Average speed on a road bike

[Nick1979]

20+ average on a commute? with all the red lights, traffic.. ??
Reading this thread I wonder how some people calibrate their computer :-)
Or maybe I'm just slow, I rarely do faster than 15mph average (but improving!).

 

[numbnuts]

I wish I was as fast as some of you, on a slightly hilly ride I can manage 12.5 mph, but I’m 57 with emphysema and I get out of breath on the hills, on the flat I’m OK but as soon as I hit a hill speed goes down to 3-5 mph hence my low average

 

[caz]

14mph is a good average for me, I must be slow.

I guess I must be slow too. I average between 14-15mph, although a few of my rides (a dozen or so) have been above 15mph and last week I managed to break the 16mph barrier by .07 seconds for the first time! How do I get to go faster? Is it possible or is it too late in life now (I'm a couple of years off being 50 ) ?

 

[MrGrumpy]

I average approx 16.5mph sometimes slower if its howling and thats for 15mile journey from Fife into Edinburgh

 

[Joe24]

20+ average on a commute? with all the red lights, traffic.. ??
Reading this thread I wonder how some people calibrate their computer :-)
Or maybe I'm just slow, I rarely do faster than 15mph average (but improving!).

Its possible, i have had over 20mph averages when i'm going on a short distance, and whilst going through busy areas its easier to keep the speed up as long as the cars are going abit faster then you are. Gives a challenge. If its flat or with parts of downhill its even easier.
When i ride from here into town my speed is usually in the 20mph mark, going to the high 20mph mark if ts clear. Going in that bus lane or just wanting to keep pace with the cars is enough to keep going.

 

[John the Monkey]

20+ average on a commute? with all the red lights, traffic.. ??

I'm lucky in havng some stretches that can be done quick, especially at the time I'm going in (early morning). Wilmslow Road has some lovely false flats (in my favour on the way in) and you can hit 24ish without much effort, and 28sih if you try. (I do always stop at red, and traffic (in general) is moving, so no need to slow for filtering etc). What stops me achieving 20+ is using cyclepaths on the way in - they're shared use, so I slow right down on those.

Reading this thread I wonder how some people calibrate their computer :-)

Take front wheel off, roll it for two complete revolutions (mark start, 1 rev, 2 revs) and then measure the distance marked and divide by two. I never trust those tables in the manual (spot on for my contis, but out for my Stelvios by a few mm)

Or maybe I'm just slow, I rarely do faster than 15mph average (but improving!).

I'd struggle to do much more than 15mph coming home - it's that much more busy in terms of traffic, and more care has to be taken watching out for peds too.

 

[domtyler]

This is some data from a Sunday morning ride I did recently, out to a slightly hillier area than where I live and back again, still only 1,763 feet of climbing over 25 miles though. I wasn't going for it particularly but got a reasonably respectable average of 18.1mph.




Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 1:23:52 3:20 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 1:23:14 3:19 pace
Distance (mi ) 25.06
Moving Speed (mph) 18.1 avg. 39.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,763 / -1,773

Temperature (°F) 60.8°F avg. 60.8°F high
Wind Speed ( mph) WSW 12.7 avg. WSW 13.8 max.

 

[wlc1]

Just finished 8 12 hour shifts in a row and my average coming home tonight was 18.7mph.

I've been up at 0400hrs and back at 1930 hours every day so for me my average speed depends on how knackered I am. Last 4 miles of my ride is up and over the south downs

 

[gbb]

What average on a roadbike ? Depends what you're measuring. Circuit, one way, etc etc.
The only average i'm interested in is my circuit speed. One way out (usually against the wind) and the return leg (hopefully with a tailwind) combined.

Anything else is meaningless. I can do 24 mph average for 5 or 6 miles on one section of my ride, but its verrrry slightly downhill with a tailwind. I'm fooling myself if i use that to measure against.

Whatever my circuit, hilly, flat, windy...my average is always within one MPH.
I have three routes that take me 25 to 40 miles. I always do 16 to 17 mph overall. It doesnt seem to matter what distance it is.

To those that manage 14 or 15 mph...take heart. At 50, i have to push hard to get 17 mph average.
If i went out 3 times a week, pushed the distances and myself...i could probably get 18 mph average. But i cant be arsed

 

[Noodley]

20+ average on a commute? with all the red lights, traffic.. ??

Ooooh, here's an amazing thing coming up...

Not everyone lives in London.

Sorry to have to break it to you.

My commute involves zero traffic lights and maybe 20-30 cars (mostly in the last 2 miles). Distance? 20 miles. Jealous? :?: And I can average over 20mph...

 

[Bodhbh]

So far I found I average about 13-14mph on long weekend rides, about 15mph on 20mile exercise runs during the week, and about 15mph on the 4 mile commute. Go flat out and knacker myself out as best I can on the commute and with all the stopping and starting seems to average out similar to the longer rides in the country

 

[Nick1979]

My commute involves zero traffic lights and maybe 20-30 cars (mostly in the last 2 miles). Distance? 20 miles. Jealous? And I can average over 20mph...

I am

 

[goo_mason]

I think the highest I've hit since I got the bike in April was an 18.6mph homeward run over 10 miles.

I was really on a flyer down Telford Road and along Ferry Road, hitting over 32mph in the main flow of traffic - and obviously prevented from travelling any faster by the cars in front and the road conditions (nice big pot-holes, sunken drain covers, slowing for junctions and side-roads in case anyone tried to nip out etc).

I was therefore highly disappointed at the sub-20mph average. I guess the many lights and junctions at other points on the route are responsible (or perhaps I'm just not as fast as I like to think I am)

 

[dodgy]

We had this thread recently I think? Last time it ended with our beloved tourers telling us all that their average speed is 10mph because they include breaks
For average speed stories to make sense, the route has to be roughly circular (an out and back essentially qualifies as circular). I average 18.5mph over 50 miles when I'm in good shape, right now I'm averaging 16.5mph. All done on a decent carbon road bike.

Dave.

 

[AdamBlade]

What would you expect a decent average to be on a mtb? I am mainly downhile on the 6 miles to work and can average about 18 mph. On way back I probably average 12mph, last 3 miles being all uphill.