Are 10 speed road bikes really that slow? (20+ year old bike)?

Question

I bought a 20+ year old centurion signet 10 speed for $70. I was wondering if they are a lot slower than 12+ speed road bikes by a huge margin. I would also like to know if they are harder to pedal than the higher speed bikes (haven't tried newer bikes yet). I am not sure if I should invest in this bike (not paying a lot) or buy a better bike because I'm not sure if the speed is worth going through that trouble.

Answer 1

It depends mostly on the rider, E.g. My nan will never be as fast as me or my uncle who ride a lot. Also is depends on the gearing, the chances are its nearly the same on both bike more expensives just have more of a choice so you can fine-tune the gear to the hill etc.

If the old bikes works, is light enough, and njot about to fall apart then there is no reason to get another one, the extra gears dont justify a new bike. Anyway if more gears is all your interested in then just buy some new ones for the old bike, it will be a lot cheaper than a whole new bike.

Answer 2

The ten gear ratios on your Centurion may cover the same range as a 12 or higher gear train.  The 10 will be just farther apart, (have bigger gaps in the gearing).  Of course it weighs more but for most riding it will not matter very much.   The single most effrective thing you may want to change are the wheels. (I'm assuming it has steel wheels.)  For the price you cannot beat it.  Since it is heavier it will go down hill faster!Keep it, ride lots, and in a year or so you will know more and will make better buying decisions.

Answer 3

If you put the same rider on a 20 year old bike and on a new state of the art bike, yes the 20 year old bike would be slower, mainly due the heavy weight of the bike. But a 20 year old bike will have a similar gear range as a new bike. (Not taking a triple chainring into consideration, but that's another topic.)

Unless you plan on entering some races or have a lot of steep hills in your rides, the 20 year old bike is probably fine for cruising around town.

Answer 4

It isn't the amount of gears that make the bike slower.  After rider fitness weight of the bike is usually the next biggest factor.  Modern bikes with 18 or 30 gears just have a smaller jump between gears so you can find the perfect cadence for the speed at which you want to travel, many of the gears are redundant also.  I've seen some older guys with their beloved ten speeds go along at a pretty good speed.  My opinion , even though I am not familiar with the bike you named, is for $70 its probably an okay buy.  Even if you do decide to buy a better bike in the future this bike would be good for transportation purposes.  If you were to have to lock it up and leave it unattended somewhere you probably wouldn't fret too much about it being stolen.

Answer 5

It's a matter of weight. A 20 year old steel frame bike is undoubtedly quite a bit heaver than a modern lightweight bike. So it will take more effort to pedal at any given speed. The number of gears or "speeds" doesn't make a bike faster or slower (that's up to the rider). The more gears you have, the easier it is to find a comfortable cadence for a given incline. A modern road bike can have 10 gears on the rear cassette and 2 or 3 on the chainwheel. This means you can more easily find gears without having to change the whole gearing range via the front derailleur.

Answer 6

The "Speed" of a bike doesn't actually determine how fast it goes. It's a way of saying how many gears it has to offer. Therefore a 12 speed bike has 2 more gears to offer, which helps in trying the keep a controlled cadence.