I'm no fast rider but on my commute, there is a flat 4km road without trafic lights and depending on the wind, I'm like 28-35km/h all the time. Then I reach trafic lights and heavy traffic and my average drops dramatically, but I beleive that on non-city commutes, people have a 20mph average.

My regular commute is largely flat, but there are two sections on cycle tracks. Both are well used by dog walkers at 7:30am / 5:30pm, and one goes over farmland so there are 5 gates to go through - slows you right down. Add in traffic including two roundabouts on a very busy A road, plus the tourists along the seafront in the evening, and I rarely average more than 15mph.

I had to check my Strava, and it's been a long time since I was near 20mph average on my "commute segment", over a year, so I have to say it's very unusual for me, but I know that a strong rider could surpass that easily. So I disagree with the thought that people don't really do it, or are exaggerating.

What makes it almost meaningless for "average commute speed" is that my segment chops off the parking lots and driveway at both ends, which can be 3-6 minutes on any given commute, which makes more difference in the door-to-door speed than how hard I try to hammer it. Plus, whether I catch the left turn signal green and how many times I slow to pass by people, but more than anything just the ends can knock the "average" down 2 or 3 mph.

Enjoy the ride, cheers.

This thread makes me feel inadequate.

Me too, thinking about people who can average my peak speed.

On one 2.2-km Strava segment where there's no lights, flat, and smooth tarmac surface, I can average 32 kph on the drops without much trouble. I could imagine if I had a similar stretch 10 times that length (which is the length of my commute) under similar conditions I could easily average 32 kph.

Now if I could only duplicate these conditions for my whole commute.

I can probably average 18 on my road bike on the slightly downhill commute into the office. 90 percent of the route is on an MUP. Different story on the way home. 13 mph would be fast... unless I'm on my ebike, then it's 18 either direction.

+2. My average speed for my 9.5km commute is about 16kph/10mph, 20kph if I ride hard. I reach 32kph/20mph regularly only at an underpass.

Feel free to disregard any of my numbers-- yesterday was 54 miles @ 18.2mph-- because I work from home. So technically, every ride is a commute, just a wholly unnecessary one.

Portland right here too, of course if you're referring to Oregon and not Maine.

What part of the city is your commute?

Speed depends on distance and traffic conditions.

That said, I don't have any interest in racing to work or home.

Nobody wants to be working with Mr. or Ms. stinky.

At home I can shower, other places, almost never.

NoPo to OHSU (Marquam Hill).

Doesn't matter which route I take -- downtown is hopeless. The lights are timed so slowly that I overrun them going uphill on Broadway. On the return, I can take Naito which is nicer in the winter, but you still have to get to it and can catch a light. Interstate from Moda to Lombard is decent, but it's still rare to not get caught by a light or two along the way. I use my bike to get around. Unless you're a reasonable distance from the core, going even one mile without having to stop for something is rare.

I've been a 20+ mph commuter at times, but also a 17mph commuter and 15mph commuter. Almost all of my bike commuting from 2006 to present has been on a fixed gear with 28mm tires, like the OP. First I used a Redline 925 with drop bars, 42x15 gearing, typically a Chrome Citizen messenger bag. Currently I have a Voodoo Agwe with 45x15 gearing, TT bars, and behind-the-seat bag that's pretty aerodynamic. There have been a whole bunch of other setups in the mix - geared bikes, studded tires, panniers, etc.

I commuted from Billerica to Cambridge daily for 9 months back in 2011. The route mostly included the Middlesex Turnpike and Minuteman bike path, which has an infuriating number of stop signs. Other parts of my route were chosen to minimize traffic lights. I'd estimate I averaged 17mph most of the time. I think I may have topped out at 19mph average once or twice on that route. It was during the dark days before Strava, but after I kept a ride log notebook .

Since 2011, I've had rural/subuarban commutes in the NH seacoast area. The routes generally avoid traffic lights and stop signs to the greatest extent possible -- approximately 5 traffic lights in 19 miles. About 600ft elevation gain in that distance, which is fairly flat. The roads are a mix of town-maintained paved back roads with a couple of busier state roads. I've always lived northwest of my office. In the winter time, the prevailing winds are such that it's really hard to average 15mph at 200W on a road bike. I refined my aero commuter bike setup during those torturous winter commutes. Come summer time, those same ~200W were good for 20mph average door-to-door. There were a few weeks during summer time with a 20+mph average. Now most of my bike commutes on a geared cross bike with a toddler seat, I'm back down to 18-19mph average.

So you want a faster bike commute? This is the order I'd recommend.
1. Avoid stopping as much as possible.
2. Pedal steadily.
3. Reduce your transition times (time to park bike, get your gear on/off the bike)
4. Train to get faster.
5. Get more aero.
6. Get tires that aren't slow.

How much do you weigh?

How are you measuring speed on your 20mph commute?

I don't get what number 3 is for? Why would the length of time getting off the bike, parking, etc, have to do with average speed ON the bike?

Weights... me 165 to 175lb. My bike 20lb or so. Typical commuting payload 3-8lb (clothes and lunch).

Speed measured via Garmin Edge 800 or iPhone strava app. Average speeds per Strava in either case.

I threw in number 3 because it's relevant to saving time while bike commuting. Biking faster isn't the only way to free up some time. Sure, it has no impact on the average speed in this thread. However, I think it'd be foolish to make modifications to one's commuter bike that would make the ends of the commute worse. For example, I used a full frame pack commuting one day because it's more aero than a giant handlebar bag (and my behind-the-seat space was occupied). Stuffing my gear into the frame pack took so long that I never wanted to use it again for commuting.

I admit I didn't see the point of #3 at first, but now I totally get your point... why worry about a 'fast' commute if you waste a ton of time getting on/off the bike. That's one reason I love my Chrome Citizen for most commutes, fast/easy to pack, also it's very comfortable (I know this isn't true for every rider), and there's little aero penalty. I ride the city bike with panniers at least once a week to haul groceries to the office fridge, making the Chrome bag lighter for most commutes.

That's true, but going for a faster commuting speed has little to do with the overall time of the commute. It's about the speed.

I had one of my shorter duration commutes today, cruising in the shade at around 14 mph. It took about 3 seconds to pull my bag out of my trunk pack, I didn't need to change or clean up, just straight to my desk.

I do like the advice about shaving time at the endpoints though, and I've gone to some trouble to do that myself. My handlebar bag (for the road bike) is aero and I can just pull it up and off in a quick motion, transforming to a backpack. Even quicker than messing with the trunk. But that's about saving time, not going fast.

I noticed this effect on a recent Bike to Work day. I'd meet up with co-workers for the ride in. Let's just say they're not regular bike commuters. When we got to work, I'd rack my bike, change into work clothes, and be starting my work day. Meanwhile, they're still fumbling through an assortment of bags attached in complicated ways to their bikes.

I do see some people on the bike path going faster than I can imagine going. They have no cargo, or they have a small backpack and no rack/luggage on the bike. I imagine some are commuting but most are just riding. When you commute to work, you generally have stuff to carry.

I rode at the same speed as a couple of bike commuters Wednesday evening, and we were going at around 17 mph, much faster than I usually go.

I don't always rush/hurry, but life can get busy and being efficient allows you to have enough time in the day to enjoy biking to/from work. Otherwise, you'll end up in the car... and that's no fun at all.

On the flats, once you get up to speed the extra weight will not matter; the extra bulk might make a little aero difference. So somebody flying past you is probably just because they're putting out more watts, not because they're carrying less weight.

Downhill the extra weight will be an advantage, uphill a disadvantage; downhill any extra aero penalty will be more severe, uphill it will be less relevant.

It would be interesting to study the conditions that would make cargo be a net advantage downhill (extra weight pushes through air resistance, more than the extra bulk causes air resistance). The ridiculous extreme of a sail or parachute would be almost no extra weight with lots of extra air resistance for net slower downhill, but a rack and rack trunk out of the slipstream would probably have negligible aero difference, and net benefit for downhill from the weight.

That's fantastic for you that your job requirements and overall life schedule allow that attitude. (I'm also similarly fortunate.) But many people do have to punch a clock, or do have to minimize the time they spend commuting, to make room in their schedule for other obligations.