Whereas in the US, road bikes are the norm for adults and are typically ridden around 30kph on open road. For many of the riders, sweaty and tired is the whole

Whereas in the US, road bikes are the norm for adults and are typically ridden around 30kph on open road. For many of the riders, sweaty and tired is the whole point: conditioning. They may take it easy on the way to work (only 20kph) but they'll go flat-out on the way home. It's why we're so obsessive about helmets, where the rest of the world isn't.