Increase in seizures of illegal ebikes

[Rusty Nails]

Not for much of any ride, surely?

Possibly for those regular riders who regard cycling as a sport rather than a pastime, commute or utility activity, and for those parts of their ride unencumbered by junctions, traffic lights etc.

In other words some regular cyclists.

 

[classic33]

Not for much of any ride, surely?

Managed the 181/2 mile into work(Leeds) in just over an hour. Mountain bike on knobblies.

 

[albion]

There was one modified in the same way running round here. Forgot about a bend in the road. Low wall saved him.

One passed me last week on the Ryton to Hendon,Sunderland road. Noisy uneconomical things.

 

[Webbo2]

Not for much of any ride, surely?

You are having a laugh Shirley. Lots of people do 60 to 100 miles at over 15.5 mph. I did a 92 mile ride at 16.2 mph, 66:05 at 17.2 mph and plus a fair few others and I’m 70. These were group rides so fastish at times then waiting. I did do 100:95 miles at 15:7 mph as a solo ride where I did go pop due to it being the first really hot day of year.

 

[Alex321]

Not for much of any ride, surely?

For a fair amount of it I would think. I am 66, and by no means one f the fastest around even for that age group. But most of my longer rides will have an average speed over 14mph, and that is with a fair amount of hill, so I must be spending most of the non-climbing parts of the rides at or above above 15mph.

 

[Rusty Nails]

You are having a laugh Shirley. Lots of people do 60 to 100 miles at over 15.5 mph. I did a 92 mile ride at 16.2 mph, 66:05 at 17.2 mph and plus a fair few others and I’m 70. These were group rides so fastish at times then waiting. I did do 100:95 miles at 15:7 mph as a solo ride where I did go pop due to it being the first really hot day of year.

The comment that MJR was replying to said that  most regular cyclists will travel at more than 15mph, not that some or even lots do.

As I said earlier there are many regular cyclists who do not treat it as a sport, do not ride road bikes, do not ride in groups and are not motivated by performance.

Congratulations, but I doubt, in the absence of further information, that you are typical of most riders.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The comment that MJR was replying to said that  most regular cyclists will travel at more than 15mph, not that some or even lots do.

As I said earlier there are many regular cyclists who do not treat it as a sport, do not ride road bikes, do not ride in groups and are not motivated by performance.

Congratulations, but I doubt, in the absence of further information, that you are typical of most riders.

Quite. This is a cycling forum with some people who are committed to performance cycling, mostly male, and some who like to have a brag so such speeds will be over represented here.

But most regular cyclists? I'd guess a median of about 10mph for most people.

Now, I certainly don't go that [25km/h] fast. I never have, not even close. Not even at my fittest a few years ago when I was churning out imperial centuries for fun and occasional double imperial centuries. And these days I'm even slower. But I'm just a sample of one.

 

[mjr]

The comment that MJR was replying to said that  most regular cyclists will travel at more than 15mph, not that some or even lots do.

I might be wrong. I'd welcome any population-level UK speed data.

But I rarely average more than 12mph anywhere busy, which usually means towns which means junctions that slow people further, and I still overtake plenty of other riders, so I doubt most riders are doing 15+ much, else I'd rarely catch them.

 

[Alex321]

I might be wrong. I'd welcome any population-level UK speed data.

But I rarely average more than 12mph anywhere busy, which usually means towns which means junctions that slow people further, and I still overtake plenty of other riders, so I doubt most riders are doing 15+ much, else I'd rarely catch them.

That's a good point about towns. I don't think of myself as fast, but the majority of my non-commute riding does tend to be on country roads.

A lot of people don't have that luxury, so average speeds are likely to be lower just because of junctions and traffic.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I might be wrong. I'd welcome any population-level UK speed data.

There's a cycling weekly article that gives figures derived from Strava data of 20.4 km/h for men and 17.7 km/h for women
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/training/13-ways-increase-average-cycling-speed-144937
Note that this is Strava data in an article entitled "3 Ways to Increase Average Cycling Speed" so it's sports focused. So it may be on the high side for "ordinary cyclists"

The DFT uses a speed of 15 km/h for planning purposes which in turn is based on National Transportation Survey data. There's reference to it in the doc below but I haven't managed to find the underlying NTS data.
https://assets.publishing.service.g...ive-model-appraisal-toolkit-user-guidance.pdf

Anecdotally, the club I used to ride with organised various levels of ride. Summarised from their website:
Easy to Mid Paced 11-13 mph
Medium Paced 13-14 mph
Faster Medium 13.5-15
Medium to Fast 15-16.5
Fast 16-18
Fastest 18+

This is a sporty recreational club, most riders having quite snazzy road bikes. But they were quite a broad church and there were quite some distinctly "ordinary cyclists" in the slowest group that I used to ride in. I did try moving up a group but it was less enjoyable.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

When I ride around here then it is unusual for anyone to catch me let alone pass me

Clearly I ride an ebike so my normal speed on flat roads is around 15 mph
the ones that do pass me are pretty much all on "proper road bike" and wearing lycra

The vast majority of "people on bikes" are on hybrid or MTB types and go slower than I am - by a few mph

That is just around here, and I have very seldom seen anything that might be though of as a club ride - which doesn;t count anyway as people will be drafting - so there concentration of people who actually train is probably much lower than places with more cycle clubs and more famous place to ride

but my impression is that the normal speed of a normal cyclist is around 10-13 mph

 

[CXRAndy]

Not for much of any ride, surely?

I've done 100 mile solo rides at 17mph, group club rides 19+ for 60 miles and once UCI tour of Cambridge 80 miles at 21mph.

So it means I was travelling faster for portions of the ride, inclines, junctions reducing the average

Re speed performance, Im an average, I would say below average cyclist.

There are some on here that have done 18mph average for 300 miles

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I've done 100 mile solo rides at 17mph, group club rides 19+ for 60 miles and once UCI tour of Cambridge 80 miles at 21mph.

So it means I was travelling faster for portions of the ride, inclines, junctions reducing the average

Re speed performance, Im an average, I would say below average cyclist.

There are some on here that have done 18mph average for 300 miles

In my view most "people who ride a bike" have never done 100 miles ona single ride

I mentioned to one of my wife's friends a few days ago that I had just come back from a ride to Warrington and back
i.e. about 20 miles

she was amazed that I went so far
and she and her family used to cycle around and have always been active and fit

most people that I know and have - at least at some point - rode bikes around the place
would see 18 mph as very fast as an average over a time

 

[cyberknight]

When I ride around here then it is unusual for anyone to catch me let alone pass me

Clearly I ride an ebike so my normal speed on flat roads is around 15 mph
the ones that do pass me are pretty much all on "proper road bike" and wearing lycra

The vast majority of "people on bikes" are on hybrid or MTB types and go slower than I am - by a few mph

That is just around here, and I have very seldom seen anything that might be though of as a club ride - which doesn;t count anyway as people will be drafting - so there concentration of people who actually train is probably much lower than places with more cycle clubs and more famous place to ride

but my impression is that the normal speed of a normal cyclist is around 10-13 mph

I think you have summed it up , legal e bikes are aimed at people who want or need to get around with a bit of assistance , those who ride faster unpowered as a percentage of the population make up a small number but as i guess people on a forum for cyclists we could infer that we are " keen" . My pace although slow compared to many i would class myself as keen .My commute is generally down on the way in so i aim for 17 mph avg and coming home i aim for 15 mph , club rides are a bit odd as the club i ride with their social ride is a 17 avg and classed as a social ride but they are a racing club , they do have a faster ride where you will get dropped and prior to my ongoing injury operations that have pretty much killed my fitness over the last 3 -4 years i would have held on to them .

 

[Rusty Nails]

I've done 100 mile solo rides at 17mph, group club rides 19+ for 60 miles and once UCI tour of Cambridge 80 miles at 21mph.

So it means I was travelling faster for portions of the ride, inclines, junctions reducing the average

Re speed performance, Im an average, I would say below average cyclist.

There are some on here that have done 18mph average for 300 miles

No one has argued that those speeds are unusual or especially fast for people who enjoy cycling as a sport or performance pastime, but the point is that that type of cyclist is not ‘most’ regular cyclists. They are a relatively small and self-selecting subset of regular cyclists, most of whom probably haven’t a clue, or don’t care about their average speed.