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Under good circumstances, yes. When you are cycling recreationally, you get to pick a nice day. But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wi

Under good circumstances, yes. When you are cycling recreationally, you get to pick a nice day. But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough. Sustaining 20-25 is easy for me on a calm day. But on steep roads or windy days it's definitely more in the 10-15 or 15-20 ballpark. (This is from experience. I am fit, cycle 22km every working day (roughly 5200km per year) with elevation differences and have an excellent bike.

u801e 9y ago
> But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough. That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction. The speeds I attain on my conventional bike range from 25 to 30 km/h on flat ground, 10 to 15 km/h going up 5% grades, but between 30 to 40 km/h going down the same grades. Headwinds on flat ground reduce my speed to 20 to 25 km/h (15 to 20 km/h if it's strong), but with a tailwind, I can maintain 30 to 35 km/h (or even up to 40 km/h if it's strong) on flat ground. The only thing I don't like when riding are side wind gusts, but I suspect that a motor wouldn't make much of a difference in that case :)
- Decade 9y ago
  > > But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough. > That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction. Not a great comfort when you are trying to get to work. And in my experience, after several hours at work, the wind dies down or changes direction by the time I want to go home. > side wind gusts I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded.
  - u801e 9y ago
    >> side wind gusts > I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded. That might be the case when riding a motorcycle (since it weighs quite a bit more than the rider), but even the heaviest e-bikes would still be lighter than the rider.
user5994461 9y ago
I used to cycle to work, 3 miles long. Half of it was a straight line along the road and the overground. Doing 50 km/h in good shape and on flat ground. Keeping up with the overground and the cars.
- danieldk 9y ago
  If you commute on flat ground, you can use a lightweight racing bake and narrow tires. Unfortunately, that does not work for forest roads on my commute, so I need a heavier trekking bake with wide tires (with a lot more friction). Moreover, if you can do 50 km/h of sustained speed, you should become a professional cycler. The world record is around 55 km in an hour. Pro cyclers can only sustain > 50 km/h speeds for shorter periods: https://books.google.de/books?id=-TpDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79&lpg=PT79&dq=wiggins+440+watts&source=bl&ots=8Cx_n__gbF&sig=Phwz9j7aLagk9yHlFx_o0Sbo2jQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=wiggins%20440%20watts&f=false https://books.google.de/books?id=-TpDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79&lpg=PT... Of course, short stretches of 40 or 50 km/h is doable, but most fit cyclers cannot sustain that for 3 mile stretch. So, either you are near-pro or overestimating your average speed ;). Ps. I pass the vast majority of (clearly non-recreational) cyclers (> 95%).
  - user5994461 9y ago
    I always had a trekking bike, not that it was necessary for a concrete cycle lane. The speed is not overestimated. The overground and the car have a well defined speed for comparison. Sometimes a friend would happen to drive along on the road on his way home and be surprised that I keep up with his car. I cycled every day for a decade. That's a good training I guess.

u801e 9y ago

> But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough. That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction. The speeds I attain on my conventional bike range from 25 to 30 km/h on flat ground, 10 to 15 km/h going up 5% grades, but between 30 to 40 km/h going down the same grades. Headwinds on flat ground reduce my speed to 20 to 25 km/h (15 to 20 km/h if it's strong), but with a tailwind, I can maintain 30 to 35 km/h (or even up to 40 km/h if it's strong) on flat ground. The only thing I don't like when riding are side wind gusts, but I suspect that a motor wouldn't make much of a difference in that case :)

Decade 9y ago
> > But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough. > That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction. Not a great comfort when you are trying to get to work. And in my experience, after several hours at work, the wind dies down or changes direction by the time I want to go home. > side wind gusts I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded.
- u801e 9y ago
  >> side wind gusts > I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded. That might be the case when riding a motorcycle (since it weighs quite a bit more than the rider), but even the heaviest e-bikes would still be lighter than the rider.

user5994461 9y ago

I used to cycle to work, 3 miles long. Half of it was a straight line along the road and the overground. Doing 50 km/h in good shape and on flat ground. Keeping up with the overground and the cars.

danieldk 9y ago
If you commute on flat ground, you can use a lightweight racing bake and narrow tires. Unfortunately, that does not work for forest roads on my commute, so I need a heavier trekking bake with wide tires (with a lot more friction). Moreover, if you can do 50 km/h of sustained speed, you should become a professional cycler. The world record is around 55 km in an hour. Pro cyclers can only sustain > 50 km/h speeds for shorter periods: https://books.google.de/books?id=-TpDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79&lpg=PT79&dq=wiggins+440+watts&source=bl&ots=8Cx_n__gbF&sig=Phwz9j7aLagk9yHlFx_o0Sbo2jQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=wiggins%20440%20watts&f=false https://books.google.de/books?id=-TpDCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT79&lpg=PT... Of course, short stretches of 40 or 50 km/h is doable, but most fit cyclers cannot sustain that for 3 mile stretch. So, either you are near-pro or overestimating your average speed ;). Ps. I pass the vast majority of (clearly non-recreational) cyclers (> 95%).
- user5994461 9y ago
  I always had a trekking bike, not that it was necessary for a concrete cycle lane. The speed is not overestimated. The overground and the car have a well defined speed for comparison. Sometimes a friend would happen to drive along on the road on his way home and be surprised that I keep up with his car. I cycled every day for a decade. That's a good training I guess.