Slow bike ?

[cycl1st]

I mainly use my bike for work, but am also a keen photographer, so I cycle miles to the countryside quite a lot. I use a mountain bike for this, but have noticed people on 'expensive' mountain bikes always seem to go flying past. I'm no slouch, but they seem to be putting in a similar effort to me, but going a lot quicker.

I originally had schwalbe road tyres, the city jet ones, I changed to the nobbly tyres... for comfort really. The bike is pretty slow with both types of tyres.

So, I don't think the problem is with the tyres, are there cranks/cogs/chains/wheels that perform better than others, to make the bike go quicker ?

Admittedly I've hardly got a 'top of the range bike'. Its actually a Giant Boulder-Shock from 2000. Its not particularly heavy.

*PS, years ago I had a Carrera and Saracen with really light frames, but cheap parts - had the same problem



Any help appreciated

 

[sabian92]

The knobblies won't help. I recently changed from knobblies to Marathon Pluses and I easily doubled my average speed from about 5mph to a little over 10mph. I'm really slow and 3 stone overweight, but by God, it made a difference.

 

[cycl1st]

I've just bought the Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres after reading the reviews. The city jet ones were fine, quite slick. I go past grannies and people on 'dole' bike with little effort. Just people on better bikes (usually wearing lycra) go flying past me with no effort. Generally on a Kona or Trek etc.

 

[sabian92]

It sounds daft, but are you reasonably fit?

I can't really see it being anything else, I mean you can go fast on a 60 quid bike from JJB or a 1500 quid, obviously it being down to how fit you are.

 

[cycl1st]

Yes, I'm an outdoors type. Also go walking/hiking, play football etc.

I don't mean going fast as in pedaling as hard as you can, most of the time its more of a leisurely ride. A friend has a decent bike that was bought recently and I went on his bike. It wasn't really expensive, it was just an early 2010 Carrera, but I went far quicker on his, with little effort. He also has nobbly tyres.

So all I can think is his has better parts or a better mechanism somewhere.

My wheels, chain etc are always lubed well with TF2, co can't be that.

 

[Norm]

The Giant Boulder is a hard-tail, so it has suspenders at the front but a solid rear. It's not one of the bestest available but is a step up from my own Giant Hardrock "dole bike" which sees me just fine on the road with City Jets. In fact, it's surprised a few peeps on roadies when I've been scalped whilst aimlessly meandering along on the way back from signing on.

Tyres can make a lot of difference, switching to City Jets from off-road tyres improved my speed by nearly 20%, which is a fair amount.

The efficiency of the rest of the drive train (cranks, wheels, cogs, pedals etc) can be guessed from little stuff like putting the bike upside down and spinning it. Spin the wheels and they should continue to rotate freely smoothly without binding, spin the pedals, spin the cranks, all should be the same. You can generally feel when the bearings are getting tired. And an old chain can be a killer, all your power goes through a few narrow bits of metal which have to rotate freely as they rub together hundreds of times a minute.

When something feels right is impossible to communicate over the 'net but most can tell when something feels wrong if they are looking / listening out for it.

 

[Angelfishsolo]

If I recall the Giant Boulder has no lock out on the forks and has pretty soft suspension. That will act to slow you down. Also what gear are you riding in.

+1 re the choice of tyres. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus roll like slicks and I think would survive a nuclear war.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

The Giant Boulder is a hard-tail, so it has suspenders at the front but a solid rear.

 

[Muddy Ground]

101 things slow you down - they may just have a more "go for it" attitude or have just started out on a ride. As Lance says - it's not the bike! A good cyclist will never blame the bike.... well just sometimes.

But, all of the above mechanicals plus something like a 2.1 Maxxis Aspen front and rear. If that doesn't sort you out, then you are just slower than them plain and simple.

www.muddyground.com

 

[Zoiders]

Tough love time - I am afraid it's you and not the bike.

I used to commute on a slicked up MTB and I had no problems keeping up with the rest of the serious commuting crowd on the Nottingham run every morning and evening.

Simply try harder - also look at how you dress to ride, how the bike is set up position wise with things such as saddle height and your own general level of CV fitness, also be honest with yourself if you are over weight.

 

[Muddy Ground]

You will go slightly faster with a better bike, but not by much - certainly not enough to catch the fast boys up. A lot of speed is to do with how they carry and maintain momentum, or even that perhaps they tolerate a lot more pain for the gain. Here we do a timed Box Hill climb, and some of the fit guys absolutely hammer everybody else - really hammer. Basic fitness is one thing, but being a full on cyclist another.

As long as you enjoy it, and get something out of the ride, who cares how fast they are? Also you've no idea how far they've ridden. Here in Surrey we get a lot of cyclists drive to the trail head, cycle a mile or so at full pelt, then go home. They look fast over a short course is all.

A camera bag will also kill speed like nothing else. You're going to do 40mph off road with your expensive camera in a bag are you?

Don't sweat it, be tactical. Reel them in on the ups or over distance, or convince yourself that they are missing on the view and photo opportunities.

An expensive bike is just an expensive bike, no more, no less.

www.muddyground.com

 

[david1701]

what d'ya do with your tripod? I sling mine bandolier style on an mtb atm but am moving to an xc frame so need to work out a better rack solution (as I haven't had mine stay tight for more than 4miles yet). I have a shoulder bag going the opposite way (so make an x on my chest) for say body and 2 lenses.

what kind of terrain are you travelling over, you might be able to hold the pace better with smoother tyres if its all road.

In all honesty I think the kittykat for moving faster is being fitter and riding more, from upping my distance I've found my speed on shorter rides and my hill climbing ability (so average speed) has improved dramatically. I hold myself as a relatively n00bish cyclist so the differences are pretty marked

 

[cycl1st]

Tough love time - I am afraid it's you and not the bike.

I used to commute on a slicked up MTB and I had no problems keeping up with the rest of the serious commuting crowd on the Nottingham run every morning and evening.

Simply try harder - also look at how you dress to ride, how the bike is set up position wise with things such as saddle height and your own general level of CV fitness, also be honest with yourself if you are over weight.

As I said above, my friends Carrera goes quite a lot faster than mine, I rode his bike for some miles, so obviously saw a difference. Also as I said we both had nobbly tyres.

So it isn't me and I know I'd never keep up with someone on a good road bike.

Its not like I'm racing people, just wondered if there was some parts I could buy to speed it up...

 

[cycl1st]

If I recall the Giant Boulder has no lock out on the forks and has pretty soft suspension. That will act to slow you down. Also what gear are you riding in.

+1 re the choice of tyres. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus roll like slicks and I think would survive a nuclear war.

I changed my forks for some 2nd hand Rock Shox, that someone shamefully sprayed Silver. They are adjustable, so can have them as stiff as I need. I did have the City Jet tyres, they were nice on tarmac, but horrible on gritty roads. I've purchased the Land Cruisers that are meant to be somewhere in between. I quite like the Schwalbe brand.

I'm surprised no-one has bullied me for still riding an 11 year old bike

I am considering changing for a rediculously light framed bike - seef that makes a difference.

 

[ashleygreen14]

Is there any chance you could take a high end compact rather than all of that kit? I used to ride with kit then switched to a Panasonic TZ65 and the results have been incredible both for my shots and my speed!