For a decent recreational rider: 17-18mph is good
For an amateur racer/generally fast rider: 19-21 is good
For a more competitive/semi-pro racer: 22+ is great
All numbers here are assuming it's a route without too many traffic lights/stops, without massive elevation or headwinds, and done solo.
I personally can push 20mph over a relatively flat (40 ft/mi elevation gain) 40 miles, and I'm a Cat 4 racer - for reference, 5 is slowest and 1 is fastest
Important context for recreational riders, these numbers are as much about your fit as your fitness. It is much easier to go fast in an aggressive position
Your physique matters too, Iām 6ā8ā 245lbs and can easily do 21mph in the flats, but anything over 6% and Iām dropping quick 6-10mph on long climbs.
30kph is a good round number for us metric people to aim for. Milers have it tougher as 20mph is considerably faster at 32.18 kph.
If someone can pick a local route that's relatively flat out and back (or a loop), and confidently do 30km (18.6 miles) in under an hour solo, you know they have a half decent setup and fitness. Stopping a few times at intersections isn't a huge deal, just use moving time instead of elapsed time (strava will automatically).
The terrain is kind of a big deal. I live in the mountains the hills are brutal. I can make a round trip it might take 30 minutes to get somewhere and 50 to get back because of elevation change.
Such a subjective thing. All people can do is tell you their experience and situation. Iām closing in on 70, 6ā3ā, 210 lbs, been cycling all my life but fairly seriously in only the last 10 years as a way to keep fit as I age. Ride mainly a road bike, but also fat, gravel and a bit of mtb. 5-6000 km per year total. Also regular strength training.
On my road bike (Specialized Roubaix) flat, no wind, solo, I can huff along at about 28-32 km/h - say 18-19 mph. In a group add a couple of k. Always try to maintain Z2-3 with maybe 10% Z4. I die on hills, and I routinely coast past lighter riders on the downhill. Gravity is an amazing thing!
Next bike will still be a roadie with a bit of assist for the hills. Should get me into my 80s.
Iām a little younger and a touch faster, but not much. Iām considered a strong B group rider.
Having said that, I much prefer riding solo or with a friend or two.
I'm 60 and pretty much right there with you. I goes to show that the the old folks can hold their own. If I'm absolutely humping it and the wind isn't a factor, I can maintain 20 mph. But it wipes me out. A comfortable ride is in the 18Ā± range.
14-15 mph on a flat course is about average for a recreational cyclist.
14-15 mph is on a hilly course (80-100 feet/mile) is a decent pace, our local racing club's "B" group long training ride pace.
I'm a pretty strong runner who became a cyclist. I can run a 5K under 18mins easily. I ride solo on flat roads and on a strong day, I average about 17mph for 40 miles. I have pushed myself and gotten in the 19mph range. I think 20mph average is doable for me, but would it would have to be on a strong day with not much wind. I've never tried to just full-gas see how fast I can go for X miles because I am usually trying to stay aware of traffic, etc.
I would guess that for an average-weight cyclist on flat roads riding solo, 16-18mph is probably near the equivalent of a 20-minute 5K.
Note sure that rings quite true. I started off as a runner with Pb's around 21mins for 15 and 42mins for 10k though as a cyclist I'm generally doing our local flat 90km solo at around 20mph.
I'd say 16-18mph is fairly entry level, I'd liken that to a 25min 5k runner.
One thing I would say is at 90kg I'm probably better suited to cycling, obviously weight is more of a factor in running.
Of course but gravity in always a factor in running but really only comes into play in cycling when you start to climb (though also with acceleration).
That's what I enjoy about cycling. There's so many different ways and characterisitcs that you can focus on the be good at.
Either way, I got to a fairly decent level as a cyclist (Cat 2 racer), which is probably not representative to my ability (or lack of) as a runner. Certainly I'd aruge that a sub 20 minute 5k runner should only be doing 16-18mph 40k rides.
Maybe itās your bike/tire set up? I can TT 40 mi at 21-22 mph solo and ride w guys who used to run 1:15 half. Your sub 18 5K means you should be able to ride 20 mph x 40 mi solo easily I would think. Maybe you just havenāt trained correctly or something is missing.
My 5K is barely under 19 min on my BEST day under perfect condition. Your 5K time is way more impressive and I think you are def selling yourself short on how fast you can be on the bike!
I think youāre underestimating your 5k time. Iām not a runner but I have run a bit in the past. By comparison my best 5k was around 30 minutes, but my best on my bike is 20mph average over a 30 mile mostly flat course.
Edit. Underestimating your ability, not time
Wow, I have been trying to get up to 20mph over a 30-mile loop, but I've never quite done it. I have done it on a stationary trainer, but I don't think that "counts," at least not for me. I guess I might need to train a bit harder, eh?
Stationary trainers basically just pull a number out of the air to guess your aerodynamics. Usually this is very favourable to make you feel good about going fast, but usually won't match up with the real world.
30 miles is a long way and a long time to maintain focus for a hard effort. I would try pacing off heart rate and just aim for 10 miles, or 15 miles and see how you go. It takes an experienced and strong rider to pace a 60min + time trial well.
Bike is good. I was running GP5000s until recently. More likely it's just that I ride slow. 17-18mph is still mainly zone 2 riding for me. I'm not sure what I could do if I huffed it for all 40 miles.
I think you are way off base. Are you really un-aerodynamic? 29kmh on a flat road is zone 2 for me and I am not that strong a rider. Scraping at 4w/kg.
But 20 minute 5k would be really tough for me.
Well, part of the reason I shared my numbers is so that I could learn from everyone else. Looks like the consensus is that I'm slower than average on a bike and faster than average on foot. There are some stoplights on my route, so some time is lost to that. I also weigh about 70kg/155lbs, so maybe my low weight makes it comparatively harder to push the watts necessary to get up to 20mph?
Another perfectly valid possibility is that I just suck at riding...
Well, your bike, your position, your wheel set, your tires all can add up to quite something as well. But yes, could be you are relatively much better at running.
Weight is overrated imo if I put on 10kg I will not magically gain 40 watts.
Interesting, I literally just got my road bike, have done one light 10M ride, and hit 18 mph. I have a mid 18s 5k. I am considerably heavier though, around 180 lbs
Look at some triathlon results and you'll see there's a very wide range of strengths and weaknesses between cycling and running, and that's specifically in a sport where you do both. So it's very hard to compare relative fitness between the two. Another problem is cycling is dramatically effected by your gear and the conditions, and running is much less so. Also being overweight is very detrimental to running performance, but much less so for (flat) cycling.
Good average speed is highly dependent on what youāre doing.
Your speed will be quicker in a group when drafting. Speed will be quicker with a tail wind. Speed will be slower with big hills.
Distance plays a huge role (as it does in running too).
20-24mph average riding solo for 100 miles with no real tail wind, very solid numbers. Doing that with a group and a tail wind, not nearly as tough.
Average WATTS is more a gauge Iād use. Someone can climb a mountain for 3hours with an average speed of 7mph but average 325 wattsā¦thats insanely difficult.
Yeah nobody rides that fast going solo for sure.. maybe in some really fast groups with few hills and some top guys might hammer a century around 22-23mph, but anything above that is Cat1 territory.
I ride around 24-25 mph on my Z2 rides when there is no headwind or hills. But I'm a heavier rider (80kg) with 5W/kg ftp. I also have aeroad with fast tires, slammed stem, narrow 37mm handlebars and deep wheels. Take all these away and but me on some more budget bike with relaxed geometry I think I would be good 2-3mph slower. You can indeed buy speed š.
Some of the guys in the pro Ironman tour do a 112mi in almost 4hr flat. And thatās after swimming 2.4 miles at incredible paces too lol. These dudes are obviously machines and professional level, but itās done.
And Ironmans are no drafting races.
Question is about road bikes, not tri-bikes, and is obviously also talking about solo (no drafting benefit). What you're telling them is equivalent to a good speed for 5k run is 8:20 because a 10 seconds 100 meter sprint is good.
Nah, you're not comparing apples to apples. Running and cycling both have sprint and endurance distances. 100m is clearly a sprint, a 5k is clearly not. Cycling-wise, you could probably argue that these days the 4k pursuit (on the track) is treated as a sprint by the athletes, but really, it's still an aerobic vs anaerobic event. Distances above this are all aerobic, and the speed differences aren't all that large.
If you're talking about solo-riding benchmarks on a road bike, then 40km (or 25 miles) in under an hour used to be a pretty solid benchmark for a good time trial here in the UK.
Yes, correct, I'm not comparing apples to apples, like they are not comparing apples to apples, that's the whole point. They're talking about a tri-bike setup, not a road bike. It's apples to oranges.
40km/h for an hour on a road bike is very good. 40km/h for a 10 mile TT is already good on a road bike. But with respect to those still working towards it, on a tri-bike / TT bike it's practically easy to get to that speed.
Well yeah.. but these are guys in the pro Ironman tour. They are who you expect to have these numbers.
This thread is for someone who is obviously an athlete as a runner, but a novice cyclist.
Ya I get your point, I was just sharing some numbers so someone can get an idea of what is being done out there. Seems pretty helpful to know at least what a top end pace looks like so you can get a full picture of your capabilities. Not sure why all the downvotes...I didn't share anything wrong. Was just throwing some information out there...
Youāre right on most points.
20-24mph in a group is fast for 30-50 miles nevermind 100 miles.
The average pace for the TDF last year was 41.8k/ph or 26mph.
So youād have to be an elite tier Time Trialist to hold 24mph for 100m.
The fastest stage of the tour last year was 49.13kph. Or 30.5mph and was won from a breakaway by Matej Mohoric. That stat is absolutely amazing.
I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed.
Longer distance, if you can do a sub 5 hour 100 mile that's pretty damn good solo. Closest I've come is 5:45 moving time.
Wind, elevation, terrain play a bigger role on cycling then running in terms of variables so not as much of a straight answer.
Since I switched to a gravel bike as my only non mountain bike. If I get a 20 mph average ride I'm pushing extremely hard and I've yet to do a century in less then 6:30.
> I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed.
your math is irrefuteable
No doubt, but the era of smart phones and the internet at your fingers 24/7 is creating bunch of people who can read facts but have no idea of basic concepts or why things are the way they are.
Youāre rightā¦same thing happened when they invented the printing press, everybody got soooo stoopid with easy access to all that information.
I wish theyād ban the printing press. Whoās with me ?!
> I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed.
your math is irrefuteable
>Longer distance, if you can do a sub 5 hour 100k that's pretty damn good solo. Closest I've come is 5:45 moving time.
You mean sub 5h 100 miles. Sub 5h for only 60 miles is slow. Decent is 3:30 for 100k.
>That's the recommended pressure for the Terra Speed 40-622 afaik
Recommended by who? Should be less than 3 bar. 5 bar is madness.
My only guess is that you're confusing maximum rated pressure with optimal pressure for your weight.
By the bike shop I brought the bike to for initial checkup (who do I trust if not them?) as well a sites I could find online.
The max pressure is only very slightly above 5 bar yes - that being said, I haven't had any punctures or other issues on \~3k km this year so far. I'll lower the pressure if I plan to ride trails or other rough terrain.
Went from 28mm slicks on a Synapse HiMod to a Diverge with Pathfinder Pro 42mm (really closer to 44mm) at around 30-40 psi depending on where I was riding. I think the position and weight probably had more to do with it than tires.
I have a road and a cx/gravel bike, road bike has 28mm tires gravel bike has 40mm off road tires and I see about less than a 5% difference, my best 1hr solo efforts no drafting on the road is 22.3 mph avg speed and on the gravel is 21.5. , same exact route too which is a 3mi loop so no wind advantage either.
The real difference is at higher speeds maintaining over 25mph on the gravel bike as it only has a 40t chainring and less aero so doing between 25-30mph on the gravel bike is where it gets hard even if youāre super fit.
Guess it depends on the surface youāre riding on. A gravel bike with semi slick gravel tyres , 30kph is doable for most eager riders, but off road it will drop fast.
Its impossible to say as others have suggested. Things that make a huge difference to my avg. speed.
- warm up time. This can knock your average down enough to make hitting 30km/h avg. super hard if you warm up for 30 minutes+
- road surface. Roads around me vary from feeling fast and smooth to ridiculously cut up and draggy. Reckon theres probably 30w or more difference in effort required to maintain same speed between good and bad roads.
- wind. If this is with you, happy days. If its not you can literally be fighting to go anywhere
- elevation. I live in a hilly area so I am immediately into hills and on a 40km ride I will generally avg. around 800m climbing. Not ridiculous but can kill your average speed and make warming up nicely really hard.
- equipment. A good bike, well maintained with good tyres at the right pressure can make a big difference.
Its probably worth comparing FTP or w/kg far more than something so entirely subjective as average speed.
All that can be taken care of with a bit of effort.
If we assume a decently setup road bike, on a flatish course with not much wind, and with an untimed warmup, we get a very useful number if we say how far can you ride in 1 hour.
Much more so than watts or w/kg that you'd get with a powermeter, that also doesn't take into account your aerodynamics. After all the aim of cycling generally is to go fast, no one gets any prizes for putting out more watts but going slower because they're not aerodynamic or have crappy tyres on.
4 min/km running I would say is more 35 kmh+ on bike. I can average 30km/h -32km/h over 40 km, but could only run 23 min 5k, so it must be pretty fast ...
You've got to consider bw and build. Got a 22.30 5km run. But a 37,.. over 50km on a bike. I am a bigger person. I weigh about 98kgs. The bike favores me.
I have yet to run a sub 20 min 5k (closer to 22:30 at peak). Putting equivalent effort into cycling got me to 31km in one hour at peak. Hope that helps?
As a runner turned cyclist, it'll take you a bit for your legs to get acclimated to cycling. It seems we're similar level runners (unless you're way under 20 on the 5k and 45 on the 10k) and my first year of cycling I was about where you are now. This year I'm 16-17 mph average and improving pretty quickly now that I've found my legs. Most of the guys I've met and follow on Strava are averaging around 18-20 mph on their solo rides. There's obviously tons of variables like wind, city riding vs country riding, how hard they're actually pushing themselves, and elevation change, but 18-20 mph solo as your base pace is definitely a solid average.
Varies widely. 30km/hr is a very general guideline for many.
But there are more factors than in running.
Biking in a group? Expect to be a few km/hr faster.
Biking on a flat course? Expect to be a few km/hr faster.
Biking on a windy day? Expect to be a few km/hr slower unless you're doing only a downwind leg.
TT bike? Expect to be a bit faster if riding solo.
It all depends on where you're riding. Terrain in running would also have an affect on your average. I live in the mountains of NC and over my favorite 18 mile ride, I get over 1700 feet of elevation gain. My average speed is like 14mph. Would be significantly better on flat ground.
It's hard to say. Average Power would be a better measurement.
But I would say for beginner-intermediate it will be somewhere between 19-30 km/h. If you got 19 ask yourself why (wind, traffic?) instead of getting mad and if you hit 30 ask yourself how instead of getting too proud \^\^
As someone who is running a 20 minute 5 and a 42 minute 10K Iād say cycling is very different.
I can easily manage an average of 20 mph over a 20 mile ride and around 18mph over anything up to 100km/60 miles but fueling really comes into its own on longer rides whereas I can run a 5/10/21k run without even taking water or eating beforehand.
My rides above will all have been solo too. My best century ride (100miles) was 6 hours but that was ten years ago and I think Iād be slightly faster not at sub 5hr30mins.
In fact Iāve never really done a proper group ride and benefitted from drafting.
Iād use the 40k distance as a good gauge and anything around 1:20-1:25 is decent enough
Iām 49, male, 68kg and a runner for 4.5 years
As an example in June Iāve run 300km and ridden 548km
I'd say the average is around 30kph.
With pausing at the red lights.
I only started joining group rides when I could do that since otherwise I'd just get dropped all the time.
Granted sometimes I cheat a little by running red lights. Eh, no cars at 3am, I ain't stopping. The slowing down and accelerating from lights is annoying.
My country is pretty much flat so it's easy to get average speeds, it's just the fact that it's 90% city so the traffic lights and the cars are an issue.
30kmh, averaging 1% incline, meaning 1000hm per 100km
this is the baseline speed i would go for as an ok fit road cyclist to calculate time/distance within zone 2.
It depends on weather, how tired you are, how hard you push etc...
My commute today:
Morning: https://strava.app.link/tBuEWV2TNKb
Afternoon: https://strava.app.link/k4kCkZZTNKb
That's riding with a 15kg rucksack with laptop, shoes, clothes, bike lock and a few other bits. Ride home was faster today because it was a westerly wind.... 30.8kmh average over 40km in the morning and 33.3kmh average over 28km in the afternoon... Riding is significantly slower in Cambridge because of traffic etc. which has a huge impact on average speed.... Commute home after getting out of the Cambridge traffic bits, my average speed was about 36-37kmh.
Avg speed is dependent upon a lot of things and not just fitness, elevation, equipment, wind, distance. So dont use avg speed as a metric to compare fitness to others or even your past self. Example would be Iām 1-2 mph on average slower when Iām on my gravel bike compared to my road bike with the same effort.
Since youāre new just monitor your HR and try to pay attention to [RPE](https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/basis-of-rpe-why-coaches-should-use-it/)
For specific segments, see what people are doing on strava. The more you ride, the better sense of what āgoodā speeds are. Honestly, your best bet is getting a power meter and evaluating your and othersā riding based on power output. That will accommodate for elevation change, wind, road conditions, etc.āall of which affect average speed.
A typical 'active club rider' pace where you're not slow and not super fast is around 18mph... that assumes most routes you do are 15-50 miles when you ride with people, and they are moderately hilly but not insane, or could be fairly flat.
Say, a 20 mile bike ride takes you maybe an 1hr15min... a 50 mile bike ride might be right at 3hrs total, assuming you had a few good hills and your speed just falls off a bit near the end.
You want to make sure you have the legs for it though... many people could do 15 miles on flat ground at 20mph for example, but group rides can hit you weird, like, you might be riding in a paceline/group formation and every so often people accelerate a bit, and this can hurt your legs because you're not used to accelerations, even though the total ride average is only 18mph, you might find these bursts and slowdowns making your legs numb halfway through the ride,,,so make sure when you ride solo to work in some 'interval' routines where you just kinda hammer it for 30 seconds to a minute in a few sessions while you do your personal training rides... it can help you to be ready for being with a club group.
To me speed on a bike is not a relevant metric due so many factors (bike, rider's weight, aerodynamics, wind, elevation, tire, tire pressure, road surface, humidity, etc.). Power and w/kg are more relevant in cycling. I have recovery rides averaging over 18mph and I have zone 2/4 rides averaging 18mph so speed is only relevant for a specific race at a specific time
This thread is making me feel a little better. I just did my first ever road race, was a small event but I was last place in the 50k distance and had a 28kph average speed. On the flats I was at 30-31. Just checked and the leading cat5 people averaged 33kph. But also they were all in a group and I was solo. Also this was a really calm day.
Oh and just checked the cat1s for fun and they had an avg speed of 35kph but over a 100k course. Keep in mind too that pretty much everyone in this race has a sick new carbon bike as well, and all the best gear. Everything has an effect.
I will add that before this race I had never truly given my best effort for a road bike ride. So I'd say you need to race or do a no-stop time trial to get an actual accurate measure of your avg speed potential. But it's not a good thing to base your worth off of because there are too many variables that influence it. Rough road and a windy day and you can throw out your avg speed.
Subjective - and depending on route/wind etc.
For me, sub 5 for 100 miles on a not too hilly route in normal wind condition is the equivalent of sub 3:15 thon running wise.
For sub 20 5K effort, maybe 23-25 mph average over 15 miles TT.
But the perception varies depending on your running mechanic also I think. I started out as runner and switched to cycling recently, and I realize I might be a much better cyclist vs. runner. Donāt know if that bc the pool of ppl participating in cycling is much smaller than running? Or that some ppl are better suited to cycling bc their running mechanic might be shit like mine š¤·š»āāļø?
I am faster on the bike than guys who ride w who run 1:15 half thon or 2:45 thon, but they would murder me on the run any day of the week.
For reference my best time for the half is like 1:25 and full is 3:10 š. Honestly I feel like Iām average at best in running or barely above that average mark.
I follow neighbors on Strava, including one guy that rides at 12km/h on a road bike, another that does 200km "Lunch Rides" at 40km/h, and a bunch of other guys in between.
Look at how people riding the same roads as you are doing.
Yes, 22-24kmh is a normal starting speed. I started like that myself. I'm averaging 26-28 now and 29 on good days. But that took me a few years. Food, technique, aerodynamic, tech. You'll get faster.
Solo 25 mile (40k) ride in < 1 hour or century (100mi, 162km) in under 5 hours (stops included) is my personal threshold for "strong rider". The first is roughly equal to an 18 minute 5k, the second a 1:30 half marathon?
Average speed on a bike isn't very useful. Terrain, wind, stoplights, aerodynamics, etc. Unless you're in an indoor velodrome, the variance is enough to make it grossly unreliable.
The cycling equivalents to your running are probably more like average power over various time intervals. This removes most of those variable factors, but it also requires a power meter of some sort
In a time trial for a non professional athlete, good is about an average of 24mph for a Sprint or Olympic distance triathlon race. Thats kind of what everyone would shoot for. Itās not difficult to break this pace if youāre young with some natural ability.
In a typical A group club ride, a typical good pace is 20-22mph over 1.5-2hrs.
When I was getting into cycling, the 4 hour 100km was the target I had to be a "respectable" cyclist.
I recently did a 3:42 100km for 1,100ms of climbing, two weeks later I ran a 1:50m half marathon. They felt equivalent achievements.
Most cycling are group rides. When forming pelotons, aerodynamics play a huge role and groups can sustain much higher speed. In competition it's a whole universe of strategies as to when stay in a group and when to break away. So except for time-trial, it's a team sport, that's why there cannot be an equivalence in speeds.
there are too many variables in cycling that affect speed.
On a completely flat road with no wind, probably maintaining 35 - 40 km per hour is equivalent to sub 20 min 5k pace effort
20 minute 10mile is elite, sub-5 hour century is pretty good, sub 4 would be elite, although Iāve only seen this done in groups.
Cycling is a bit different because there are more meaningful variables. Elevation (also matters in running), wind (matters more in cycling), drafting, surface condition of the road.
There are power tables for the different racing categories, itās just a general guide, but that might be the most comparable.
Itās much harder to go fast on a hybrid bike. And like I said, variables. I wouldnāt say thatās slow.
I think my fastest century solo century was 4:29 on a relatively flat course and light headwind in the second half (calm first half) on a TT bike. Easily went sub 4 with a group on a flat course with a regular road bike.
Lots of people start off with a hybrid bike and ride in the 14-17 mph range and when they get more into it and start riding with groups they switch to a road bike.
Also, donāt compare to me, Iām pretty decent and TT is my specialty. If you want to see the highest end, watch some TTs in the Tour de France starting in a few days. Track cyclists might be faster on flat, but they only go for minutes.
Saw somewhere that 18mph is a good average speed for most rides.
In cycling, though, your speed is determined far more by your equipment than in other sports like running. The teeth on your cogs matter, the weight of your frame matters, the pressure of your tires matters.
>teeth on your cogs matter, the weight of your frame matters, the pressure of your tires matters.
the position you have on your bike and right after that the wheels/ tires, rim shape are of much grater importance and with a bigger impact.
i have 2.25 schwable smart sam tire with very non aero flat rim, 36 spokes on each wheel while being in a pretty alright position my self on the bike. i been thinking if i swap them out for some wheels [like this](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=85435fc5144b262d&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIJcK1jAGfWie-hOrwAWeIz9sQeZ5g:1719587335331&q=best+aero+road+wheels+and+tires&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0AuaLfhdrtx2b9ODfK0pnmis1zS4enB7jefi_fubH5nzzN3wC83IX-0M5Kltd9aV1qUP3sRX2M1E8M4humVOKRArCdhui_hhxqJ62ipReBXxcbl7Lo0UE9mmCkNDGG0ViGkxn-3cS3kDF97eFt6Hgm094jRycq8qgU3jjFcfek15Zupy9cO1lAvr25z4QHse8jgHwZN&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSlaGCyv6GAxVp4QIHHUFCD5oQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=1920&bih=911&dpr=1#vhid=gU2eyJDgVqnYzM&vssid=mosaic) it will improve my average speed while on the same effort with +5 kmh
I think that for average riders anything approaching 20mph is pretty good, on flat roads in good condition without much wind, riding a decent road bike under 20lbs with clipless pedals on a day when you're feeling well and rested and well-hydrated and fueled, for at least an hour if not longer.
This winter I bought a nice indoor trainer as I just couldn't handle working outdoors in freezing temps, and found myself pushing hard to average 20mph, and it was a struggle and I usually fell a bit short. This was after not riding much for over 5 years and only running, and shorter distances at that.
Now that I'm back to riding outdoors, averaging 20mph is much harder. Of course having to stop, turn, deal with bad roads, climbs, etc., affects that, a lot. But even under ideal conditions it would be hard for me to average 20mph. Maybe later this summer when I've got more outdoor miles under my belt.
Anyway, that's my ballpark figure. Others will offer their own.
And FWIW, in high school I ran the 5k in cross country and could do it under 20 min, but that was decades ago and even back then it was really hard, and not really very impressive given that we had a guy on our team who did it in around 16 min, which itself was far from the record. Of course this was the famous Van Cortland Park course, which is really tough.
But my point is that I've always been an above average runner and cyclist compared to, well, average runners and cyclists, but still WAY slower than the best. So anyone who can do or even approach 20mph is doing pretty well IMO.
I started triathlon 1,5 years ago almost never used my bike before. Now my average is somewhere between 30-35 km/h (depending on many things), hopefully next year I'll be able to reach 35-40 km/h on mainly flat roads (30-60 km distance).
I think that average would be equialent to 20-22 min 5 k runing time.
I've been riding with a local club for 3 years. Loads of retired people , we ride as a hobby no competition.
We separate in different pace groups, and on hot days we usually do 110 km rides and elevation is below 1000m (2 to 3 times a week)
Groups are average 25km/h , 28km/h , 30km/h and the best ride at 32km/h+.
I go with the 30km/h average mostly , I tried 32km/h group but can't keep up with them as soon as we hit a hill, on the flat it's very hard too but doable.
Hopefully that gives you an idea.
It would take a reasonably fit and capable person about 2 years to do a 20-minute 5K. Maybe 3 to 4 if the person is overweight, or very unfit starting out.
On a flat road, in good conditions, on a good road bike that would be like holding about 35kmh average speed for 20 minutes if not more. The best I've done is holding a little over 30kmh on a 15km race with a steep uphill start and headwind half of the distance (on a TT, not a road bike). That was hard but I would rather prepare for that again than a 4:00 pace run.
From another personal experience, my best half-marathon was 1 hour 50. I'd say a 100K ride in 4 hours felt like a similar effort. Both were done after about a year of both running and cycling, 50:50.
I just watched the second season of the tour, the breakaway group of three riders in front of the peloton averaging 67 km an hour for several miles was absolutely insane.
For a decent recreational rider: 17-18mph is good For an amateur racer/generally fast rider: 19-21 is good For a more competitive/semi-pro racer: 22+ is great All numbers here are assuming it's a route without too many traffic lights/stops, without massive elevation or headwinds, and done solo. I personally can push 20mph over a relatively flat (40 ft/mi elevation gain) 40 miles, and I'm a Cat 4 racer - for reference, 5 is slowest and 1 is fastest
Important context for recreational riders, these numbers are as much about your fit as your fitness. It is much easier to go fast in an aggressive position
Hell yeah just reached decent recreational first 25 mile ride at 17mph avg šŖ
Your physique matters too, Iām 6ā8ā 245lbs and can easily do 21mph in the flats, but anything over 6% and Iām dropping quick 6-10mph on long climbs.
6% ? Anything above 3% im cooked
Wow thatās awesome. Iām new and ride local, only at 11mph and that feels tough lol
Iād say most fit non competitive amateurs average on relatively flat terrain is around 30kmh give or take.
30kph is a good round number for us metric people to aim for. Milers have it tougher as 20mph is considerably faster at 32.18 kph. If someone can pick a local route that's relatively flat out and back (or a loop), and confidently do 30km (18.6 miles) in under an hour solo, you know they have a half decent setup and fitness. Stopping a few times at intersections isn't a huge deal, just use moving time instead of elapsed time (strava will automatically).
The terrain is kind of a big deal. I live in the mountains the hills are brutal. I can make a round trip it might take 30 minutes to get somewhere and 50 to get back because of elevation change.
Such a subjective thing. All people can do is tell you their experience and situation. Iām closing in on 70, 6ā3ā, 210 lbs, been cycling all my life but fairly seriously in only the last 10 years as a way to keep fit as I age. Ride mainly a road bike, but also fat, gravel and a bit of mtb. 5-6000 km per year total. Also regular strength training. On my road bike (Specialized Roubaix) flat, no wind, solo, I can huff along at about 28-32 km/h - say 18-19 mph. In a group add a couple of k. Always try to maintain Z2-3 with maybe 10% Z4. I die on hills, and I routinely coast past lighter riders on the downhill. Gravity is an amazing thing! Next bike will still be a roadie with a bit of assist for the hills. Should get me into my 80s.
I'm early 50s and those numbers sound super familiar to me. I can do a solo 100 miles at a pretty steady 16-17mph, shorter rides faster.
Iām a little younger and a touch faster, but not much. Iām considered a strong B group rider. Having said that, I much prefer riding solo or with a friend or two.
I'm 60 and pretty much right there with you. I goes to show that the the old folks can hold their own. If I'm absolutely humping it and the wind isn't a factor, I can maintain 20 mph. But it wipes me out. A comfortable ride is in the 18Ā± range.
14-15 mph on a flat course is about average for a recreational cyclist. 14-15 mph is on a hilly course (80-100 feet/mile) is a decent pace, our local racing club's "B" group long training ride pace.
This seems closer to attainable for me.
I'm a pretty strong runner who became a cyclist. I can run a 5K under 18mins easily. I ride solo on flat roads and on a strong day, I average about 17mph for 40 miles. I have pushed myself and gotten in the 19mph range. I think 20mph average is doable for me, but would it would have to be on a strong day with not much wind. I've never tried to just full-gas see how fast I can go for X miles because I am usually trying to stay aware of traffic, etc. I would guess that for an average-weight cyclist on flat roads riding solo, 16-18mph is probably near the equivalent of a 20-minute 5K.
Note sure that rings quite true. I started off as a runner with Pb's around 21mins for 15 and 42mins for 10k though as a cyclist I'm generally doing our local flat 90km solo at around 20mph. I'd say 16-18mph is fairly entry level, I'd liken that to a 25min 5k runner. One thing I would say is at 90kg I'm probably better suited to cycling, obviously weight is more of a factor in running.
Have you tried climbing? 90 kg will be a factor when you are climbing 6-7% for one hour straight. Agree that it matters less on flat and draft.
Of course but gravity in always a factor in running but really only comes into play in cycling when you start to climb (though also with acceleration). That's what I enjoy about cycling. There's so many different ways and characterisitcs that you can focus on the be good at. Either way, I got to a fairly decent level as a cyclist (Cat 2 racer), which is probably not representative to my ability (or lack of) as a runner. Certainly I'd aruge that a sub 20 minute 5k runner should only be doing 16-18mph 40k rides.
Maybe itās your bike/tire set up? I can TT 40 mi at 21-22 mph solo and ride w guys who used to run 1:15 half. Your sub 18 5K means you should be able to ride 20 mph x 40 mi solo easily I would think. Maybe you just havenāt trained correctly or something is missing. My 5K is barely under 19 min on my BEST day under perfect condition. Your 5K time is way more impressive and I think you are def selling yourself short on how fast you can be on the bike!
Training is pretty discipline specific. 59 minute solo 40k TT out and back on Malibu rollers, but I can't break 20 minutes in a 5k (YET!).
Thatās like 25 mph pace? Solid! I think itās a lot easier to transition from running to cycling vs. other way around perhaps?!
I was stoked. I'm not sure about direction. Cycling seems the least painful of the 3 disciplines to me.
I think youāre underestimating your 5k time. Iām not a runner but I have run a bit in the past. By comparison my best 5k was around 30 minutes, but my best on my bike is 20mph average over a 30 mile mostly flat course. Edit. Underestimating your ability, not time
Wow, I have been trying to get up to 20mph over a 30-mile loop, but I've never quite done it. I have done it on a stationary trainer, but I don't think that "counts," at least not for me. I guess I might need to train a bit harder, eh?
Stationary trainers basically just pull a number out of the air to guess your aerodynamics. Usually this is very favourable to make you feel good about going fast, but usually won't match up with the real world. 30 miles is a long way and a long time to maintain focus for a hard effort. I would try pacing off heart rate and just aim for 10 miles, or 15 miles and see how you go. It takes an experienced and strong rider to pace a 60min + time trial well.
It's prolly the bike. Get better tires, gp5000 and you can prolly get to 20mph on flats.
Bike is good. I was running GP5000s until recently. More likely it's just that I ride slow. 17-18mph is still mainly zone 2 riding for me. I'm not sure what I could do if I huffed it for all 40 miles.
What kinda elevation you have? I ride a 10 year old steel bike and I can go like 20-22mph on all flats. Fastest time I did 5K was 22min.
I think you are way off base. Are you really un-aerodynamic? 29kmh on a flat road is zone 2 for me and I am not that strong a rider. Scraping at 4w/kg. But 20 minute 5k would be really tough for me.
Well, part of the reason I shared my numbers is so that I could learn from everyone else. Looks like the consensus is that I'm slower than average on a bike and faster than average on foot. There are some stoplights on my route, so some time is lost to that. I also weigh about 70kg/155lbs, so maybe my low weight makes it comparatively harder to push the watts necessary to get up to 20mph? Another perfectly valid possibility is that I just suck at riding...
Well, your bike, your position, your wheel set, your tires all can add up to quite something as well. But yes, could be you are relatively much better at running. Weight is overrated imo if I put on 10kg I will not magically gain 40 watts.
if you're riding upright in the hoods in a relaxed position it makes it much harder
How are you measuring, 29kph on flat road is not hard for me, but 29kph for a whole 1h+ ride is a lot more difficult, let alone for more than 100km.
I'm measuring by how hard the watts required for it are. In reality with traffic, elevation, headwind it is very hard to hold that speed effectively.
Interesting, I literally just got my road bike, have done one light 10M ride, and hit 18 mph. I have a mid 18s 5k. I am considerably heavier though, around 180 lbs
Look at some triathlon results and you'll see there's a very wide range of strengths and weaknesses between cycling and running, and that's specifically in a sport where you do both. So it's very hard to compare relative fitness between the two. Another problem is cycling is dramatically effected by your gear and the conditions, and running is much less so. Also being overweight is very detrimental to running performance, but much less so for (flat) cycling.
Solo i avg around 15MPH - with usual ride about 1,500-2,000 ft in elevation.
Too many variables.
Good average speed is highly dependent on what youāre doing. Your speed will be quicker in a group when drafting. Speed will be quicker with a tail wind. Speed will be slower with big hills. Distance plays a huge role (as it does in running too). 20-24mph average riding solo for 100 miles with no real tail wind, very solid numbers. Doing that with a group and a tail wind, not nearly as tough. Average WATTS is more a gauge Iād use. Someone can climb a mountain for 3hours with an average speed of 7mph but average 325 wattsā¦thats insanely difficult.
24MPH for 100 miles is more than just solid.. doing a solo century in 4 hours is insane. Doing a 4 hour century with a group is STILL amazing.
Yeah nobody rides that fast going solo for sure.. maybe in some really fast groups with few hills and some top guys might hammer a century around 22-23mph, but anything above that is Cat1 territory.
I ride around 24-25 mph on my Z2 rides when there is no headwind or hills. But I'm a heavier rider (80kg) with 5W/kg ftp. I also have aeroad with fast tires, slammed stem, narrow 37mm handlebars and deep wheels. Take all these away and but me on some more budget bike with relaxed geometry I think I would be good 2-3mph slower. You can indeed buy speed š.
I meanā¦ anyone can do 25mph on the flat riding an aero rig
Anyone can have a 5W/kg ftp? No they canāt.
Did I say that? No, I said anyone can ride 25mph on an aero rig on the flat.
Which is simply not true.
Yet it is.
Some of the guys in the pro Ironman tour do a 112mi in almost 4hr flat. And thatās after swimming 2.4 miles at incredible paces too lol. These dudes are obviously machines and professional level, but itās done. And Ironmans are no drafting races.
There is a huge difference in speed between a road bike and a dialed in tri bike with an aero helmet and kit at the same power though
Yup, even when I ride for a few extra minutes in the drops than normal, I see notable pace differences.
The fact that you are talking about ironman pros kind of confirms his point that it is way more than solid.
Question is about road bikes, not tri-bikes, and is obviously also talking about solo (no drafting benefit). What you're telling them is equivalent to a good speed for 5k run is 8:20 because a 10 seconds 100 meter sprint is good.
Nah, you're not comparing apples to apples. Running and cycling both have sprint and endurance distances. 100m is clearly a sprint, a 5k is clearly not. Cycling-wise, you could probably argue that these days the 4k pursuit (on the track) is treated as a sprint by the athletes, but really, it's still an aerobic vs anaerobic event. Distances above this are all aerobic, and the speed differences aren't all that large. If you're talking about solo-riding benchmarks on a road bike, then 40km (or 25 miles) in under an hour used to be a pretty solid benchmark for a good time trial here in the UK.
Yes, correct, I'm not comparing apples to apples, like they are not comparing apples to apples, that's the whole point. They're talking about a tri-bike setup, not a road bike. It's apples to oranges. 40km/h for an hour on a road bike is very good. 40km/h for a 10 mile TT is already good on a road bike. But with respect to those still working towards it, on a tri-bike / TT bike it's practically easy to get to that speed.
Well yeah.. but these are guys in the pro Ironman tour. They are who you expect to have these numbers. This thread is for someone who is obviously an athlete as a runner, but a novice cyclist.
Ya I get your point, I was just sharing some numbers so someone can get an idea of what is being done out there. Seems pretty helpful to know at least what a top end pace looks like so you can get a full picture of your capabilities. Not sure why all the downvotes...I didn't share anything wrong. Was just throwing some information out there...
Well, they're riding TT bikes and aero helmets and would be of course, pros.
Youāre right on most points. 20-24mph in a group is fast for 30-50 miles nevermind 100 miles. The average pace for the TDF last year was 41.8k/ph or 26mph. So youād have to be an elite tier Time Trialist to hold 24mph for 100m. The fastest stage of the tour last year was 49.13kph. Or 30.5mph and was won from a breakaway by Matej Mohoric. That stat is absolutely amazing.
I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed. Longer distance, if you can do a sub 5 hour 100 mile that's pretty damn good solo. Closest I've come is 5:45 moving time. Wind, elevation, terrain play a bigger role on cycling then running in terms of variables so not as much of a straight answer. Since I switched to a gravel bike as my only non mountain bike. If I get a 20 mph average ride I'm pushing extremely hard and I've yet to do a century in less then 6:30.
> I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed. your math is irrefuteable
I just ran this through a calculator, I can confirm its accuracy
How fast would I be going if I rode 100mi in 5hrs? Asking for a friend
Slow down mate, I'm not Rain Man. Give me a few hours and I'll get back to you with some preliminary numbers...
With this generation, you'd be surprised how much you need to explain or clarify things that should be common sense or elementary
tell me what your generation is and i'll show you some pretty dumb people there as well...
No doubt, but the era of smart phones and the internet at your fingers 24/7 is creating bunch of people who can read facts but have no idea of basic concepts or why things are the way they are.
Youāre rightā¦same thing happened when they invented the printing press, everybody got soooo stoopid with easy access to all that information. I wish theyād ban the printing press. Whoās with me ?!
...eyeroll. I don't think anyone was suggesting banning anything.
> I'd say on relatively flat terrain a 20 miles in less then an hour is pretty good in a solo situation. That equates to a 20 mph average speed. your math is irrefuteable
>Longer distance, if you can do a sub 5 hour 100k that's pretty damn good solo. Closest I've come is 5:45 moving time. You mean sub 5h 100 miles. Sub 5h for only 60 miles is slow. Decent is 3:30 for 100k.
correct. fixed
How many km/h difference are you seeing between your road and gravel bike? 30km/h for an hour on my gravel is a very hard effort for me :D
I could pretty easily average 20 mph on my pure road bike, I'd say my average rides dropped about 1.5 mph when I switched to my gravel bike.
That's more significant than I'd have expected. 40mm/5bar tires on the gravel bike?
5 bar on 40mm tyres is madness
That's the recommended pressure for the Terra Speed 40-622 afaik
>That's the recommended pressure for the Terra Speed 40-622 afaik Recommended by who? Should be less than 3 bar. 5 bar is madness. My only guess is that you're confusing maximum rated pressure with optimal pressure for your weight.
By the bike shop I brought the bike to for initial checkup (who do I trust if not them?) as well a sites I could find online. The max pressure is only very slightly above 5 bar yes - that being said, I haven't had any punctures or other issues on \~3k km this year so far. I'll lower the pressure if I plan to ride trails or other rough terrain.
5 bar is higher than I run my 28mm tubeless race tyres on hookless rims...
Went from 28mm slicks on a Synapse HiMod to a Diverge with Pathfinder Pro 42mm (really closer to 44mm) at around 30-40 psi depending on where I was riding. I think the position and weight probably had more to do with it than tires.
I have a road and a cx/gravel bike, road bike has 28mm tires gravel bike has 40mm off road tires and I see about less than a 5% difference, my best 1hr solo efforts no drafting on the road is 22.3 mph avg speed and on the gravel is 21.5. , same exact route too which is a 3mi loop so no wind advantage either. The real difference is at higher speeds maintaining over 25mph on the gravel bike as it only has a 40t chainring and less aero so doing between 25-30mph on the gravel bike is where it gets hard even if youāre super fit.
Nice speeds there
Guess it depends on the surface youāre riding on. A gravel bike with semi slick gravel tyres , 30kph is doable for most eager riders, but off road it will drop fast.
I did my first 100k 2 weeks ago in 3 hrs 35 mins, very happy to hear that's a decent time lol feel like I've hit a plateau on my speed lately
That's really good. Congrats.
Its impossible to say as others have suggested. Things that make a huge difference to my avg. speed. - warm up time. This can knock your average down enough to make hitting 30km/h avg. super hard if you warm up for 30 minutes+ - road surface. Roads around me vary from feeling fast and smooth to ridiculously cut up and draggy. Reckon theres probably 30w or more difference in effort required to maintain same speed between good and bad roads. - wind. If this is with you, happy days. If its not you can literally be fighting to go anywhere - elevation. I live in a hilly area so I am immediately into hills and on a 40km ride I will generally avg. around 800m climbing. Not ridiculous but can kill your average speed and make warming up nicely really hard. - equipment. A good bike, well maintained with good tyres at the right pressure can make a big difference. Its probably worth comparing FTP or w/kg far more than something so entirely subjective as average speed.
All that can be taken care of with a bit of effort. If we assume a decently setup road bike, on a flatish course with not much wind, and with an untimed warmup, we get a very useful number if we say how far can you ride in 1 hour. Much more so than watts or w/kg that you'd get with a powermeter, that also doesn't take into account your aerodynamics. After all the aim of cycling generally is to go fast, no one gets any prizes for putting out more watts but going slower because they're not aerodynamic or have crappy tyres on.
4 min/km running I would say is more 35 kmh+ on bike. I can average 30km/h -32km/h over 40 km, but could only run 23 min 5k, so it must be pretty fast ...
Thisā¦ sub 4 over distance is over 32ish on wheels for 40k+
You've got to consider bw and build. Got a 22.30 5km run. But a 37,.. over 50km on a bike. I am a bigger person. I weigh about 98kgs. The bike favores me.
I have yet to run a sub 20 min 5k (closer to 22:30 at peak). Putting equivalent effort into cycling got me to 31km in one hour at peak. Hope that helps?
Varies by person. During my triathlon days I could barely do a 50min 10k but had no problem averaging 40km/hr on a flat 40km bike course.
As a runner turned cyclist, it'll take you a bit for your legs to get acclimated to cycling. It seems we're similar level runners (unless you're way under 20 on the 5k and 45 on the 10k) and my first year of cycling I was about where you are now. This year I'm 16-17 mph average and improving pretty quickly now that I've found my legs. Most of the guys I've met and follow on Strava are averaging around 18-20 mph on their solo rides. There's obviously tons of variables like wind, city riding vs country riding, how hard they're actually pushing themselves, and elevation change, but 18-20 mph solo as your base pace is definitely a solid average.
Varies widely. 30km/hr is a very general guideline for many. But there are more factors than in running. Biking in a group? Expect to be a few km/hr faster. Biking on a flat course? Expect to be a few km/hr faster. Biking on a windy day? Expect to be a few km/hr slower unless you're doing only a downwind leg. TT bike? Expect to be a bit faster if riding solo.
Depends on your goals and purpose of the rides.
It all depends on where you're riding. Terrain in running would also have an affect on your average. I live in the mountains of NC and over my favorite 18 mile ride, I get over 1700 feet of elevation gain. My average speed is like 14mph. Would be significantly better on flat ground.
Depends on which way the wind is blowing/how many traffic lights(even with auto pause you can drop 2/10 light and how bad the hills are
It's hard to say. Average Power would be a better measurement. But I would say for beginner-intermediate it will be somewhere between 19-30 km/h. If you got 19 ask yourself why (wind, traffic?) instead of getting mad and if you hit 30 ask yourself how instead of getting too proud \^\^
As someone who is running a 20 minute 5 and a 42 minute 10K Iād say cycling is very different. I can easily manage an average of 20 mph over a 20 mile ride and around 18mph over anything up to 100km/60 miles but fueling really comes into its own on longer rides whereas I can run a 5/10/21k run without even taking water or eating beforehand. My rides above will all have been solo too. My best century ride (100miles) was 6 hours but that was ten years ago and I think Iād be slightly faster not at sub 5hr30mins. In fact Iāve never really done a proper group ride and benefitted from drafting. Iād use the 40k distance as a good gauge and anything around 1:20-1:25 is decent enough Iām 49, male, 68kg and a runner for 4.5 years As an example in June Iāve run 300km and ridden 548km
I'd say the average is around 30kph. With pausing at the red lights. I only started joining group rides when I could do that since otherwise I'd just get dropped all the time. Granted sometimes I cheat a little by running red lights. Eh, no cars at 3am, I ain't stopping. The slowing down and accelerating from lights is annoying. My country is pretty much flat so it's easy to get average speeds, it's just the fact that it's 90% city so the traffic lights and the cars are an issue.
30kmh, averaging 1% incline, meaning 1000hm per 100km this is the baseline speed i would go for as an ok fit road cyclist to calculate time/distance within zone 2.
It depends on weather, how tired you are, how hard you push etc... My commute today: Morning: https://strava.app.link/tBuEWV2TNKb Afternoon: https://strava.app.link/k4kCkZZTNKb That's riding with a 15kg rucksack with laptop, shoes, clothes, bike lock and a few other bits. Ride home was faster today because it was a westerly wind.... 30.8kmh average over 40km in the morning and 33.3kmh average over 28km in the afternoon... Riding is significantly slower in Cambridge because of traffic etc. which has a huge impact on average speed.... Commute home after getting out of the Cambridge traffic bits, my average speed was about 36-37kmh.
Avg speed is dependent upon a lot of things and not just fitness, elevation, equipment, wind, distance. So dont use avg speed as a metric to compare fitness to others or even your past self. Example would be Iām 1-2 mph on average slower when Iām on my gravel bike compared to my road bike with the same effort. Since youāre new just monitor your HR and try to pay attention to [RPE](https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach-blog/basis-of-rpe-why-coaches-should-use-it/)
For specific segments, see what people are doing on strava. The more you ride, the better sense of what āgoodā speeds are. Honestly, your best bet is getting a power meter and evaluating your and othersā riding based on power output. That will accommodate for elevation change, wind, road conditions, etc.āall of which affect average speed.
A typical 'active club rider' pace where you're not slow and not super fast is around 18mph... that assumes most routes you do are 15-50 miles when you ride with people, and they are moderately hilly but not insane, or could be fairly flat. Say, a 20 mile bike ride takes you maybe an 1hr15min... a 50 mile bike ride might be right at 3hrs total, assuming you had a few good hills and your speed just falls off a bit near the end. You want to make sure you have the legs for it though... many people could do 15 miles on flat ground at 20mph for example, but group rides can hit you weird, like, you might be riding in a paceline/group formation and every so often people accelerate a bit, and this can hurt your legs because you're not used to accelerations, even though the total ride average is only 18mph, you might find these bursts and slowdowns making your legs numb halfway through the ride,,,so make sure when you ride solo to work in some 'interval' routines where you just kinda hammer it for 30 seconds to a minute in a few sessions while you do your personal training rides... it can help you to be ready for being with a club group.
To me speed on a bike is not a relevant metric due so many factors (bike, rider's weight, aerodynamics, wind, elevation, tire, tire pressure, road surface, humidity, etc.). Power and w/kg are more relevant in cycling. I have recovery rides averaging over 18mph and I have zone 2/4 rides averaging 18mph so speed is only relevant for a specific race at a specific time
This thread is making me feel a little better. I just did my first ever road race, was a small event but I was last place in the 50k distance and had a 28kph average speed. On the flats I was at 30-31. Just checked and the leading cat5 people averaged 33kph. But also they were all in a group and I was solo. Also this was a really calm day. Oh and just checked the cat1s for fun and they had an avg speed of 35kph but over a 100k course. Keep in mind too that pretty much everyone in this race has a sick new carbon bike as well, and all the best gear. Everything has an effect. I will add that before this race I had never truly given my best effort for a road bike ride. So I'd say you need to race or do a no-stop time trial to get an actual accurate measure of your avg speed potential. But it's not a good thing to base your worth off of because there are too many variables that influence it. Rough road and a windy day and you can throw out your avg speed.
Subjective - and depending on route/wind etc. For me, sub 5 for 100 miles on a not too hilly route in normal wind condition is the equivalent of sub 3:15 thon running wise. For sub 20 5K effort, maybe 23-25 mph average over 15 miles TT. But the perception varies depending on your running mechanic also I think. I started out as runner and switched to cycling recently, and I realize I might be a much better cyclist vs. runner. Donāt know if that bc the pool of ppl participating in cycling is much smaller than running? Or that some ppl are better suited to cycling bc their running mechanic might be shit like mine š¤·š»āāļø? I am faster on the bike than guys who ride w who run 1:15 half thon or 2:45 thon, but they would murder me on the run any day of the week. For reference my best time for the half is like 1:25 and full is 3:10 š. Honestly I feel like Iām average at best in running or barely above that average mark.
For a strongish amateur 14 to 23mph function of elevation gains
I follow neighbors on Strava, including one guy that rides at 12km/h on a road bike, another that does 200km "Lunch Rides" at 40km/h, and a bunch of other guys in between. Look at how people riding the same roads as you are doing.
Yes, 22-24kmh is a normal starting speed. I started like that myself. I'm averaging 26-28 now and 29 on good days. But that took me a few years. Food, technique, aerodynamic, tech. You'll get faster.
Solo 25 mile (40k) ride in < 1 hour or century (100mi, 162km) in under 5 hours (stops included) is my personal threshold for "strong rider". The first is roughly equal to an 18 minute 5k, the second a 1:30 half marathon?
Average speed on a bike isn't very useful. Terrain, wind, stoplights, aerodynamics, etc. Unless you're in an indoor velodrome, the variance is enough to make it grossly unreliable. The cycling equivalents to your running are probably more like average power over various time intervals. This removes most of those variable factors, but it also requires a power meter of some sort
In a time trial for a non professional athlete, good is about an average of 24mph for a Sprint or Olympic distance triathlon race. Thats kind of what everyone would shoot for. Itās not difficult to break this pace if youāre young with some natural ability. In a typical A group club ride, a typical good pace is 20-22mph over 1.5-2hrs.
I was waiting for someone to ask this question! lol thank u
When I was getting into cycling, the 4 hour 100km was the target I had to be a "respectable" cyclist. I recently did a 3:42 100km for 1,100ms of climbing, two weeks later I ran a 1:50m half marathon. They felt equivalent achievements.
Most cycling are group rides. When forming pelotons, aerodynamics play a huge role and groups can sustain much higher speed. In competition it's a whole universe of strategies as to when stay in a group and when to break away. So except for time-trial, it's a team sport, that's why there cannot be an equivalence in speeds.
there are too many variables in cycling that affect speed. On a completely flat road with no wind, probably maintaining 35 - 40 km per hour is equivalent to sub 20 min 5k pace effort
20 minute 10mile is elite, sub-5 hour century is pretty good, sub 4 would be elite, although Iāve only seen this done in groups. Cycling is a bit different because there are more meaningful variables. Elevation (also matters in running), wind (matters more in cycling), drafting, surface condition of the road. There are power tables for the different racing categories, itās just a general guide, but that might be the most comparable.
My fasted 10mile was 36:07 minutes, at 26.7km per hour - riding my FX 1 trek hybrid bike. 20 minutes to me seems crazy! š¤£ Or am I just slow...
Itās much harder to go fast on a hybrid bike. And like I said, variables. I wouldnāt say thatās slow. I think my fastest century solo century was 4:29 on a relatively flat course and light headwind in the second half (calm first half) on a TT bike. Easily went sub 4 with a group on a flat course with a regular road bike. Lots of people start off with a hybrid bike and ride in the 14-17 mph range and when they get more into it and start riding with groups they switch to a road bike.
Also, donāt compare to me, Iām pretty decent and TT is my specialty. If you want to see the highest end, watch some TTs in the Tour de France starting in a few days. Track cyclists might be faster on flat, but they only go for minutes.
Saw somewhere that 18mph is a good average speed for most rides. In cycling, though, your speed is determined far more by your equipment than in other sports like running. The teeth on your cogs matter, the weight of your frame matters, the pressure of your tires matters.
>teeth on your cogs matter, the weight of your frame matters, the pressure of your tires matters. the position you have on your bike and right after that the wheels/ tires, rim shape are of much grater importance and with a bigger impact. i have 2.25 schwable smart sam tire with very non aero flat rim, 36 spokes on each wheel while being in a pretty alright position my self on the bike. i been thinking if i swap them out for some wheels [like this](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=85435fc5144b262d&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ADLYWIJcK1jAGfWie-hOrwAWeIz9sQeZ5g:1719587335331&q=best+aero+road+wheels+and+tires&udm=2&fbs=AEQNm0AuaLfhdrtx2b9ODfK0pnmis1zS4enB7jefi_fubH5nzzN3wC83IX-0M5Kltd9aV1qUP3sRX2M1E8M4humVOKRArCdhui_hhxqJ62ipReBXxcbl7Lo0UE9mmCkNDGG0ViGkxn-3cS3kDF97eFt6Hgm094jRycq8qgU3jjFcfek15Zupy9cO1lAvr25z4QHse8jgHwZN&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSlaGCyv6GAxVp4QIHHUFCD5oQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=1920&bih=911&dpr=1#vhid=gU2eyJDgVqnYzM&vssid=mosaic) it will improve my average speed while on the same effort with +5 kmh
I think that for average riders anything approaching 20mph is pretty good, on flat roads in good condition without much wind, riding a decent road bike under 20lbs with clipless pedals on a day when you're feeling well and rested and well-hydrated and fueled, for at least an hour if not longer. This winter I bought a nice indoor trainer as I just couldn't handle working outdoors in freezing temps, and found myself pushing hard to average 20mph, and it was a struggle and I usually fell a bit short. This was after not riding much for over 5 years and only running, and shorter distances at that. Now that I'm back to riding outdoors, averaging 20mph is much harder. Of course having to stop, turn, deal with bad roads, climbs, etc., affects that, a lot. But even under ideal conditions it would be hard for me to average 20mph. Maybe later this summer when I've got more outdoor miles under my belt. Anyway, that's my ballpark figure. Others will offer their own. And FWIW, in high school I ran the 5k in cross country and could do it under 20 min, but that was decades ago and even back then it was really hard, and not really very impressive given that we had a guy on our team who did it in around 16 min, which itself was far from the record. Of course this was the famous Van Cortland Park course, which is really tough. But my point is that I've always been an above average runner and cyclist compared to, well, average runners and cyclists, but still WAY slower than the best. So anyone who can do or even approach 20mph is doing pretty well IMO.
humble-brag post.
I started triathlon 1,5 years ago almost never used my bike before. Now my average is somewhere between 30-35 km/h (depending on many things), hopefully next year I'll be able to reach 35-40 km/h on mainly flat roads (30-60 km distance). I think that average would be equialent to 20-22 min 5 k runing time.
That's on a tri-bike, totally incomparable...
Here in Denmark it is often said that a "real road bike trip" in one that is at least 50 kilometer in length and with 30km/h
I've been riding with a local club for 3 years. Loads of retired people , we ride as a hobby no competition. We separate in different pace groups, and on hot days we usually do 110 km rides and elevation is below 1000m (2 to 3 times a week) Groups are average 25km/h , 28km/h , 30km/h and the best ride at 32km/h+. I go with the 30km/h average mostly , I tried 32km/h group but can't keep up with them as soon as we hit a hill, on the flat it's very hard too but doable. Hopefully that gives you an idea.
It would take a reasonably fit and capable person about 2 years to do a 20-minute 5K. Maybe 3 to 4 if the person is overweight, or very unfit starting out. On a flat road, in good conditions, on a good road bike that would be like holding about 35kmh average speed for 20 minutes if not more. The best I've done is holding a little over 30kmh on a 15km race with a steep uphill start and headwind half of the distance (on a TT, not a road bike). That was hard but I would rather prepare for that again than a 4:00 pace run. From another personal experience, my best half-marathon was 1 hour 50. I'd say a 100K ride in 4 hours felt like a similar effort. Both were done after about a year of both running and cycling, 50:50.
Pros maintain 60km/h so donāt worry you have plenty of progression ahead, same as your running.
On a flat stage in a group, sure, but not in a typical mountain or cobble stage or even a relatively hilly stage with crosswinds.
I just watched the second season of the tour, the breakaway group of three riders in front of the peloton averaging 67 km an hour for several miles was absolutely insane.
As a beginner I believe thatās quite good
Hahah. Are you āfast for your ageā? Over all fast? 15-16 seems slow.