instances where I've scraped the pedal against the ground while leaning too sharply... not sure if that's a factor or a whole different issue (with bike fit).

Of course, riding more and building up my leg muscles is probably a huge part of the equation I'm forgetting too
Any other suggestions though?

I don't think clipless pedals will help much. The main advantage of a road bike is the low position reducing drag.

How long does your 4 mile commute take you?

Biggest suggestion is just more miles. It's only 4 miles, so you'll really need to be hammering to get a decent workout, I think.

Also, you don't have to dress in lycra, but if you're wearing baggy clothes, they will slow you down as much as anything.

I see... it usually takes about 22-23mins on average. There's a very slight elevation gain going to work so coming back home is usually faster by a minute or two.

Yea... I guess I need to get into Saturday rides. Maybe group rides with the local club. And the shorts I wear are hiking shorts that are kind of baggy. I have padded shorts under but I feel like I'm riding naked [literally] if I ride with just those haha. Guess that's the point, but I suppose I just need to 'ease' myself into it hahaha.

The folks who pass you could easily be lifetime riders and competitive racers. Or, it could just be that your seeing someone in the middle of their 15 mile commute, after they're all warmed up. 4 miles is barely enough time for me to get warmed enough to sustain any kind of speed worth talking about. Perhaps, even, you are seeing those who like to sight you, gain composure, sprint by like they're awesome, then break down in a huffing fit after they're out of your sight. Hitting 20 on a 4 mile commute is not too shabby; you won't win a competitive sprint but you're obviously no slouch.

Light tires may help; rotational mass requires more effort to move than stationary mass, per physics. Clipless pedals will help tremendously if you're not already running toe-clips. Are you running drop bars?

Otherwise, muscle development and efficiency will come with every mile. When I first started commuting I was on a lugged steel bike with panniers, and struggled to keep up with anyone. Now the bike is lighter, I carry only a few things in a small backpack, and I've learned to pedal and breathe more efficiently. Out of 20 riders I encounter on my commute, I pass 19 of them (although, this probably just means that I encountered 19 leisurely riders and 1 fast rider - or it could mean that those I am passing are either warming up or cooling down; it's all about context).

Overall, unless you intend to flat-out sprint the for the entire 4 miles, then you're not going to shorten your commute enough to worry about. If you were riding 10+ miles then the time savings with every mile of more efficient riding could add up to 5-10 minutes.

No matter how fast you get, you're not going to shorten the commute time much. Do the math: from 12 mph to even 24 mph you'd save only 10 minutes. But with sidewalks and any stops, you can't average 24 regardless so in reality the maximum improvement is less than that.

On my 7.8 miles the difference between as hard as I can go and loafing is around 6 or 7 minutes. I don't think that it's enough time saved to be a major concern (although I like to go faster for other reasons).

I know what you mean though - when I bought a bike for commuting it was a road bike because I didn't want the roadies naturally going faster than me. They were still faster, but it wasn't the bike.

Clipless and Gatorskins won't improve your speed. A road bike being lighter, more maneuverable and positioning you for more power and better aerodynamics is the right tool but we'll still have to turn the pedals as fast as the roadie if we want to keep up.

There are a few groups that I come across, during my commute. A couple of them, I can and do hang with. But there is "The A Group" from a nearby bike shop who absolutely smoke me. I see them coming in my mirror, they overtake me and then I watch them disappear over the horizon, in front of me. They are hauling and I've tried a time or two to keep up with no luck whatsoever.

Try picking at section of your commute which is about half a mile long and without any junctions or hazards.
Each day hammer it and try and ride that section as fast as possible.

You should be able to get your moving average to about 15mph fairly easily doing this. Actual journey time will be somewhat dependent on junctions/lights etc.

23 minutes, why even worry about it? I would probably lolly-gag along at a leisurely pace if my commute were that short.

IMHO you really only need to worry about being faster when the commute is long and it takes upwards of 1 to 1.5 hours each way (like me). That's when it really starts to cut into family time, or time for other things if you don't live with a family.

Dang, 4 miles is nothing...

Good stuff from [MENTION=227213]wphamilton[/MENTION].

What you're saying is kind of like me saying that when I'm driving my car in to the office some folks driving Formula One cars keep passing me so maybe I should get me one of them. Or at least a some better tyres and some fairings to help aerodynamics.

KISS is a good principle. Ride the four miles at whatever pace and enjoy the ride. Don't worry about the folks passing you. Don't make it over complicated by doing stuff that will cause you to be uncomfortable or sweat a gob for no real benefit or spend more time getting dressed for your ride and undressed after than you spend actually riding.

If I'm going to go the trouble of putting on kit or sweating a bunch and showering after it's for 25 or more miles. The vast majority of my riding though is in normal street clothes on a comfortable bike at a comfortable pace.

This is what I try to do, at least on the ride home. It's so hard to push it when I leave in the morning...prob cause I'm still half asleep!!! There are a couple of overpasses that really slow me down so I'm kinda forced to push on those. I always look forward to the ride back though and especially the 'fast section' - I've gotten up to around 25mph I think in that section but only for a few seconds probably haha.

Yea, I hate those guys... so crazy how fast they go.

Good info. Guess I'll keep riding as-is in that case. Back in the day when I first got the bike I was commuting closer to 8 miles or so each way, so I definitely got a better workout. But yea, all the stops are what really kill the time. If there were no lights/stops and just a straight bike path all the way through, it would probably take me 15 minutes!

Makes sense... I'm running flat...err crow bars. When I want to try to get "aerodynamic" I'll tighten my body up and move my hands closer to the center of the handlebars. I think this is when I was able to hit the 25mph mark that I mentioned above. It's funny cause one day I saw a guy riding on what appeared to be a mtn bike w/ fat tires and work clothes, and he just *completely* blew by... though I was coming onto the street off a turn and he just whizzed right by. But I caught up to him at a stop light. As soon as it turned green he sped off like the roadrunner...crazy.

Yea, it really isn't bad and I can't complain. Except, this is my form of "exercise" but apparently I need much more on the side hahaha.

You were passed at 25mph by a mtb? What are you using to measure speed? 25mph is average TDF peloton territory.

I'm with you on the last part. I quit running to preserve me knees and I don't care for fun rides, so my work commute is the best form of exercise that I have.

No, 25mph is the *high point* that I've hit riding a flat with a slight descent on an MUP... and that was for a few seconds at most probably. Sorry - that was confusing cause the blurb about the guy on mtn bike going crazy fast was just another anecdote. I use Runtastic to log my rides. The mtn biker was probably going closer to 20mph on a busy street while I was riding prob 15mph or so.

Fear of cars/trucks/etc. usually makes me go faster than I normally would. There was a truck following me around a traffic oval, so I raised my cadence much higher than normal and booked it, setting a new PR for top speed, according to the Cyclemeter GPS app anyway.

Or it might have been the single-lane sharrow-marked road a bit further on the route I took. Some parking spaces along the side, but not enough room for me to drift to the right and let cars pass. It's a relative short stretch on the bike route between the turn into that street and the traffic light, after which a bike lane is available - so I basically sprint down that stretch.

I don't mind being passed by other cyclists. They don't put the fear in me in the same way that a truck or car can.

Sidewalk, not for me. Bad sight lines usually for biker and driver. Just improve the motor( you) Pedal hitting the ground during a turn? Inside pedal up, outside pedal down. Checking tire pressure? I don't find it helpful for foot retention for the road, only off road. This is very subjective however. Do some 20 -30 mile rides during the weekend for strength and stamina.

I agree that four miles is not really much. If I had a four-mile commute I might even run it. Ride leisurely and appreciate that it's such a short ride. If you want to ride more then ride more, just do loops and then end your ride at work.

I'm not sure why you care. I pass some people, some people pass me. I'm never going to keep up with people who have time to go on 4 hour training rides, so why stress about it?

I'm just going to work and back. If I drive I don't worry about being the fastest guy on the road.

Yeah, looking back at the question, I see that it was pretty silly to ask. But was just more curious than anything if there are ways to pick up more speed. I do work up a sweat when I get in and come home but this is intentional since I don't exercise much otherwise. I guess I should just try to get myself in a mindset of "constant push" if I feel I need to increase intensity for a better workout... I guess to me that usually translates to "faster" but that's obviously not the case. Regarding sweat, I've been riding with a backpack which is pretty annoying. I did order a rack from Nashbar so hopefully that'll help keep me a little more dry.

Less riding on the sidewalk and more on the road will definitely cut your commute time, at the cost of more stress riding with the heavy traffic.

Fortunately, about half of the commute is on a pretty straight and pretty empty MUP. Where it gets a little sketchier is once the MUP ends and gets into the commercial/business park area - riding the streets around here is scary, especially because it takes several left-turns to actually get to the business park where I'm at. I just wish they'd expand a thru-trail so I could get to my business park by MUP (I think there are plans for this eventually but it's probably a long ways out). I actually took a longer 5mi roundabout route which avoided freeway on-ramp crossings and was primarily riding in the bike lane most of the time. But ironically, this turned out to be stressful with all the cars on the road (the main street I was riding down gets super busy especially around a certain intersection). Additionally, they had a tree-trimming crew w/ wood-chipper blocking part of the bike lane, so getting around that was pretty scary with cars whizzing by. I definitely have super-low confidence in my street riding but that didn't help one bit.

When turning sharply, always keep your outside pedal low and inside pedal high to avoid scraping and potentially falling.

And if your goal is to get fitter, then getting a lighter drop bar road bike with fast skinny tires will actually do you a dis-service, since you'll be putting in less total effort to go the same commuting distance. But if you DO just want to go faster some days, or find your heavy bike is just too heavy for a 50 mile ride, or you want to keep up on a group ride with road bikes, then this is a great time to execute N+1. But if you're only ever riding solo, then there's no need for a faster, lighter, skinnier bike, since you have nobody to keep up with.

Also, if you ever intend to commute in any wet conditions, then I recommend clipless pedals to prevent your shoe from slipping off a wet pedal when you are pushing hard to cross a street from a dead stop, when a car is coming. No cages.

Yeah I don't usually shift up on my commute until around mile 4.

One thing you could do to make the most of your lungs is ride in the lowest gear you can stand and pedal as much as it takes to get a speed you can tolerate. Over time you will build amazing lung capacity and eventually find that you can turn much higher gears at the same rpms.

I agree that new gear won't get you to your office meaningfully quicker. Your 35mm tires might get you there meaningfully quicker over the long run if you have fewer stops to fix flats.

It's fitness, strength, genetics, technique, and equipment.

The equipment changes are probably going to make the least difference and as several have pointed out, it probably doesn't matter that much in the end.

That isn't necessarily true. It all depends on how hard you work. If the road bike encourages you to work harder, then you'll be better off. If you put in the same effort and get there slightly faster (probably very slightly), then it provides no benefit or even a slight negative benefit.