why are road bikes

[TonyEnjoyD]

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

Bien sûr mon ami

 

[GrasB]

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.

Flat bars pick up a real dis-advantage because they present a wide torso. Even when right far forward your arms etc. are still flapping in the breeze. Going on 'legacy' data I see around 2~3mph speed loss between my road bike on the drops & my boardman hybrid, about 1.5~2mph for hoods at 160-175w.

Sure I could drop most road riders on my hybrid, but on my fixed or road bike I was in nuke them from orbit territory. When I was on my TT bike I was holding off chain gangs for 10 miles at a time.

 

[MaxInc]

Flat bars pick up a real dis-advantage because they present a wide torso. Even when right far forward your arms etc. are still flapping in the breeze. Going on 'legacy' data I see around 2~3mph speed loss between my road bike on the drops & my boardman hybrid, about 1.5~2mph for hoods at 160-175w.

This is more in line with my 10-20% guestimation based indeed on the assumption that a more upright position would have significantly more drag on a hybrid compared to a road bike. Of course we have to consider the control speed since drag will be a lot higher at 20mph than at 13mph and you would expect to see higher speed gains in experienced riders capable to maintaining higher average speeds than beginner where wind drag has a lesser effect due to the lower speed they are travelling at.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

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 !!!!

Spoken like a true cycle chatter!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

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

Why harass yourself with mechanical challenges when you can have one bike for every occasion?

 

[biggs682]

are you sure it wasnt just male pride that made said riders go fast just so they could show off and pass a female rider

 

[Gravity Aided]

I have an old Giant Nutra, emblazoned with "All Terrain*Fitness*Sport" on the top tube above "Nutra" This concept was later changed to Hybrid. (because that's shorter than "All Terrain*Fitness*Sport") Road bikes just do roads well, Hybrids do all things passably. The time has come for you to make room in your heart for a road bike. Then your hybrid can become your touring bike/hybrid. Then you can find it necessary to need a full-on touring bike. Mrs. GA claims this is merely a blarney- based Ponzi scheme after more bikes, but it is based in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs

 

[hopless500]

I have an old Giant Nutra, emblazoned with "All Terrain*Fitness*Sport" on the top tube above "Nutra" This concept was later changed to Hybrid. (because that's shorter than "All Terrain*Fitness*Sport") Road bikes just do roads well, Hybrids do all things passably. The time has come for you to make room in your heart for a road bike. Then your hybrid can become your touring bike/hybrid. Then you can find it necessary to need a full-on touring bike. Mrs. GA claims this is merely a blarney- based Ponzi scheme after more bikes, but it is based in Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs

I agree! Have hybrid, just bought road bike and now n+1 has hit again. I realise I need a tourer

 

[GrasB]

This is more in line with my 10-20% guestimation based indeed on the assumption that a more upright position would have significantly more drag on a hybrid compared to a road bike. Of course we have to consider the control speed since drag will be a lot higher at 20mph than at 13mph and you would expect to see higher speed gains in experienced riders capable to maintaining higher average speeds than beginner where wind drag has a lesser effect due to the lower speed they are travelling at.

Really does depend on what sort of hybrid you're talking about. The boardman hybrid is as fast as it gets, but even down at ~100w or 14mph on a fast hybrid a road bike on the drops will hold a 2mph advantage. Go for a more mountain bike like citybike/hybrid an you're looking at another 1-1.5mph less than the boardman! A ridgeback momentum for instance won't be much faster than my light weight (relatively speaking) MTB!

 

[helston90]

As mentioned- it's probably a bit of everything- your fitness/ experience, coupled with all the speed and aero advantages of a road bike will give a greater speed.
If all the marginal gains on the roadie were added up it'll make a significant difference- and when I'm riding my hybrid with 48 x 14 gears max there's not a lot you can do about it- enter pootle mode!

 

[User16625]

Bien sûr mon ami

Roughly translated that says: "Do you want sex"

 

[s7ephanie]

Roughly translated that says: "Do you want sex"

No thanks, far too hot for all that faffing about !!

 

[TonyEnjoyD]

No thanks, far too hot for all that faffing about !!

His words and sentiments - not mine, honestly!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

No thanks, far too hot for all that faffing about !!

Especially as (if my rudimental French serves me well) @TonyEnjoyD addressed you as his (male) pal

 

[Chris Norton]

I've learnt to be able to get a more aero dynamic position by wedging arms against my platform grip bar ends which give me an almost TT kind of position on my trek. I can just about hang on when the speed goes up on club nights. But it is a precarius position and you need to really be comfortable on the bike and your own handling skills.