Jeffrey Pogodzinski wrote:
I am thinking of buying a road bike to commute to work every day.

Good for you.

Would 15 miles each way be too far?

No.

I am in pretty good shape but new to biking.

About how long would it take?

In order, it will depend upon your condition, the terrain, weather,
traffic and how well your bike is built for speed. There's too many
variables to guess accurately. I suggest that you do a trial run on
your day off to see how long it actually takes and then give yourself
10 extra minutes on the first morning to account for variability and
early morning slugishness. If I had to guess, I'd guess 1.5 hours to
start. Many people can do 15 miles in traffic in under an hour but
they usually aren't beginners. If you do this ride daily, you can
expect to speed up considerably over time.

How fast (average speed) can the average beginner go on a road bike?

10-15 mph is probably a typical average for the beginner. Some will
be a little faster. Some a little slower. It's also affected by
lights, stop signs, hills, wind direction/speed, traffic, train
crossings etc. All of these except tail winds and downhills slow you
down.

--Bill Davidson
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