Today I did my first 20 mile (33km) ride on my hardtail XC bike. I learned how to ride a bike about 1.5 months ago, but I’ve been riding pretty consistently since I learned. I ride exclusively in the city, it’s a very walkable city, but the paths aren’t always the best. I did 33km in 2 hours 53 minutes, not including breaks for water or to eat.

I see people saying that 10MP/H (16KM/H) average is a good average to shoot for, but i can’t even get my average above 7.1MPH (11.5KM/H), even on shorter rides. What am I doing wrong here? How are people going so freaking fast on bikes in cities?

  • grue@lemmy.world
    4·
    23 hours ago

    I see two big things that others have touched on. One, you wll not believe how much of a difference a real road bike makes in your speed once you have a chance to try one, and the average speeds you’re seeing are almost definitely on road bikes.

    I’d say it’s less the bike and more the tires. My “city bike” is a rigid mountain bike from the '90s (edit: which is also extra-heavy because of basket/rack/panniers/fenders), but because I put smooth-ish (but still wide) tires on it, I cruise at maybe 15-20 mph on flat ground. Sure, the handlebars/riding position and (in OP’s case) power losses from the front suspension make some difference, but not nearly as much as the tires until you get going really fast.