Three Cheap Ways to Make Your Bike Faster - sh.itjust.works

Spend enough time around bikes, and it becomes very clear that a lot of the bike industry revolves around selling speed. Things like aero wheels, lighter frames, and ceramic bearings all promise to make your bike faster, but at a significant cost. That’s not to say that these upgrades don’t work, just that for those who care about the concept of “bang for your buck,” many are worth skipping. The reality is that you don’t actually need to spend thousands of dollars to make your bike measurably faster. There is plenty of performance hiding in parts of your bike that most riders ignore or take for granted. You can unlock it with a bit of maintenance and a few relatively inexpensive but impactful upgrades. If your goal is to go faster without spending a fortune, this is where to start. Clean Your Drivetrain and Use a Good Chain Lube A dirty drivetrain doesn’t just cost you speed; it also costs you money. A dirty, greasy chain will constantly pick up grit and road debris, quickly increasing friction within the system. That friction costs you power. Instead of driving the rear wheel, some of your effort is getting lost in the links of the chain and across the teeth of your cassette and chainrings. Independent efficiency testing by Jason Smith, published on his Friction Facts website before CeramicSpeed purchased it in 2016, found that a dirty chain can cost a rider more than 5 watts at a steady 250-watt effort. Smith’s testing used a machine that applied a constant input power to the chainring and measured the output at the cassette to within 0.02 watts. Five watts may not sound like much. However, losses increase with your effort. That means the gains you earn from training, better nutrition, or even a new set of carbon wheels can be quickly canceled out by something as simple as a dirty chain. The fix is not complicated. Keep your drivetrain clean and use good chain lube. Preferably one that is wax-based. Wax-based options take more effort up front but can run very efficiently and stay remarkably clean over time. You can read about how to get started with wax-based chain lubes here. Dial In Your Tire Pressure Tire pressure is one of the most important performance variables, and one of the most misunderstood. For a long time, the assumption was simple. Higher pressure meant lower rolling resistance. That is true on a perfectly smooth surface. Out on real roads, it does not hold up. When your tires are too hard, they bounce over small imperfections rather than absorb them. That creates vibration losses. Energy that should be moving you forward gets dissipated through the bike and your body. The key point for riders to grasp is that they are much better off (from both rolling resistance and comfort perspectives) going a few psi too low than a few psi too high. Lowering pressure allows the tire to conform to the road. That reduces those losses and often improves grip and comfort simultaneously. The result can be a bike that feels smoother and, in many cases, rolls faster. The right tire pressure for you will depend on your weight, tire width, and the surfaces you ride on. A heavier rider or a narrower tire will need more pressure. Rough pavement or gravel will call for much less. The good news is that if you don’t know where to start, there are excellent and free tire pressure calculators available online. These can give you an excellent starting point for an optimal tire pressure. Upgrade Your Tires and Tubes If you want to buy speed, tires (and tubes) are the best places to do it. The differences between tires are not subtle. Casing construction, rubber compounds, and overall design all affect rolling resistance. A basic, durable training tire is often significantly slower than a high-performance tire. In some cases, the gap can be 10 watts or more at typical riding speeds. Keep in mind that this figure is per tire. Meaning that swapping from a basic wire-bead tire (that comes stock on many mid- to entry-level bikes) to a high-end tire could potentially net a 20-watt improvement in rolling resistance. Better tires also tend to feel better. They roll smoother, grip better in corners, and make the bike feel more responsive. It is one of the few upgrades where the performance benefit can be obvious within the first few minutes of riding. If you’re running your tires with inner tubes, you should consider upgrading here as well. Standard butyl tubes are reliable and inexpensive, but they are not the fastest option. Latex tubes reduce rolling resistance and improve ride feel, though they lose air more quickly and require a bit more attention. TPU tubes are a newer option that offers low rolling resistance, better durability, and easier day-to-day use. Plus, they pack down very small for spares and weigh significantly less than butyl tubes. You do not have to go all the way to a race setup to see a benefit. Even a modest upgrade from an entry-level tire to a mid-range performance model can make a noticeable difference in your ride. The truth is that it’s easy to get pulled toward high-end gear when you are looking for speed. The industry is built around that idea. But the basics still matter more than most riders think. A clean drivetrain, well-chosen tire pressure, and fast-rolling tires can deliver real performance gains without a huge investment. Plus, they make your bike feel nicer and work better, even if you don’t care about chasing performance. Take care of those things first. There is a good chance your bike will feel faster before you spend serious money on anything else.