Why are road bicycles so much faster than hybrids?
I commute in on a bog standard hybrid, and the guys on road bikes sail past me with what looks like minimum effort.
I understand thats what they are designed for but what exactly is it that makes them so much quicker?
Road bikes are faster due to their generally higher gearing and especially due to their narrower tires that pump to much higher pressures. Think of your bike like a boat. When you start a boat it gets up to speed and eventually is up on top of the water (what is called planing) and then you can actually reduce the throttle and mantain the same speed. In the same way narrow tire road bike riders can get their bikes up to speed and actually throttle back and keep the bike going at a similar tempo. The tires on a hybrid bike do not inflate to the 100-130 that many road bikes tires do. We used to have a pair of racing wheels and tires at my bike shop that we would let hybrid owners borrow. They could not believe the difference.
On the gearing side of things think of yourself as a racing car engine. Race car engines and the human body produce power in a very narrow power band. For the human body the RPM at the cranks is optimum at about 60-90RPM. If you slug away at the pedals at lower than 60RPM you can fatigue and injure yourself. If the spin the pedals above 90RPM it takes special training and techniques to prevent bouncing on the saddle. Track racer Rebecca Twigg could spin at 200RPM but that is definitely the exception. So if you ride a mountain or hybrid bike these usually are equipped with an extra front sprocket for hill climbing and have very wide gear ratios. The overall high gear on the hybrid bike may be lower because they have a smaller large front sprocket and a larger small rear sprocket. This would mean that on a steep downhill you may not be able to pedal any more and catch up with the road rider who can pedal away from you. Also, the wider ratios mean that when you shift up one gear your crank RPM may drop more that the 30RPM split between 60 and 90 RPM. This means it takes you a second to readjust the bike speed to get the crank RPM back in the comfortable range. So the idea gearing for flat land high speed running is one that has only small jumps between the gears. Racers will use gear clusters that have only 1-2 tooth changes between their gears. Those little incremental changes allow the road rider to just slip into a slightly higher gear and take the bike speed up by tiny increments until you see them ride off into the distance. This is while you are trying to catch up and battling the big ratio changes with your legs going from 40RPM to 100RPM and back to 70RPM.
Then last factor is you may be riding with riders who are in better shape and enjoy dropping hybrid riders. Let’s face it we all enjoy going fast and doing better than the next rider. Who knows maybe the rider that is passing you is riding 300 miles per week and you are riding 40 miles per week.
Less friction, less air resistance, lighter, quite often the people on them are fitter and understand efficient gearing better.
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I’m basically great
Comment by MPH! — July 8, 2010 @ 11:40 pm
The biggest factor is the narrow tires… because the tires are so narrow they create less friction on the road or less drag and make the bike way easier to peddal, but the drawback is they suck off road. The second largest factor is they are super light weight bikes.
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Road bike owner
Comment by SDjenna — July 9, 2010 @ 12:22 am
Thinner tyres and better gearing.
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Comment by Andrew M — July 9, 2010 @ 12:56 am
It’s all about the rider. I used to overtake cars doing 30 until I came to My senses and purchased a motor car.
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Comment by StingRay — July 9, 2010 @ 1:22 am
I think it’s the singer not the song.
A fit man or woman on a road bike will move along a a cracking pace. They’re lightweight and geared for speed.
An old codger, like myself, will trundle along slowly on a comfortable mountain bike.
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Comment by brendanbehan38 — July 9, 2010 @ 2:09 am
It’s the tires – high pressure/narrow and the wheels – light weight. The bikes are usually light but bike weight isn’t that important on flat terrain. The rides may simply be in good shape and know how to ride well. And one final thing, they may LOOK like they aren’t trying but they very well maybe and just hiding it well. It’s a common thing among cyclists.
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Comment by M R — July 9, 2010 @ 2:34 am
Decreased rolling resistance from skinny, high pressure tires. Decreased rotating mass from light weight wheels and cranks. More gearing at the high speed end so that they don’t "spin out." Clipless pedals that keep the foot perfectly aligned for the most efficient power transfer. Decreased air resistance from a lower rider profile. And, as others have stated, most likely better riders in terms of experience and conditioning.
HTH
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Comment by intrepidfae — July 9, 2010 @ 2:50 am
you take say a 23mm wide, smooth tire versus a 28+mm wide tire with heavy tread (or fairly heavy compared to a smooth tire) as a road cyclist, i have come on some mountain bikers or hybrid riders that were moving pretty good. i could go faster because of my machine, but it wasnt totally effort free. never let ‘em see you sweat though.
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Comment by phoster — July 9, 2010 @ 3:30 am
Lighter weight, higher gearing, narrower high pressure tires, more aggressive rider position, racier geometry.
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Comment by Rusty — July 9, 2010 @ 3:43 am
There are a number of reasons:
EQUIPMENT
Road bikes are lighter. Tires have higher pressures, are narrower and have less tread which creates less rolling
resistance, requiring less effort to move the bike forward. Road tires/wheels are likely to have a somewhat bigger diameter, meaning one wheel revolution will carry them further. It’s a small amount but adds up over the course of a given route. Gearing is designed for higher speeds. I would imagine many of the cassettes on the bikes passing you resemble corncobs because the cog teeth are so closely spaced.
POSITION
Road bikes inherently put the rider in a more aerodynamic position than is available on a hybrid. Wind resistance is considerably less.
All of these things add up to making it easier go faster on a road bike with the same or less effort put into a hybrid.
Additionally, people on road bikes are probably just more interested in going fast in general and gravitate to the kind of equipment that facilitates that need. Of course, there is a continuum in the rider hierarchy: a fast rider is going to be fast nonetheless whether on a road or hybrid bike and vice versa. Relatively speaking.
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Comment by Gone — July 9, 2010 @ 3:53 am
Most of the work you do on a bike is fighting wind resistance. So the more aerodynamic position afforded by road bikes is the main reason. They are also usually much lighter weight and the tires have less rolling resistance. But the main reason is the aerodynamics.
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Comment by Christine M — July 9, 2010 @ 4:16 am
I seem to be in the minority here. I don’t think a hybrid is slow.
I have a hybrid and a couple nice road bikes. My hybrid has 700X25 tires at the same pressure (120psi) as my road bikes.
I will keep up with you, my hybrid is fast. The max speed on my computer shows 52mph. Yep, thats down hill. I pace at 18-20 on both style bikes.
It does have to do with the rider.
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Comment by McG — July 9, 2010 @ 4:28 am
Road bikes are faster due to their generally higher gearing and especially due to their narrower tires that pump to much higher pressures. Think of your bike like a boat. When you start a boat it gets up to speed and eventually is up on top of the water (what is called planing) and then you can actually reduce the throttle and mantain the same speed. In the same way narrow tire road bike riders can get their bikes up to speed and actually throttle back and keep the bike going at a similar tempo. The tires on a hybrid bike do not inflate to the 100-130 that many road bikes tires do. We used to have a pair of racing wheels and tires at my bike shop that we would let hybrid owners borrow. They could not believe the difference.
On the gearing side of things think of yourself as a racing car engine. Race car engines and the human body produce power in a very narrow power band. For the human body the RPM at the cranks is optimum at about 60-90RPM. If you slug away at the pedals at lower than 60RPM you can fatigue and injure yourself. If the spin the pedals above 90RPM it takes special training and techniques to prevent bouncing on the saddle. Track racer Rebecca Twigg could spin at 200RPM but that is definitely the exception. So if you ride a mountain or hybrid bike these usually are equipped with an extra front sprocket for hill climbing and have very wide gear ratios. The overall high gear on the hybrid bike may be lower because they have a smaller large front sprocket and a larger small rear sprocket. This would mean that on a steep downhill you may not be able to pedal any more and catch up with the road rider who can pedal away from you. Also, the wider ratios mean that when you shift up one gear your crank RPM may drop more that the 30RPM split between 60 and 90 RPM. This means it takes you a second to readjust the bike speed to get the crank RPM back in the comfortable range. So the idea gearing for flat land high speed running is one that has only small jumps between the gears. Racers will use gear clusters that have only 1-2 tooth changes between their gears. Those little incremental changes allow the road rider to just slip into a slightly higher gear and take the bike speed up by tiny increments until you see them ride off into the distance. This is while you are trying to catch up and battling the big ratio changes with your legs going from 40RPM to 100RPM and back to 70RPM.
Then last factor is you may be riding with riders who are in better shape and enjoy dropping hybrid riders. Let’s face it we all enjoy going fast and doing better than the next rider. Who knows maybe the rider that is passing you is riding 300 miles per week and you are riding 40 miles per week.
References :
Comment by Richard L — July 9, 2010 @ 4:44 am
Great answers, a lot of factors are analized. That is because you made a good question a knowleable people have answer to it.
I would like to add another factor. The definition of "hybrid".
There are so many kinds of bikes that fall under the name "Hybrid"…. Some are incredible close to a racer bike and thus the diference between such bikes is very narrow and maybe the rides will make the big difference here. The best rider will out ride the other no matter what bike they use.
One the other hand some hybrids could be so close to MTB or City bikes, that the rider on a racer has a lot of advantages as far as speed is concerned. This kind of hybrids will seem (and be ) much slower than racers. Still a excelent rider in such a Hybrid will out ride a poor rider on a racer.
Now, everything is a trade of.
Racers are fast and good climbers, but have little more going for them. Some other bikes have other aspects where they excell and that is the reason people use them; for carying a load, to keep crud away from your and your clothing, for riding comfort, to have less punctures, mechanical hasels and maintainance. A better positon to view trafic (straigther than a racer), and a large etc.
The best bike will be the one suited to the kind of riding you do (or do most), and that is comfortable for you. In the city, I make the same time from work to home in my racer and in my hybrid. Not so on long road rides, but then I prefer my touring bike, for I have the time to enjoy the scenery and the comfort of such a bike.
Hope this little detour from other answer adds to the discussion.
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Comment by zurriolo — July 9, 2010 @ 5:08 am
iv just gone from mountain bike to road bike due to moving house and thers not many places to go off road & streight away i noticed the speed difference so much so i made 4sure i bought an helmet… avrage speed is around 17-20 mph & on downhills it`s 40+,
main reasons i recon are, thin tyres,lighter frame, better gears, more aero dynamic & higher gear ratio…
from now on my mountain bike is for off road use only & my road bike is 4 tearing up the tarmac lol
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