Raven Sport Tour - Is it fast enough?

[asinton]

I have recently received my new RST. Certainly a lovely bike. It has 14T sprocket and 42T chainring, I think I have the gearing right., 1st gear got me up a 1:4 ok and I haven't really needed 14th yet. It has Panaracer Pasela Tour Guard 26 x 1.5" tyres. It has straight "comfort" bars with bar ends. The first few rides out have been great but I feel I am going about 20% slower than I used to on my Dawes Galaxy, both without any real load. I currently am planning a tour of about 2500 miles over which I hope to average about 90 miles per day. My worry at the moment is that on the RST will this feel more like 110 miles per day? I wonder what other folk average on tours like this and what their average speed might be. I would hope to average about 15-16 mph "on the bike".

[stutho]

Hi Asinton,

Welcome to the list.

    I've got some very good news for you.  I am SURE that when you actually time yourself on your RST that you will be going quicker than you think.  Several others and myself have felt the same effect.  I don't know why this should be, the best way of describing the effect is that 80MPH in a Mercedes C class  feels a lot slower than in a 80MPH in a Ford Ka.

I live on the side of hill - my daily commute is hilly, my average commuting speed, on my RST, with light load, is... 25Kph~ 15.3mph (measured over one year all weathers).  Ok so I am not going to win any time trials but it will do me.

[freddered]

Agreed.

'Feel' isn't a good measure when riding a bike as smooth as an RST

The smoothness of my RT made it feel initially like I was hardly moving.  Fortunately I have a timed route.
There really is no difference between my RT and my 'fast tourer' (Dawes Galaxy equivalent) over my measured course.

Only way to be sure is to time a few runs.  Of course you may have a more upright riding position with flat bars.  That could slow you down.

[Fred A-M]

Ainston

Although I can't make any direct comparisons with the Galaxy, my experience of touring with the RST leads me to believe that a 90 mile day will more likely end up feeling like a 75 mile day.  I don't think it will necessarily get you there any quicker than a Galaxy - as FDR and Stutho both suggest, the only way to work this out is to do the same timed loaded route on both bikes in similar conditions, probably 2/3 times if you want a scientific conclusion.

I guarantee you however that the RST will prove to be the more ergonomic and comfortable bike assuming you have it set up right, especially on hilly, mountainous terrain where the reliable smooth changing of the Rohloff really comes into an element of its own compared to derailleurs: my climbing capabilities have improved since owning the RST, despite now being the wrong side of 40.   

Unless you're young and/or super-fit, 15-16 miles per hour strikes me as ambitious for loaded touring over 90 miles, (13/14 mph strikes me as more realistic?) especially if there are significant hills or poor roads en route.  If there aren't, you might consider higher gearing.

Good luck with the tour, am interested to know where are you touring from/to? 

[asinton]

Thanks for these positive comments everybody. I am certainly beginning to get used to the RST and liking it more with every day. I have pumped up the Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tyres to 80psi - it says max of 65psi on the tyre, anybody got any views on this? I have also lowered the bars. The whole thing is now beginning to feel nippier. I still doubt that it will have the turn of speed of a machine with 700 x 25 tyres pumped up to over 100psi but I am beginning to think when the day is over I will be less uncomfortable than in the old days.

I am currently planning a summer tour of England. My plan is to visit all the counties of England. I have so far put together a route that should be about 2500 miles - I have 4 weeks to do it. I will be light camping (bivi tent, sleeping bag, and mat together less than 2kg) with some nights in hostels and B&B. Most will be on road but I will also do some off road stuff such as the length of the South Downs Way. I like to put in quite big days with about 12-14 hours out, of which 8-10 would actually be on the bike.

[Fred A-M]

Wow, sounds like a challenge and a half. 

Good luck and keep us posted with how you're getting/you get on. 

Ref the RST, I personally think the "sport" is a bit of a misnomer ref speed (I'm guessing the difference is marginal compared to the Tour) but I've yet to hear any owners to ever have a bad thing to say about them regardless. 

[freddered]

Thanks for these positive comments everybody. I am certainly beginning to get used to the RST and liking it more with every day. I have pumped up the Panaracer Pasela Tourguard tyres to 80psi - it says max of 65psi on the tyre, anybody got any views on this? I have also lowered the bars. The whole thing is now beginning to feel nippier. I still doubt that it will have the turn of speed of a machine with 700 x 25 tyres pumped up to over 100psi but I am beginning to think when the day is over I will be less uncomfortable than in the old days.

I am currently planning a summer tour of England. My plan is to visit all the counties of England. I have so far put together a route that should be about 2500 miles - I have 4 weeks to do it. I will be light camping (bivi tent, sleeping bag, and mat together less than 2kg) with some nights in hostels and B&B. Most will be on road but I will also do some off road stuff such as the length of the South Downs Way. I like to put in quite big days with about 12-14 hours out, of which 8-10 would actually be on the bike.

I have a view on Tyre-pressures.

It makes probably the biggest difference to cycle performance of anything.

Schwalbe Marathon 1.5" are rated at 100psi and roll very quickly.  I wouldn;t consider a tyre rated at only 65psi.  I think the 1.75" Marathons are rated to 80psi.

[asinton]

I have done some timed runs now, over 20-50 miles. I am certainly going about 2mph slower than on my Dawes Galaxy. Might not seem like much but after a 10 hour day in the saddle it does add at least another hour. I am thinking that the biggest thing probably is tyre pressure, my older bike had 700 x 25c at 11p psi. The RST is clearly running wider tyres at lower pressure. The plus side of course is that the ride is certainly more comfortable and I can run the tyres over all types of roads and tracks and have not once felt at risk of puncturing, even as I crash down into a sudden pot hole. I have got the gearing about right and have used all 14 on the roads around Cumbria.
I might need to change my expectations about distance a bit but for me touring is about covering quite big distances, one of my biggest buzzes is going through a number of different types of country in a single day.

[Fred A-M]

Interesting feedback Asinton

After the first tour I did with the RST in Andalucia, whilst very pleased with the RST as a whole, I wasn't convinced that it was particularly sporty in the speed sense.  Given that Andalucia was the most mountainous/ambitious tour I'd done to date, it was actually difficult to work out why my daily average speeds weren't quite as high as I might have hoped. 

I subsequently went on a tour of Britanny in late May last year, and didn't clock particularly high average speeds either, but assumed that this was because I'd done little by way of preparation.  I actually had Panracers at the time but the rear side-wall gave way so ended up with a tractor tyre as the only available replacement and abandoned 4 days early due to not having the right clothing for winter-like weather.   

I'm off to finish that particular tour, an opportunistic and suitably attired 6 days of cycling in Normandy in a couple of weeks time, as I've a couple of weeks off in-between jobs.  Family demands have meant that I've again done sod all by way of preparation but will be using Marathon Racer tyres (the fastest Marathons available, apparently), so will let you know how I get on with those.   

[Fred A-M]

I've been smited for the above contribution, seemingly!  Now I wonder who on earth that could be!?