Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Slower than ever

I just put more air in the bike tires on the trainer and it cut my "speed" by about 20-30%. Bah, and here I thought I was racking up the mileage! Not so! (Still, I should be getting more than 11.2 mph, don't you think?)

I'm still not dragging the bike outside until it gets consistently above 40*F, though. That just is too darned uncomfortably cold on the bike for me.

Maybe we'll start seeing some signs of spring next week....

3 comments:

Rainmaker said...

Change your gearing ;)

Trainer speeds are ambigous. If you want higher numbers, switch to the bigger ring in the front (but compensate by changing to an easier ring in the back). That will cause your MPH to go up.

Shannon said...

It's always harder on the trainer. Just wait, when you get outside you'll be smokin' fast.

SToby said...

Rolling resistance is directly proportional to "weight" on the tire. When you put more air in, if the distance between the roller and the drive axle of the back wheel of the bike doesn't change, "weight" -- the force pushing the bike frame away from the roller on the trainer -- increases, driving up the resistance. This does not happen in the real world where the bike frame just rises when you add air. The increased drag may not be for real.