Groundhawg

I currently own a Trek 7100 hybrid bike....Which has a very upright riding position. I like this bike very much. It's very comfortable. However, I'm considering purchasing a roadbike in the future. My question has to do with speed. I can comfortably cruise at 12-14 miles per hour on the 7100. It has 700x35 tires. All my riding is on flat ground..There are no hills in my area. How much faster do you think I would be on a Roadbike?

2 mph?
4 mph?

roadwarrior

You also, even if you go to an entry level bike would drop a lot of weight. Take off that hybrid shock folk and add a carbon fork, even at the low end bike, save probably 5-6 pounds. Lighter frame.

How fast? That depends on the engine....

Grasschopper

7100 so one of the models with suspension right? Well if you have been riding regularly I would say that with the thinner tires, lighter bike (a least 5 lbs probably more if you have a cheap suspension fork on there currently), more aero riding position that you could gain over 4 mph in avg speed. When I go from my flat bar roadie with it's upright riding position, 700x28 tires, fenders and panniers to my fast roadie I see 2 mph.

civa

I went from a hybrid that I loved (about 12mph avs) to a road bike this year. I'm gradually working my speed up and am now averaging about 15mph. I thought that I wouldn't be as comfortable on my road bike as I was on my hybrid, but I'm finding much more comfort---especially being able to change hand positions and using different muscle groups. That translates to riding much LONGER and FARTHER, and now FASTER. And wanting to ride MORE.

Foureyes

I have a 2004 Raleigh C40 hybrid with 700x40 tires and a suspension fork and I wondered the same thing. I decided to rent a road bike (on two occasions) and ride a 10 mile course I'm very familiar with.
I found that at the same heart rate (150) I was able to go 14.5mph instead of 13. In an all out sprint on level ground I could go 27.9 on the roadie (Trek 1200) vs. 25.4 on my hybrid. About 10% faster in both cases. I was hoping for 20% and I suspect if I were faster I would see something close to that due to the aerodynamics coming more into play the faster you go.

recursive

Given 12 to 14mph on a hybrid, I suspect a 4mph advantage is overly optimistic. You may see as much as a 2mph benefit, but it doesn't sound like you are going fast enough to benefit very much from aerodynic advantages of a roadbike. The rolling resistance of the wider tires is another story though. At your speed, that is probably one of the biggest sources of resistance. Shocks too.

recursive

Hey, I have precisely the same Raleigh. I don't ride it much anymore though, now preferring my more road oriented bikes.

neil0502

Speed questions can be reasonably easily answered at either of these two (incredibly cool) sites:

https://www.analyticcycling.com/DiffE...ions_Page.html

https://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm

Take a minute and plug in some numbers. Quite easy to be surprised....

TassR700

I went from a Giant hybrid with no suspension and a 16-18 mph average to a Cannondale R700 and a 18-20 mph average. the big difference I find is with headwinds. With the hybrid, they stopped me cold. With the roadie, I only lose a mph or 2. i also seem to get a lot more power to the pedals and accelleration is much, much better. Riding is a lot more fun also.

Groundhawg

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Good to see that a few Roadies on here also own hybrids. I should have mentioned that the 7100 does have a suspension fork. I tried to link to treks website showing a pic of the 7100....but that part of their website is down.

It looks as if I'm looking at about a 2 mph increase in speed. Now if I can only get the engine in a little better shape. LOL.

biketownblogger

I started riding again on a GT Hybrid w/ suspension fork, but switched to a Schwinn roadie this season, and I am faster on the road bike. Long distance avs, 10-12 mph on hybrid, and about 15-16 on Schwinn.