SocialCow

I have seen several threads on average speeds, what I can't seem to find in this forum is... Apart from going for rides, when you get on your bike and go to the store, work and back home, how fast do you normally go I'm not asking for an average speed, I'm asking about the looking down to your speedometer and how fast are you going right under normal conditions.

009jim

I have a 27 speed with 700 diameter wheels and I rarely get onto the big chain ring. Top speed is usually on the middle ring with the 7-8th sprocket. Uphill I am on the small ring and typically 2nd sprocket. I'll have to count teeth and do some calculations if you need a speed. Probably of the order of 10 mph I suppose.

TurbineBlade

You'll never get an honest answer here. Some cyclists (roadies) measure every numerical value possible and wear it as a badge of honor. They'd rather amputate their genitals than admit that they're slow....because there's no point in living if you can't beat other people at something, and riding at a comfortable pace where the cyclist has any fun is just garbage miles.

So, take their "pace" speed and subtract it by 1-2 mph. Take their "recovery ride" speed and add 1-2 mph to get their normal pace. If they seem to REALLY overestimate their own ability (common in roadies -- particularly dudes) maybe subtract 3-4 mph from the former.

CCrew

I don't quite understand what the OP is looking for. Doesn't want average speed wants "right now" speed. Are normal conditions uphill or downhill ?

Right now i'm at my desk in my office at work, doing zero mph

Machka 

Actually ... what they do is to have their computers set on kilometres and think they've got it set on miles. So they're crusing along with the number 30 on their computer screen, and they think they are riding along at 30 mph, when they are really riding at 30 km/h.

wahoonc

Average is around 10mph cruising speed on flat ground is around 15mph on a good day. Downhill, whatever the wind resistance will allow, up hill....walking.

Aaron

scroca

It is common for me to ride at various speeds depending on a number of factors.

Thomas O

My average speed is about 17 mph.

FunkyStickman

I don't ride a road bike, so nobody cares how fast I ride.

YingYang

I commute to work and I usually just do start time minus end time divided by the number of miles I go. With traffic lights on relatively flat roads, I usually go around 18-19mph. Yesterday, I was getting a decent wind and doubled my usual commute distance, I was lucky to average 14mph.

I only use speed to measure how my effort is paying off (and to increase my procrastination before I leave for work in the morning). I measure things with a clock that only shows minutes and plenty of things can skew times/speeds. As long as I move in the direction of improvement than I am happy; the only person I compete against is myself.

caloso

If you mean just riding around by myself, not particularly dawdling but not particularly pushing it, then 19 mph.

cyccommute 

According to my computer...a Sigma 1606L...which logs not only odometer but time on the bike, my speed is a disappointing 12.6 mph. That's the average for commuting, touring, fast bike riding, mountain biking, etc. over the course of the entire year since January 1, 2010. I've gone faster than that (40 mph+) on downhills but I've gone way slower than that (4 mph) on uphills.*


*Both occurred on the same ride. The big hump in the middle of the map is Talimena Scenic Drive in Arkansas. Nasty bit of road. Took me nearly 3 hours to cover the 14 miles of uphill with a loaded touring bike.

Mr. Beanz

Rigth now speed doesn't mean much. I see 18, 19, 20 but my would be 17 mph. That's riding on a flat trail for 40 miles with my wife. If I were to ride alone, I'd see 21, 22 and 23 but my average would still be 17!

Doohickie

I don't have a speedometer, so all I can give you is average speed, determined the "honest" way: I divide my distance by the time it took to get me there (as opposed to speedos that don't include time standing still or rolling very slowly). My average speed is typically 12-13 mph. A little slower on my Schwinn Varsity townie, a little faster on the Schwinn Prelude racer.

Doohickie

At least I'm in good company.

dcrowell

Short, flat, city commute: 17 mph on a good day, 12 when I'm just moseying along
Long ride: 10-12 mph
Long, hilly, gravel ride: 8-9 mph
Off-road: 6-7 mph
(Trying to) keep up with a club ride: 19-20 mph
Fastest ever: 47.5 mph on a nice downhill run
Up a big hill: 2.5 mph is about as slow as I can comfortably go
Fastest flat ride: 25 mph (huge tailwind that day)

Why are there so many numbers? Mostly because this is an answer to a silly question.

Wanderer

Some of us actually do tell the truth --- usually about 12-15 MPH for an average 40 mile ride, or an average 4 mile ride.

Steely Dan

ditto for me, all i have is the old fashioned distance divided by time equation to figure out my speed.

my commute is 15 miles and it usually takes me ~50 minutes which yields an average speed of ~18mph. when facing a particularly strong head or tailwind along the lakefront that average can certainly go up or down.

jefferee

Eleven inches.

Oh, wait, this isn't the Roadie forum... so I'll give a serious answer.

Riding to get somewhere, and not wanting to be completely sweaty and/or winded when I arrive, I typically cruise around 15 MPH give or take. Riding for the sake of riding, a couple MPH faster. Riding with the club, I usually don't want to know so I don't even look.

rogwilco

20ish (km/h) or so usually.
I don't have a speedometer on my commuting bike (fixed gear 42x16), but I've measured my maximum speed "old school" by noting my time on a set distance time trial style a couple times which was just over 30 km/h on 10km. Unless I'm really in a hurry, I'm significantly slower than that though, so I'm guessing 20.

[eta: which btw still makes me faster than the cars on most routes]

Louis

knobster

I took my computer off my bike as some have above. It's made riding much more enjoyable for me. No idea how fast I'm going and now I don't care.....

USAF1C1X1

My average speed is 17MPH according to my computer. The only reason I can say that accurately is because I do my 20 mile fitness ride in pretty much exactly the same time regardless of weather.

JanMM

I commonly average 15-17 mph. I rode 10 miles yesterday evening and averaged 16.3mph, which was roughly the same average as the 20 miles I rode on Sunday. Those are bike computer averages, not including time stopped.

bobn

I average about 8-10 mph on my Raleigh 3 speed. Probably closer to the 8 mph figure. I live in South Florida and it is pretty flat. However, there is the effect of the winds, headwind or tailwind. So, it can vary. We would all love for constant tail winds, but that is never the case.
Being almost 67 years of age, I'll take the 8 mph X 10 to sometimes 20 miles and call it a day.