Does equipment make a big difference? your opinions please

[wannatour]

I am a newbie, I dont even own a bike I am borrowing a friend of the family's old Raleigh all aluminum road bike the downtube shifters were converted to STI and the left shifter does not work. I commute 12 miles a day to work and am torn between several bikes, Ibex xray, K2 Enemy, Kona JTS, but at any rate, I am in good shape, young(24), and an old guy on a Bianchi passed me on the trail on my way to work. He had the full get up, cycling clothes and clipless pedals, shifters that appeared to work, and I was able to keep up for a little bit but he was getting ahead of me. Would better gearing and clipless pedals made a big difference? Am I just weak?

 

[boudreaux]

I am a newbie, I dont even own a bike I am borrowing a friend of the family's old Raleigh all aluminum road bike the downtube shifters were converted to STI and the left shifter does not work. I commute 12 miles a day to work and am torn between several bikes, Ibex xray, K2 Enemy, Kona JTS, but at any rate, I am in good shape, young(24), and an old guy on a Bianchi passed me on the trail on my way to work. He had the full get up, cycling clothes and clipless pedals, shifters that appeared to work, and I was able to keep up for a little bit but he was getting ahead of me. Would better gearing and clipless pedals made a big difference? Am I just weak?

The kids I drop are just weak, and don't know how to pedal a bike. No amount of money thrown at equipment will change that. Eat more spinach and train harder.

 

[wannatour]

so buyuing a bike to fit with reliable componets wont make much of a difference in speed? Do clipless pedals make a difference?

The kids I drop are just weak, and don't know how to pedal a bike. No amount of money thrown at equipment will change that. Eat more spinach and train harder.

 

[JohnO]

Equipment makes a difference, but not that much, and not in the way you might think.

First off, age isn't near the factor you might think. I've been riding for a few years now, in my mid 40's and in good shape, pushing myself pretty hard, and doing okay by my own standards, and generally able to last longer than anyone in the group I ride with. My wife suggests I ride with her friend, who is in her early 50's. Okay, I think - let's be polite and ride with the grade school teacher. To make a long story short, she dropped me harder than a lead weight. She wasn't a fast sprinter, but she just never slowed down. So don't judge a rider by their age - judge them by how hard they drop you.

Now, does equipment make you 'better'? Up to a certain point, it can alleviate some of the irritations that keep you off of a bike. Clipless pedals, once you get used to them, are very comfortable. A good saddle, once you find the right one for you, is a godsend. Indexed shifters are very nice. A good helmet is mandatory - cheap head, cheap helmet. Primo sunglasses like Oakley M Frames really keep the wind and sun out of your eyes. You don't have to have them, but they are nice.

A bike in the $700-900 range is all the bike you need to put in some serious time on the road. Anything under that may have comfort or durability issues, and you may just quit riding. Anything over that is personal jewelry. Not that personal jewelry is a bad thing...

 

[dhk]

so buyuing a bike to fit with reliable componets wont make much of a difference in speed? Do clipless pedals make a difference?

Reliable components of course make a difference. You can't ride or train if your bike is in the shop or garage, and your average speed isn't going to be high if you're stopping to tighten and adjust stuff all the time. Dragging brakes, jamming shifters, thrown chains, etc do nothing to improve your speed on the road.

Clipless pedals help keep your feet on the pedals at higher cadence, which helps for sustained power output.

Good lubed bearings and chain are important too. If your bike has wornout or dry bearings in the wheels or BB, you'll be wasting effort. Ditto for decent, low-rolling resistance road tires, at the proper inflation.

Other than those issues, the weight of your bike doesn't mean much. Saving a few pounds of bike weight isn't worth much compared to training the motor for more power and endurance.

 

[WINGNUTT]

I am a newbie, I dont even own a bike I am borrowing a friend of the family's old Raleigh all aluminum road bike the downtube shifters were converted to STI and the left shifter does not work. I commute 12 miles a day to work and am torn between several bikes, Ibex xray, K2 Enemy, Kona JTS, but at any rate, I am in good shape, young(24), and an old guy on a Bianchi passed me on the trail on my way to work. He had the full get up, cycling clothes and clipless pedals, shifters that appeared to work, and I was able to keep up for a little bit but he was getting ahead of me. Would better gearing and clipless pedals made a big difference? Am I just weak?

Fixing your shifter will make a huge difference to your performance. Everything else will make insignificant improvements when compared to the shifter replacement.

 

[daveornee]

so buyuing a bike to fit with reliable componets wont make much of a difference in speed? Do clipless pedals make a difference?

Your points should be well taken.
Get a bicycle that is well fit to you and it will make a difference both short and long term.
Reliable components also work well in the short and long term + they give you confidence to ride more effectively and efficiently. ++ they will keep you riding instead of tying up your ride in repairs.
Yes, clipless pedals also help in more effective and efficient power delivery.
Good training and good coaching will be the other parts of the equation. Measuring your power output to know/feel what effective and efficient power delivery along with a heart rate monitor will also make advances in you speed.

 

[palewin]

and an old guy on a Bianchi passed me on the trail on my way to work. He had the full get up, cycling clothes and clipless pedals, shifters that appeared to work, and I was able to keep up for a little bit but he was getting ahead of me.

Can't resist this one! Any number of posters have responded appropriately to the equipment question. I just wonder if the "old guy" might have been a Masters racer out for a spin? ("full get up" etc.) In my 55+ age group, the rider who usually thrashes us is already in his 60s, and can probably drop a large percentage of the people who read this forum. Oh, did I forget to mention that he's a 17-time National Champion? Anyway, my semi-humorous point was simply that our original poster might have been unlucky, and chosen a poor example to use to judge his own riding...

 

[PeterF]

I am a newbie, I dont even own a bike I am borrowing a friend of the family's old Raleigh all aluminum road bike the downtube shifters were converted to STI and the left shifter does not work. I commute 12 miles a day to work and am torn between several bikes, Ibex xray, K2 Enemy, Kona JTS, but at any rate, I am in good shape, young(24), and an old guy on a Bianchi passed me on the trail on my way to work. He had the full get up, cycling clothes and clipless pedals, shifters that appeared to work, and I was able to keep up for a little bit but he was getting ahead of me. Would better gearing and clipless pedals made a big difference? Am I just weak?

If you are comparing a carbon fiber frame with full Dura Ace or Record components to an aluminum frame with Veloce or 105, then I would say no. If you are comparing a mid-1980's Raleigh with toe straps, downtube shifters and wobbly wheels that's been sitting in a garage for the last 15 years, to a newer bike, then I would say yes. A couple years ago a friend of mine (super fit runner), wanted to try getting back into triathlons. He hadn't done one in years so he decided to pull his old Taiwanese built Bianchi out of the garage for a spin. The thing must have weighegd 30 lbs and the old Shimano exage components hadn't been serviced in at least 10 years. Every turn of those awful bio-pace cranks sounded like someone sawing a tin can in half due to all the rust. He rode this bike for a season (always getting dropped, especially on long rides) and upgraded to a 2003 Cannondale with 105 components. Now he's impossible to keep up with. Unfortunately he takes about the same care of his new bike and that will be ready for the scrap heap in another year.

 

[Don Shipp]

A good old 'un will beat a good young 'un.