Crikey

[Doki]

Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of Schwalbe City
Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any similarly surprising
performance increases for mountain bikes used on the road? Rip the
suspension off?

[Just zis Guy, you know?]

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:31:28 +0100, "Doki" >
wrote in message >:

>Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of Schwalbe City
>Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any similarly surprising
>performance increases for mountain bikes used on the road? Rip the
>suspension off?

Can be done on any bike - as long as you remember not to recalibrate
the speedo ;-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

[Doki]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:31:28 +0100, "Doki" >
> wrote in message >:
>
>> Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of
>> Schwalbe City Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any
>> similarly surprising performance increases for mountain bikes used
>> on the road? Rip the suspension off?
>
> Can be done on any bike - as long as you remember not to recalibrate
> the speedo ;-)

Is there liable to be much difference? Better get the tape measure out in
the morning... OTOH, it does seem to go better.

[Dave Kahn]

On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:31:28 +0100, "Doki" >
wrote:

>Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of Schwalbe City
>Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any similarly surprising
>performance increases for mountain bikes used on the road? Rip the
>suspension off?

If you're managing around 20 mph now a set of clip-on triathlon bars
could get you an extra mph or so.

--
Dave...

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live. - Mark Twain

[Peter B]

"Doki" > wrote in message
...
> Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of Schwalbe
City
> Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any similarly surprising
> performance increases for mountain bikes used on the road? Rip the
> suspension off?

Ripping the suspension off wouldn't be a surprising way to gain speed and
why not start off with a rigid bike if road speed is the name of the game.
A compromise, albeit expensive, is to fit suspension units that have a
lock-out.

The best way to make my bike go faster is to replace the rider ;-)
--
Regards,
Pete

[Doki]

Peter B wrote:
> "Doki" > wrote in message
> ...
>> Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of
>> Schwalbe City Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any
>> similarly surprising performance increases for mountain bikes used
>> on the road? Rip the suspension off?
>
> Ripping the suspension off wouldn't be a surprising way to gain speed
> and why not start off with a rigid bike if road speed is the name of
> the game. A compromise, albeit expensive, is to fit suspension units
> that have a lock-out.
>
> The best way to make my bike go faster is to replace the rider ;-)

I started out with the intention of mountian biking, so I bought a mountain
bike. But I decomissioned my car with the aid of some solid objects this
week, so I'm using it for getting from A to B until I get a replacement.

[Doki]

Dave Kahn wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:31:28 +0100, "Doki" >
> wrote:
>
>> Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of
>> Schwalbe City Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any
>> similarly surprising performance increases for mountain bikes used
>> on the road? Rip the suspension off?
>
> If you're managing around 20 mph now a set of clip-on triathlon bars
> could get you an extra mph or so.

Twenty miles an hour on the flat or twenty miles an hour average?

[[Not Responding]]

On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:22:09 +0100, "Doki" >
wrote:

>
>
>Peter B wrote:
>> "Doki" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> Took the Schwalbe Silento semi-slicks off and put on a set of
>>> Schwalbe City Jets, and now I'm 3mph faster. Anyone know of any
>>> similarly surprising performance increases for mountain bikes used
>>> on the road? Rip the suspension off?
>>
>> Ripping the suspension off wouldn't be a surprising way to gain speed
>> and why not start off with a rigid bike if road speed is the name of
>> the game. A compromise, albeit expensive, is to fit suspension units
>> that have a lock-out.
>>
>> The best way to make my bike go faster is to replace the rider ;-)
>
>I started out with the intention of mountian biking, so I bought a mountain
>bike. But I decomissioned my car with the aid of some solid objects this
>week, so I'm using it for getting from A to B until I get a replacement.
>

Obvious question. If you can get by/around without it, why bother
replacing it? You'll save a shedload of cash even if you factor in
taxis, trains and planes.

Well, that's my experience and I can't even ride a bike much right
now.

[Doki]

[Not Responding] wrote:
> On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:22:09 +0100, "Doki" >
> wrote:
>>
>> Peter B wrote:
>
>>> Ripping the suspension off wouldn't be a surprising way to gain
>>> speed and why not start off with a rigid bike if road speed is the
>>> name of the game.
>
>> I started out with the intention of mountian biking, so I bought a
>> mountain bike. But I decomissioned my car with the aid of some solid
>> objects this week, so I'm using it for getting from A to B until I
>> get a replacement.
>
> Obvious question. If you can get by/around without it, why bother
> replacing it? You'll save a shedload of cash even if you factor in
> taxis, trains and planes.

I like driving, and I'm not really getting by without it. I won't be running
anything that's depreciating horribly or costing me anything much to
service, and I often visit friends who live a long way away. Train fares are
bloody terrible IMO, it's easily cheaper to buy the petrol to run a
relatively uneconomical car than get the train in most cases. The fact that
you don't need to get a taxi to / from the station saves you more cash (I
wouldn't want cycle to and from the station, it's miles away, seriously
uphill all the way back, and in most cases I'd want more luggage than the
bike could carry). Most people would save money not having a car, but most
people have a car that's depreciating at a rate of knots because it's nearly
new, service it at a main dealer, and live in a vaguely large conurbation.