I’m coming here because I fear the roadies will just shame me. I do also ride this on fire lanes and gravel trails.
I have this bike. I ride this bike. My commute is 25.3miles each way. It takes me just under an hour and twenty minutes to do said commute. I average roughly 18 mph and it’s great.
I want to buy a GT grade gravel bike. I’m trying to figure out (justify) if it will make me notably faster than my current pace. I’m already comfortable, so I wouldn’t consider that in my reason to switch bikes. Solely looking at time and energy efficiencies here.
Is a 700c wheel going to be notably faster than my current 26×2” setup?? My tires alone are 900+ grams each.
by Yourbitchydad
7 Comments
I do absolutely ride this bish on gravel. I want to be clear here 😂. I have a set of Billy bonkers for my weekend rides lol
The big gains in speed come from a more aerodynamic riding position. Assuming you get a gravel bike with more racey stack and reach, you’ll be appreciably faster. Hard to say how much, but I’d guess at least 2-3 mph. It’s subjective, but if you like your current riding position then a racier position is likely to be less comfortable.
The rest of the gains are relatively marginal, and will primarily come from lower rolling resistance and maybe a more efficient drivetrain.
18 mph for 25 mi on that thing is pretty darn respectable!
Edited to add:
Whether a 700c wheel is faster than a 20″ wheel is debatable. Most of what will make you faster going to 700c is having access to better (faster, $$$) tyres. And you’ll need decent tyre clearances to match the comfort of your 26″ x 2″ setup.
Read this:
https://www.renehersecycles.com/myth-19-700c-wheels-are-faster/
And watch a great hill climber ride pretty fast on a Brompton!
https://youtu.be/CCAwg9OMa84?si=lFWZwGDoaf_IbNvc
Most of what makes a bike fast is the motor. You’ve got a pretty good one. Personally, I wouldn’t change bikes just for a small speed boost on a commute. I would do it for the (subjectively) greater fun factor a racey bike gives me.
Wheelsize/comfort/weight, yes.
Weigh your current bike and then get the most accurate weight of the bike you wanna buy. If the new bike is greater than or equal to 5lbs lighter than your current bike you will likely notice a distinct difference in feel for the first few rides. As in you will feel lighter and faster. Can’t speak to how much it will change your overall commute, maybe not by much as in don’t expect to be 20mins faster or something. But it is reasonable to predict that you will not need to exert as much energy to match your current pace with the old bike. Meaning you would have more energy avaliable to push harder and have a faster average time. But there is the potential side effect of losing a certain degree of fitness since it would be an easier commute energy and effort wise.
I want to emphasize this is just speculation coming from my experience as a professional bike mechanic. The impacts I mention are most likely small, like 5% + or – in terms of benefits and negatives.Yes, 29 (700c, both are the same wheel diameter which is 29inches) is overall faster than 26 due to the size of the wheel. There are a lot of experiments measuring this online you can find and look at. And modern gravel bikes are awesome. Another option that is often overlooked is a flat bar gravel bike.
I’m pretty impressed you’re doing 20+ miles at 18 mph solo on a flat bar MTB. That’s major power output, and you will be significantly faster on a bike that’s designed to go fast over distance than on one designed to traverse mountain trails.
Based on your fit in the second picture, I think you will feel noticeably faster on drop bars and similar slicks. 18 mph on that set up is big power and will probably be 20 mph with the aero gains. You’re basically upright now and you’d be in drops on a new bike: [https://silca.cc/blogs/silca/body-position-and-aerodynamics-on-a-bike?srsltid=AfmBOopz4GDhYqlfiAIJ9bQrgf7Xs-D-E1NO8uW5YMi0isCo1IB8FMbn](https://silca.cc/blogs/silca/body-position-and-aerodynamics-on-a-bike?srsltid=AfmBOopz4GDhYqlfiAIJ9bQrgf7Xs-D-E1NO8uW5YMi0isCo1IB8FMbn) make sure the bike fits well and the stack is where you want. You don’t need to be roadie slammed to feel gains. Try to borrow or rent one for a full commute or two and get a feel for it.
That looks like a fun bike and I’d definitely keep that for ripping some gravel.
Bro you are crushing it. You will fly with a better bike.