Whats a good average speed on an MTB?

Cyclist14 said:

I was wondering if 18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good?

Yeah, there's a lot of times on gravel roads I would love to see 18 on the computer!

Cyclist14 said:

I was wondering if 18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good?

Yeah, I'd say that this was a great average speed, for me anyway!

18-20 mph would be pretty good on asphalt for a mountain bike, never mind a gravel road.

I just got back from a 17 mile ride (50% gravel and 50% paved) on my MTBike. I had an average of 14.9 mph. I was not pushing it but even if I was, I doubt I could have averaged 18 mph. Great job!!

woodchuck said:

I just got back from a 17 mile ride (50% gravel and 50% paved) on my MTBike. I had an average of 14.9 mph. I was not pushing it but even if I was, I doubt I could have averaged 18 mph. Great job!!

I would say that 18-20 MPH average speed is awesome...I rode 32 miles on my MTB between 2 days (16 each) and on the first day I averaged 15.2 and the other was 14.9. I thought those were decent speeds...

That is awesome, but it was 18 or 20.

That ten percent is ticking me off.

It is good, but there are variables...was it flat, downhill, uphill, etc...On a flat gravel road with no obstructions that would be about average for an experienced cyclist...on a hilly or otherwise obstructed trail that's excellent and worthy of racing... you have to average speed over various terrain, flat,down,and steepness grade ...then compare your results to previous runs to get an accurate picture. All depends on what your goals for the ride are. Me personally, on the razors edge is where I like it😄

Cyclist14 said:

I was wondering if 18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good?

From Triathelete.com Katy trail posts

Quoted post said:

Doing the math inside his sun-drenched racing helmet, Kentner figured that we could still get done by 9pm if we averaged 17 mph hour the rest of the ride. Actually it would not have even needed to be that fast. We had fairly easily held 16.0 mph (not counting the stops) for the first 10 hours, and mindset counts for everything in a ride like this one. Whereas our motivation was gaining steam, Mike’s legs were losing power.

So IMHO Keeping a 18-20mph on a Crushed limestone Katy trail would require extraordinate training.

Gordon

That is a good clip on the flat

18-20mph would probably make you a professional....the winner of the Chequamagon 40 this year averaged 19.1mph

http://www.peaktiming.com/2005Chequamegon/divisionresults.asp?eventid=11000000&divid=110000

All I could muster was 11.1...

Cyclist14 said:

I was wondering if 18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good?

I guess it depends on what exactly a 'Gravel Trail' is. I can push 40-45kmh (25-28mph) on a flat gravel trail, so avg 20mph wouldn't be out of the question if it is essentially just a gravel road. Throw in some real MTB terrain (steep hills with ruts, technical single track, tree roots and other obstructions etc) and it's pretty unlikely you'll avg 18-20mph.

18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good, its hard to say if its mostly flat and down hill you should be doing that good and better. Some of the sand and dirt trails around here I only average 10 - 12 mph and feel good about it.

Cyclist14 said:

I was wondering if 18-20 MPH on a Gravel Trail is good?

Very good speed, but u forgot to say how much km or miles you spend on that trail.

Even with slicks on pavement, that's mighty quick!

I'm a very green novice, so I usually average about 10.5! I would love to get to that point!!! Good job!

At first read I thought, "No big deal"! Then I realised you are talking MPH and not KPH! LOL. Yeah, pretty awesome I reckon on a MTB if it's on the level and over a couple of hours.

Old Timer

downhill?

I think it's almost superhuman. I'm older and not nearly as fast as I used to be but with knobbies and the lower gearing on my MB, 14mph is a very good average for me. On hilly trails and gravel, more like 9.

Just remember, speed is only half the equation. Control has to figure in there somewhere. It'll take you twice as long to stop if something pops up in front of you.