ibcrewin

So my coworker and I signed up for the MS bike tour in nyc.

He's riding on a road bike and me on my single speed. Now he doubts i will be able to do the whole 66miles without getting off the bike. I am going to lay the smack down on him.
Anyway, to make things a little more fair, we made a friendly bet that I could beat him with a corrected time. How much time allowance per mile do you think I should get.

I commute every day 8miles rt and do longer rides on the weekend.

Thanks!

mihlbach

As long as there are no mountains or steep hills involved, my average fixed gear speeds (when riding solo) are identical to my road bike speeds. So you don't get extra time in my judgement. Lots of people have a mistaken belief that you can't ride a singlespeed bike as fast or as far as a road bike. That is mostly untrue, unless you start adding mountains or big groups of riders. 66 miles through NYC on a SS is cake.

ibcrewin

We figure the biggest climbs would probably be out of the lincoln tunnel and getting to the GWB

kyselad

No correction. That way, if you win, you can rub it in his face; if you lose, you can claim you were at a disadvantage. You could also light up a stogie if he starts pulling ahead, thereby further increasing your handicap.

Yo!

LMAO! I love it

lespuff

I think the only place that might get you is northern N.J Its quite hilly up there. Chances are your co-worker is going to be tired also. Pretty much after the lincoln tunnel its tough.

mondaycurse

Is your coworker in the same shape as you are?

rymep

Unless he plans on riding in a 30mph+ paceline the whole way I don't see why there should be any time differential on a relatively flat route.

ibcrewin

I'm in better shape but he's got more experience.. I guess it will come down to game day!

caloso

No time handicap. In fact, I sometimes feel like I make better time on my FG once I get out on the open road. Doesn't make any rational sense -- maybe I just fall into a better rhythm?

dsh

He will smoke you on starts, he will smoke you on uphills, he will smoke you on downhills.

If you are geared high enough, you can keep up on flats.

I'd count the number of hills in the route and adjust accordingly.

Zachee

No time correction factor, but he is not allowed to use any kind of foot retention.

mihlbach

A good rider who knows how to use gears effectively will smoke a ss rider on hills. But most geared riders flake out and gradually shift into lower and lower gears, eventually settling into a lower gear than they need for the climb. Meanwhile, the SS rider, out of necessity, will hammer up the hill at a much faster pace. At least thats my experience. I tend to drop people on hills when riding FG or SS, unless the rider is really good. The gears are only more effective if you know how to use them. For most people the gears make the ride easier, but not necessarily faster.

wearyourtruth

instead of a time adjustment, why doesn't he just stay in one gear? that'll even the field... or is he too wussy to do that?

dsh

That's fine and all for the shorter hills, but if you run into a nice sustained grade you're gonna burn out. Then, you're stuck in your high gear and can barely turn the cranks.

I think the OP said the guy on the geared bike was more experienced. It's assumed he's gonna know how to use his bike.

ibcrewin

That's what I think will be my biggest obstacle..Just bonking on a long low hill. I don't suppose anyone has the elevation profile for the ride?

CliftonGK1

Horsepucky. I have a multiple sustained climbs on my commute (1 mile to 3 miles, 5% to 10% variable grade) and can pace or beat most geared riders up them when I'm on my single or fixed. On my brevet bike I find myself spinning the gear that conserves the most energy; it's just the mindset I'm in when I'm on that bike. On my ss/fg, I've got no choice except to go go go. Rode it fixed on a century with 6500+ climbing this summer and the only place I really suffered was on the extended downhills. While others were flying past at 35mph+, I was relegated to the meager 24 or 25mph I could handle with the low hill gearing I have before it felt like my legs might spin clean off. On a single this wouldn't be an issue; just hit the drops and go.

wearyourtruth

trick him with an internal 7-speed hub and a discrete grip-shift... mwah-ha-ha-ha

dsh

The implication was that he'd be on a high enough gear to keep up on the flats. Sure sustained climbs are doable at speed on 70GI (or whatever "your 70GI" happens to be based on strength and conditioning), but when you hit the long flats and your buddy has a 52T chainring and a bunch of little cogs to play with, you're going to have to spin at 120RPM mile after mile just to keep up.

If you were spinning out at 24mph on your fixed century, that tells me your gearing was pretty low. Totally necessary and you'd be dumb to gear higher with 2600+ feet of climbing, but you're not keeping up with a geared rider on flats if you can't break 24 mph.

No... either you can keep up on the flats and lose on the hills, or win the hills and get dropped on the flats. Bikes have gears for a reason.

sygyzy

Are you for real?

CliftonGK1

Fixed the elevation. I wish the course was only 2600' of gain.
I wasn't getting totally smoked by all the recreational riders on the flatter portions of the ride, but the fast roadies were done a couple hours ahead of me. I do have a wicked low gear on there to handle the hills (42-18). For flats, it puts me at about 18.5mph @ 100rpm, which is a reasonably comfortable all-day cadence for me.
It's getting up into that 135rpm range to hold 25mph where I really suffer. I can hold it there for about 30 - 45 seconds max. before I start to get bouncy. I maxed at 28.6mph on a downhill on that ride, and that's 154rpm. I don't know how I did it without snapping my legs like dry twigs.

TejanoTrackie 

Everyone so far has spoken about the effect of hills on gearing, but don't forget about wind as well. Trying to ride into the teeth of a 25 mph headwind is like climbing a 12 percent grade. So, unless the course is basically flat and the wind is under 5 mph, the rider with the multi-geared bike has an advantage. Having said that, I can outride many riders on multi-speed bikes with my 64 gear inch fixie, simply because I'm a better and fitter rider, and can ride all day long at a high cadence without tiring.

j3ffr3y

or brifters

bicycleptic

I fail to see why you would need a time handicap. I rode a 55 mile ride this past weekend on a 48/16 gear ratio with 83 riders. I was the fifth one done. The route the ride followed led to 15 miles against a wind of 20 mph. I am not in near as good of shape this year as I was last year at this time. If I had been I would have probably finished first. You get in and draft with the road bikes and there is no reason you cannot hang with them.

LupinIII

it's a bit ridiculous, but i don't see how having him run a set ratio would be any different from riding ss. unless the bet is for money or is a bet between which is the better drivetrain and not rider (and honestly for a long road ride gears are better)