OK then. I guess I do a lot of accelerations. And now that I think about it, I do.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I can't keep a steady pace of 20 mph on any bike or any terrain. I just don't think I have it in me.

I guess I'm a roadie (or part roadie), then? I've always been leaving off the caps on presta valves. Don't need them. But I do keep them on schrader valves. My old school training always has me throwing out the valve cap and stem washer for new presta tubes.

Give me the Ft Lee road going downhill, then 20+ mph is no problem.

Perhaps, but this isn't something that has the right order-of-magnitude to explain a 13mph vs 15mph speed difference.

New theory. I love my racing bike so much that it charges up my confidence, and I pedal harder as a result.

I rarely have a sub 20mph ave commute - that means it was windy or I was feeling terrible. 11 flat miles with a traffic light every mile.
This morning's ride I got lucky with lights and only got red on 6 of them: There is also slower riding leaving my residential hood and once I am on work campus which can be seen at ends of graph.

I agree, that's the most likely cause

What was your average moving speed, [MENTION=12814]noisebeam[/MENTION]?

The graph indicates 21.3mph average which is the dashed line in graph.

Well, I'm generally a slow commuter/rider. But, a couple of days ago, all the stars aligned for a pretty fast commute. Headwind/crosswind for half of it, and tailwind for most of the second third to half. I hit 20.0 MPH at MP 16, then lost it for the last 3/4 mile (uphill, crosswind). Overall, 19.5 MPH. Appears to have some descent, but the end is at almost exactly the same elevation I start at.

Even with a tailwind, it is still a hard ride for me.

It looks like I did two complete stops, and a few slowdowns. But my speed varies a lot, especially with several short rolling hills.



[MENTION=12814]noisebeam[/MENTION], I can see your commute and mine are very different as far as steady speeds.

So, my goal for this year will be to push it up that last 1/2 MPH, and pull it through that last 3/4 mile of gentle rise.

Still, I'd be happy if I could get my speed up to say 16 to 18 MPH average, with a few fast rides tossed in.

going from my 20lb gravel bike to my 17 lb gravel bike I'm consistently 10% faster climbing. But I'm thinking there is more going on here than just weight. That lighter bike is crazy efficient compared to the typical bike.

Personally, I don’t think weight makes much difference to me (commuting), unless I’m willing to get out of the saddle to accelerate. Then it can make a big difference. Still, it doesn’t get me to work much faster. Better tires may get me to work a little faster.

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That applies to me! If I’m on a fast bike, I want to go fast. And a fast bike does encourage me to get out of the saddle and accelerate!

OK then. I'm just not that strong, because clearly some can average 20 mph and over, and I don't think there's much hope that I can do so.

The only way to stay 20+ on a bike in realistic conditions is with assistance that's likely electric

You haven't read much of the thread, have you?

To commute at 20mph cruising speed I have drop bars, good 32mm tires, messenger bag, fenders and commute or ride about 500 miles a month.

Your funny! LOL

my "pedal" bike cruises 20mph if I'm not angry (more like 25-30 if I am, but that burns a lot of sugar).
My e-bike cruises 25-26mph (and that is with the smallest motor I could find).

There are a few of us here that can cruise at 25mph+ (giving a door to door average of ~20), but those are racing speeds, and not something anyone is going to do on a daily cruise.

why wouldn't anyone 'race' to and fro work daily?

Why WOULD anyone 'race' to and from work daily?

Why would anyone walk when they could jog instead?
Why would anyone jog when they could sprint instead?
Why would anyone sprint when they could walk instead?

Anyone can travel at whatever speed they want as long as legal and not endangering others. I was curious why someone would say traveling at racing speed is not something anyone is going to do daily. No one should be expected to be slow or fast - to each their own.

Just because one is commuting doesn't mean they have to ride in a certain way.

Well, heavy traffic and not wanting to blow through red lights are two reasons. Wanting to live a little longer may be another. But that doesn't mean that you can't get in a good workout even if its less than 20mph avg. Do some decent hills and maybe power drills in a higher gear. Also fast spinning up some hills definately gets my heart rate going.
[MENTION=12814]noisebeam[/MENTION] and [MENTION=392454]CliffordK[/MENTION], are you using a Garmin for the speed chart that you posted? They're pretty cool.

There has to be. Adding 3 pounds is only a 1-2% increase to gravitational drag.

Another thing that can have a big effect on climbing, albeit very circumstantially, is gearing bottom-out.
My 1983 Miyata 710 weighs about 5 pounds more than my Emonda, and on medium-grade climbs it averages a couple percent slower. But the old bike has a 41" granny gear (42-28 on 27 x 1 1/8 tires), while the Emonda has a 32" granny gear (34-28 on 700x25), and sustained steep gradients can be a serious problem for me on the Miyata. There's one climb in my area that where I've put in hard efforts on both bikes, and my PR on the Emonda is about fifteen percent faster than on the Miyata.

How do the front-end geometries of your bikes compare? A bike with less-floppy geometry can take less effort to stabilize at low speeds when you're rocking it back and forth out of the saddle. It's hard to quantify the exact impacts of this, but it can definitely be felt.

Is it possible that your climbing pedaling form just doesn't agree with the flex behavior of the slower bike? A lot of bikes seem to be pretty agnostic to pedaling form, but some are less so. The 1979 Fuji America that my grandfather gave me has a ridiculous amount of attitude... it can feel absolutely lovely to pedal, but it feels like it's kicking back and fighting with my legs if I don't get into certain rhythms with it.

The charts are C&P from Str*va website. I use their app on iphone I carry in my pack.

From this morning, very slight headwind


From May with a decent tail: