If you cycle as a sport it is pretty much the minimum speed. You can easily reach a consistent 40 or 45 km/h in a sprint as well. But this is all on a road bike of course, which makes it considerably easier.
If you’re young and in shape, it’s not that hard to pull off actually. I used to cycle 13 KM to gym in 25 minutes lol. Way back was slower of course. The hill was steeper and the payoff not nearly as satisfying.
15 years later, I don’t know if I could do 30 km/h for more than half a minute. It’d be mighty impressive if I could get my old speed back because I weigh 40 kilos more now, and I was technically overweight back then too according to BMI. But I’ll get there in a year or so.
Though I guess I’ve never owned a “regular city bike”. Mine have always been hybrids. Those are pretty decent for going fast, though not comparable to an actual speed bike of course. And they’ve been decent enough off road too. The one I had as a teenager was put through so much hell that the pedals were replaced 2-3 times purely because I’d put way too much torque into way too high gears. Plastic broke, metal bent.
I don’t know what people eat, but someone in Lycra was doing well above 32km/h on flat ground on our bike path. My ebike is speed capped and I couldn’t keep up, lol.
You mean a trained cyclist on a specialized lightweight bicycle? Those are outliers. Those things are expensive as shit, made of carbon and whatever. That’s like comparing the car of an average Joe to the Lamborghini you stood next to at the red light and they sped off at green.
Material only really matters on inclination and for acceleration. The more important part is aerodynamics, but even then we’re not talking more than a few watts. A good hybrid, maybe around 700€, is more than good enough for an amateur level today. Something with Shimano 105, if you can find it, but that’s more about longevity.
When I was in highschool I cycled to school on a 100€ bike every day and when I eventually got a speedometer, I realized I was going about 35 km/h. I was a little crazy though, I would arrive at school late and drenched in sweat almost every day…
Over 30 on a regular city bike is pretty damn impressive for longer than a few stretches
If you cycle as a sport it is pretty much the minimum speed. You can easily reach a consistent 40 or 45 km/h in a sprint as well. But this is all on a road bike of course, which makes it considerably easier.
If you’re young and in shape, it’s not that hard to pull off actually. I used to cycle 13 KM to gym in 25 minutes lol. Way back was slower of course. The hill was steeper and the payoff not nearly as satisfying.
15 years later, I don’t know if I could do 30 km/h for more than half a minute. It’d be mighty impressive if I could get my old speed back because I weigh 40 kilos more now, and I was technically overweight back then too according to BMI. But I’ll get there in a year or so.
Though I guess I’ve never owned a “regular city bike”. Mine have always been hybrids. Those are pretty decent for going fast, though not comparable to an actual speed bike of course. And they’ve been decent enough off road too. The one I had as a teenager was put through so much hell that the pedals were replaced 2-3 times purely because I’d put way too much torque into way too high gears. Plastic broke, metal bent.
I don’t know what people eat, but someone in Lycra was doing well above 32km/h on flat ground on our bike path. My ebike is speed capped and I couldn’t keep up, lol.
You mean a trained cyclist on a specialized lightweight bicycle? Those are outliers. Those things are expensive as shit, made of carbon and whatever. That’s like comparing the car of an average Joe to the Lamborghini you stood next to at the red light and they sped off at green.
Material only really matters on inclination and for acceleration. The more important part is aerodynamics, but even then we’re not talking more than a few watts. A good hybrid, maybe around 700€, is more than good enough for an amateur level today. Something with Shimano 105, if you can find it, but that’s more about longevity.
When I was in highschool I cycled to school on a 100€ bike every day and when I eventually got a speedometer, I realized I was going about 35 km/h. I was a little crazy though, I would arrive at school late and drenched in sweat almost every day…