Do Upgrades On Your Bike Always Make You Go Faster?
Cycling is always known to be in the constant pursuit of speed, but, are there some upgrades that you can make to your ride which not only make it better but potentially slower?
Cycling Weekly's Sam Gupta looks into all the ways he believes you can improve your time on the bike and have more fun but potentially at the detriment of going fast. For some, these may be the best cycling upgrades out there.
Cycling Weekly's Sam Gupta looks into all the ways he believes you can improve your time on the bike and have more fun but potentially at the detriment of going fast. For some, these may be the best cycling upgrades out there.
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00:00tech. As brands are constantly pushing to bring out the next best thing to make
00:04riding faster, smoother and more efficient, it recently got me wondering
00:09about what upgrades we can make to our rides that actually bring out more of
00:12the fun that we all love. So here are my favorite ride upgrades which could
00:17actually make you slower.
00:24We often talk about how the biggest aerodynamic gains can come from tighter
00:28fitting, crease free clothing. High-end cycling clothing tends to be made of
00:33exotic materials designed to wick away all moisture away from the skin, provide
00:37extra aero benefits through different textures but also be incredibly well
00:42tailored. And that's before we've even got onto the different ways that
00:45manufacturers try to make clothing more practical. Sure another big part of what
00:51brands try to do is make clothing as comfortable as possible and I will be
00:55the first to say that cycling specific shorts absolutely changed the game for
00:59me in this regard. However shorts to one side I believe that looser fitting baggy
01:05clothing can be even better some of the time. I think we're getting real evidence
01:10of this in multiple places in cycling. First we're seeing some brands actually
01:14design active clothing for road cyclists which is there to replace your ride
01:19jersey as a more relaxed and comfortable option. Now these garments tend to be
01:23made of similar materials to their typical cycling jersey counterparts as
01:27that means it'll maintain the breathability. But then a t-shirt fit is
01:31then used to bring the best of both casual and serious sporting worlds
01:36together. I think that the recent boom in gravel cycling also points to some
01:41roadies wanting to continue their drop bar fun but in a more relaxed environment.
01:45So how can we achieve this? Well as mentioned there is kit out there
01:50designed to provide that relaxed ride feel but another alternative is actually
01:55just to forget cycling clothing altogether. Try popping on your cycling
02:00shoes and your favorite bib shorts and then just a t-shirt and probably a
02:03jumper as well at this time of year. Business downstairs and party up top and
02:08I'll be honest I've done this a few times recently and there's something
02:11that just makes it feel super freeing. I wouldn't do this on a ride where I
02:15actually want to go out and achieve a new personal record but for a rest ride
02:19or a roll around the lanes it feels so much better. It's just so much more
02:24relaxed. There's a constant very physical reminder when you're riding to just
02:28chill out and enjoy it.
02:35There's one number that gets banded around quite a lot in bike shops when a
02:39new road cyclist is purchasing their first road bike and wants to experiment
02:43with clipless shoes. Riding clipped in will increase your pedaling efficiency
02:48by 30%. Now while I'm not here to argue that number at all I think it's worth
02:53remembering what it was like to ride a bike with flat pedals. You jump on and go
02:58without needing to worry about what shoes you're wearing. Much like my first
03:02point I wouldn't do this for a ride where I want to go out and execute a
03:06really hard training session but if you want a nice evening cruise or you just
03:10want to pop to the shops or go to the pub it's got to be flat pedals all the
03:14way. This one has to be a bit of a no-brainer. There's no one thing which
03:23can provide a constant distraction for the entirety of a ride like a head unit
03:28does apart from maybe a creaky bottom bracket. Now riding without a head unit
03:33will instantly mean that you switch off from heart rate zones, power numbers and
03:37average speeds. When you're not fixating on however many data metrics can be
03:43presented in front of you, you provide yourself the headspace to let your mind
03:47wander, lose yourself from the ride and just really absorb the joys of being on
03:51two wheels. I find doing this on rest rides incredibly helpful. Sure you may
03:57not want to go above zone two for example and having a head unit does
04:01really help with keeping your effort in check but there's other ways to gauge it.
04:06For example if you get to the point of not being able to hold a full
04:09conversation then it's likely you're going too hard. The point stands though
04:14while checking your head unit may become second nature and almost instinct, when
04:18you take it away you realize how much more of your ride you actually absorb.
04:27Now while this next one isn't an upgrade per se, it is a firm favorite of mine but
04:33it does come with a word of warning. Me and one of my very good friends often
04:36consider what has been our favorite ride ever and we always look back many
04:40many years to the same one. It was a warm summer's evening, we'd got around 20 of
04:45our favorite local loop miles in our legs and we decided to stop in a town
04:49about seven miles outside of home for dinner and we went to a gorgeous
04:53riverside pub and we planted ourselves in the garden. What followed was to this
04:57day the best fish and chips that I have ever eaten along with a refreshing pint
05:03of local ale. Now once we filled our bellies we then set off again completely
05:07forgetting that the toughest climb of the ride was the next bit of parkour
05:11that we'd have to navigate. Reluctantly we spun up it and sheepishly nursed
05:14ourselves home. Now while the end of the ride may not have been the most
05:18comfortable thing in the world, for me and my friend it has to have been the
05:21perfect way to enjoy cycling and a timeless summer's evening. So while I'd
05:27implore all of you to go get a burger or fish and chips midway through a ride, be
05:31sure to time it right and maybe don't go too heavy on the beers and don't
05:35expect to go quickly anytime soon afterwards.
05:43Somewhere between 70 and 90% of what causes drag on a moving cyclist is the
05:50rider themselves. This is why time trial specialists, breakaway riders and those
05:55who spend more time in a velodrome than out of it will go to agonizing lengths
05:59to contort their bodies in ways to be as slippery as possible. This is also why
06:04professional cyclists spend so much time working on their flexibility so they
06:08have the ability to sit in these more aggressive positions for hour after hour.
06:12We'll be the first to say that being flexible by regularly stretching is no
06:16doubt a good thing and it does help prevent injury. However while riding the
06:20most aggressive position may be the fastest position, it isn't always what
06:24you might want to do and arguably if you're not a professional or trying to
06:28be one, then what's the point? Bring that stem up and back, don't try and
06:32overextend yourself and get yourself sorted with a bike fit if you can and
06:36just put your body in a position that's actually comfortable. Sure it may not be
06:41the fastest position in the world but if you're comfortable, then who cares?
06:50There's one modern trend that I've absolutely loved seeing develop over the
06:54past 10 years and that is bigger tires. It's now the norm for pros to be racing
06:59on 25s rather than 23s and it's also the norm for amateurs to ride on 28s
07:04rather than 25s and actually I think we could see amateurs actually graduate to
07:0930s as more tire options hit the market. The best thing about this upgrade is
07:13that it doesn't actually make you slower. When you run the correct pressure
07:16for your weight, you'll enjoy fast rolling tires, great grip and more
07:20comfort. Now if you were to pivot away from just thinking about road bikes for
07:24a second, then I'm sure we've all rolled down the road on a gravel or mountain
07:28bike and enjoyed just how smooth and cushioned it was. So if you apply that
07:33thinking here, you could go even bigger and maybe use a fast rolling all-road
07:37tire on the tarmac. But do bear in mind, if you go past 30mm, you will
07:42likely compromise on speed and you will be pushing the limits on what size
07:46tire you can actually fit in your bike. But as clearances get bigger, maybe you
07:51should experiment with the largest size possible that you can fit in. You'll be
07:55able to run lower pressures and it will feel great. If you want to prioritise
08:00comfort over speed, then this one is a must.
08:08A big theme of all my points is comfort and arguably being more comfortable
08:13makes things more enjoyable at the cost of speed. You may not be breaking any new
08:18ground in terms of fitness as you'll literally not be leaving your comfort
08:21zone, but surely that would make the ride quite enjoyable. Steel frames have long
08:26been credited as being one of the most comfortable materials for a bike. Sure
08:30it's heavy, but like I say, that comes with comfort. You most certainly won't be
08:34as fast as you would be on a modern-day carbon fibre rocket, but it sure would be
08:38smooth. Think about it like this, if you were to combine all the points that
08:42I've made here today, what would you end up with? Well, I guess it would be a steel
08:47frame bike with a relaxed geometry. It could take around a 32c wide tyre and
08:51would probably be fitted with flat pedals. There wouldn't be a mount for a
08:56head unit because you'd just be heading to your favourite local pub for dinner
08:59and you wouldn't stand out like a sore thumb because you'd be wearing a normal
09:03t-shirt and jumpers and shoes that you can actually walk around in. Correct me
09:08if I'm wrong, but I think I may have just described everyone's pub bike and
09:12something that has arguably been around for a hundred years. Hmm. With that in
09:18mind, I think I need to slowly question everything I thought I knew about
09:23cycling. Let me know about this down in the comments below. If you enjoyed the
09:27video then please do drop a like, subscribe to the channel for more
09:30content and I'll see you again very soon.