why are road bikes

[s7ephanie]

quicker than my hybrid ? is it skinny wheels or do they have different gears? i know i'm only a beginner but i keep getting overtaken by roadsters! and they are not all young fit guys !!! if they were i'd peddle faster to catch them

 

[tyred]

Aerodynamics and a more efficient riding position are a huge part of it.

But just bear in mind one. Even if the people who are passing you look to be getting on in years, they possibly have been covering serious miles for many years and are actually surpemely fit with excellent technique. It takes time to develop it.

 

[ColinJ]

If your tyres are knobbly or semi-knobbly, then they would be making life harder for you, but the chances are that it is you rather than the bike that is significantly slower - sorry!

(I was very surprised recently to discover that even after 9 months off my bike due to illness, I was still a lot faster than a friend who has just taken up cycling.)

 

[MaxInc]

Never judge a rider by his / her bike While they may be 10-20% faster due to to slimmer tyres with lower rolling resistance and better aerodynamics due to riding position, it is mainly down to more powerful legs and better fitness levels.

 

[GrasB]

Never judge a rider by his / her bike While they may be 10-20% faster due to to slimmer tyres with lower rolling resistance and better aerodynamics due to riding position, it is mainly down to more powerful legs and better fitness levels.

Yes & no. 160w = 15mph on road with my MTB = 20mph on the drops of my my road bike = 21mph on my TT bike = 24mph on my fastest recumbent. 15 to 24mph by changing bike

 

[hopless500]

I don't know what the answer is, but - I've just got a road bike and I've only used it for about 50 miles, and it is at least 1.5-2mph faster on average, so far, than my hybrid, and that's while I'm still getting to grips with the gears, and faffing around with my saddle etc etc. Hybrid is much heavier and has wider but fairly smooth tyres but the road bike weighs nowt and has little skinny tyres. I don't think I'm particularly aerodynamic on the roadie - I fidget around like a loony and sit up quite a lot .

 

[MaxInc]

Considering that the OP was comparing a hybrid to a road bike and assuming at least a rigid fork and some road tyres, the difference is not really that much.

 

[s7ephanie]

I thought it must be me !!!! only been riding for almost 2 months, nice to know i can improve, i now want 2 more bikes thought, a mountain bike for all the lanes and woods here and a road bike just because i like to collect the whole set of things !!!!

 

[HLaB]

My fixie road bike only has a single speed and a really heavy steel frame but is faster than a lot of bikes (not faster than a good road bike). I think its a combination of the narrower slicker tyres, aerodynamics and the engine.

 

[GetAGrip]

I thought it must be me !!!! only been riding for almost 2 months, nice to know i can improve, i now want 2 more bikes thought, a mountain bike for all the lanes and woods here and a road bike just because i like to collect the whole set of things !!!!

That's the ticket, you've got the hang of it now, just like me

 

[MarkF]

My road bike has 23mm tyres, weighs 10kg's and looks nice. My hybrid has 35mm tyres, looks crap, weighs 13kg and has a rack, so I load it with crap.

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

That's the ticket, you've got the hang of it now, just like me

You could go for a cyclocross, a replacement road cassette and a pair of road wheels.
20 minutes work and you got the off-road switched to on-road.
Voila

 

[s7ephanie]

You could go for a cyclocross, a replacement road cassette and a pair of road wheels.
20 minutes work and you got the off-road switched to on-road.
Voila

sounds good BUT i'm female and blonde - what do i know about these things next time you are passing can you stop and help

 

[Powely]

When I started cycling on a budget road bike, a friend on a hybrid also had recently started and was a lot faster than me.

 

[procel]

I ride a CAAD8. It's definitely faster than hybrids... and that's definitely not me.