How To

Eight ways to get faster on the bike

Everybody wants to be able to ride faster. Here are eight things to think about if you want to be a better cyclist

Get aero

Want to improve your speed on the bike? Read on!
No matter what, when you're riding on your own it's far more efficient to try and get out of the way of the air than attempt to overpower it
Having an expert design your training plan can take some of the guesswork out of training, and also help to ensure you recover properly and don't overtrain
Intervals might hurt, but they'll bring big gains (Pic: Media24)
Training with power might still be reasonably expensive, but it's by far the best metric for measuring your effort
Unless you're going fast enough to justify this position, then you can still pedal!
Going out with stronger riders will force you out of your comfort zone (Pic: Polka Dot Cycling)
Are you a masher or a spinner?
"Ride lots" was Eddy Merckx's opinion on how to become a better cyclist. It might not be that simple but hours in the saddle definitely make a difference

Get aero

The most obvious and sustainable way to get faster is to train harder or, more correctly, train smarter. Unfortunately, there’s no substitute for hard work and if you want to see those times drop you just have to get on the bike and put in the miles.

Having said that, of course, there are certain ways to eek out a bit more speed from your current wattage and the most obvious of those is to improve aerodynamics.

Unfortunately, the main limiting factor in aerodynamic terms is you. It doesn’t matter whether you’re as whispy as Chris Froome or built like a WWE wrestler, the person on the bike accounts for about 80 per cent of the total drag, which is why getting long and low on a TT bike is so effective. But outside of getting a dedicated TT machine, or adding a set of clip-on aerobars to your road bike, there are other things that make a difference. Take a look at your position on the bike, for example. Can you get lower without causing yourself discomfort? Do you use the drops enough? Is your jacket flapping in the wind, effectively acting like a sail?

Aero road bikes with their TT-esque tube profiles have also become popular in recent years, as have aero road helmets, and both will give you a small advantage over their standard cousins. Aero wheels, handlebars and skinsuits will also yield marginal gains, but the main problem with this approach is that it gets highly expensive very quickly. So unless you have extremely deep pockets it might be worth continuing and finding a more economical approach…