Under good circumstances, yes. When you are cycling recreationally, you get to pick a nice day. But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough.
Sustaining 20-25 is easy for me on a calm day. But on steep roads or windy days it's definitely more in the 10-15 or 15-20 ballpark.
(This is from experience. I am fit, cycle 22km every working day (roughly 5200km per year) with elevation differences and have an excellent bike.
> But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough.
That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction.
The speeds I attain on my conventional bike range from 25 to 30 km/h on flat ground, 10 to 15 km/h going up 5% grades, but between 30 to 40 km/h going down the same grades. Headwinds on flat ground reduce my speed to 20 to 25 km/h (15 to 20 km/h if it's strong), but with a tailwind, I can maintain 30 to 35 km/h (or even up to 40 km/h if it's strong) on flat ground.
The only thing I don't like when riding are side wind gusts, but I suspect that a motor wouldn't make much of a difference in that case :)
> > But if you are cycling to work every day and deal with strong wind, elevation differences, maintaining 20-25 km/h is going to be tough.
> That is true when you're riding uphill and/or into a headwind, but that should also be made up by the fact that the headwind/ascent becomes a tailwind/descent when you ride in the other direction.
Not a great comfort when you are trying to get to work.
And in my experience, after several hours at work, the wind dies down or changes direction by the time I want to go home.
> side wind gusts
I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded.
> I would expect the greater mass of the motorized bicycle to help the rider stay grounded.
That might be the case when riding a motorcycle (since it weighs quite a bit more than the rider), but even the heaviest e-bikes would still be lighter than the rider.
If you commute on flat ground, you can use a lightweight racing bake and narrow tires. Unfortunately, that does not work for forest roads on my commute, so I need a heavier trekking bake with wide tires (with a lot more friction).
Moreover, if you can do 50 km/h of sustained speed, you should become a professional cycler. The world record is around 55 km in an hour. Pro cyclers can only sustain > 50 km/h speeds for shorter periods:
Of course, short stretches of 40 or 50 km/h is doable, but most fit cyclers cannot sustain that for 3 mile stretch. So, either you are near-pro or overestimating your average speed ;).
Ps. I pass the vast majority of (clearly non-recreational) cyclers (> 95%).
I always had a trekking bike, not that it was necessary for a concrete cycle lane.
The speed is not overestimated. The overground and the car have a well defined speed for comparison. Sometimes a friend would happen to drive along on the road on his way home and be surprised that I keep up with his car.
I cycled every day for a decade. That's a good training I guess.
Sustaining 20-25 is easy for me on a calm day. But on steep roads or windy days it's definitely more in the 10-15 or 15-20 ballpark.
(This is from experience. I am fit, cycle 22km every working day (roughly 5200km per year) with elevation differences and have an excellent bike.