how much faster can you go if you are behind 10-15 riders thanks.(mph please)

In the club rides I do, I can avg about 2 - 2.5 mph faster over the course of 30-40 miles than doing it solo. But we have a lot of damn lights and stop and gos. I would imagine a little faster if it was a straight out non-stop paceline.

No one can give you a mph figure. All depends on the overall strength and skill of the group. While technically it shouldn't, group mph could even be slower than your solo rides, if you're a strong rider.

In fact the optimum group size for practical (public road usage) reasons is probably closer to 8 than 15, so it makes sense sometimes to split into two groups of 6-8 riders.

With an overall strong group (like the Cat 2's and 3's on my weekly Saturday ride that always drop me), here's what you should expect.

Solo 10 mph - Group 10 mph

Solo 15 mph - Group 15.5 mph

Solo 20 mph - Group 21-22 mph

Solo 25 mph - Group 27-29 mph

Then again there's still stuff about grades, how close you're drafting, how many people are in front of you, how you handle the bike, etc.

I guess it all depends upon who you're drafting !

jw

I got to 31 mph drafting a truck. Pity it wasnt going faster...

edit: just for the record; It was a 40lb LHT too...

You can go as fast as your legs can go....it's when you pass them that speed seems to lose its speedyness.

As a guideline, I find that *on the flat*, riding behind somebody at around 20MPH feels roughly equivalent to riding on my own at 15-16MPH. I spend a lot of time soft pedaling or coasting, so I won't get too close.

Roughly. Note that a paceline can be killer on rolling hills, since the bulk of your energy goes to going up the hill - but now you're trying to do it at 18MPH rathern than the 13MPH you might do it on your own.

As a comparison, two years ago, I did a hilly century in 6:50 by myself. Last year, I did the same ride in a group in 5:35. I'm in better condition and my bike is lighter, but most of the difference in times is the paceline.

To beat a dead horse....it depends.

I have to agree with mostof the posts though. It is completely down to your group. Last year a great average speed for me on a short ride was in the ball-park of 16mph. I rode across the state of Indiana in one day at an avg speed of 17.8 mph. Faster over much longer distance? Difference? 1500 other riders to draft with.

Short answer = "faster"

It also depends upon your fitness ... you might have a group of 8 guys who can ride 25 miles/hour for 4 hours ... but can you?

jw

I would expect the speed gained is in the neighborhood of 2-4 MPH. What you do gain is so much less exertion while riding with others in a nice compact paceline. I believe you exert 30-40% less effort while moving with an organized group.

there's also a big difference with different wind conditions. There's much more drafting benefit with a strong headwind as opposed to a strong tailwind

I believe it is 25% if you are the third or further back.

Exactly whatever speed they're going ahead of you...

Last year's tour de france polar realtime heartrate monitoring was interesting. Occasionally the peloton would be cruising along on a flat section of road at about 42km/h and they would pick a domestique out of the middle of the peloton to observe the heart rate numbers of. They were really low numbers, like what you or I might see on a HRM riding alone on the same grade of road at 32-33km/h.