- [Ollie] We've see the difference between
riding a cheap bike and a super bike while cycling.
And, well, it's pretty big.
Super bikes allow you to ride faster for the same effort.
And that's probably why they feel so much fun.
- [Hank] Yeah, but what about in the real world?
What about riding in cities?
Riding to and from work?
Have you ever wondered how much difference
a super bike actually makes to your commute?
(upbeat music)
- I wonder what it would be like commuting on a super bike?
- So in this video we are going to find out
by doing an old-fashioned commuter race.
(air whooshing)
- My weapon of choice is this.
The Orbea orca arrow.
This is one of the top of the range bikes.
I would feel right at home at the Tour de France.
It's fully carbon fiber and it's aerodynamically optimized.
It's got electronic gears from Dura Ace di 2
and to top it all off I've gone for
aerodynamic carbon-fiber rims from Vision.
- Yeah, it's fair to say Ollie has absolutely no chance.
- I'm not heading to a regular bike shop
nor am I going to a budget Walmart-type store.
I'm going to the Bristol Bike Project,
which is a nonprofit initiative set out to help
give underprivileged people access to bikes.
They also reuse, recycle and repair older bikes
and sell them at a fraction of the cost
of Hank's super bike.
It's a cheap bike with a conscience.
(upbeat music)
So this is it in here where they
refurbish and repair bikes,
and they also got their fully repaired bikes
for sale as well, so there's quite a selection.
- [Ollie] Right mate.
- [Hank] Yeah.
- [Ollie] I've seen one.
- That BMX over there.
- Fortunately, I've retired from jumping
and stunts since Taiwan.
(competition music)
But the reason why this one caught my eye,
which is that rather smart-looking single speed.
It's also cheap 195 pounds, bargain.
(upbeat music)
- Right.
One bike please.
- Okay, 195 pounds, please.
(upbeat music)
- Yes!
(both laughing)
- Kid in a candy shop.
- I bought a new bike!
I'm really pleased with it.
It's the perfect commuter bike.
I mean, it's single speed so,
well, it's really low maintenance, ideal for commuting.
You don't have to worry about it.
We got brakes front and rear, aluminum frame,
again, durable, you know, pretty light for what it is.
And Continental Gatorskin tires.
These things are absolutely bomb-proof.
They last for ages, ideal for commuting.
Right, let's get to it.
(upbeat music)
- Now I am really going to put the hammer down
as soon as we go to really make Ollie work for this one.
I think I'll probably leave him for dead on the open road.
But I'm going to try and make it count
through the city streets as well.
He's got no chance.
- Right, ready to roll.
- Our experiment today is a simple one.
We're doing an old-fashioned race
from here in Bristol in the southwest
to Bath in the southwest.
- Yeah, we've plotted the route on comut and it's
21 kilometers long and it begins in urban roads
with lots of junctions, lots of traffic lights, quite busy,
but voiding out into some nice undulating, flowing,
sort of, idyllic cycling roads before the fast run
into Bath.
- I guess what we're trying to find out here
is how much faster can we get to work,
which means more time in bed, more time home,
I guess and more money saved.
- Yeah, well time is money.
The smart money as well, and my money.
It is on you and your super bike to beat me.
But I want to see how much time this black beauty,
absolute bargain, concedes to your super bike.
- A lot.
- Well, hopefully not too much.
- Get pedaling mate.
- All right, let's go.
(laughing)
(upbeat music)
- I might not get extra time in bed.
But at least when we do get to Bath,
unlike James, I'll be able to afford a coffee,
or probably about 5,000 coffees.
- (curses) He keeps sprinting for every single light.
It's ridiculous.
Fortunately, they keep on changing to red,
giving me a chance to catch up
so I can sort of keep going.
Having to constantly accelerate
on a slightly heavier bike,
it just definitely requires more effort than Hank's
super light carver ones
and it's hard to quantify,
but being aluminum frame it's just not quite as stiff
and not quite as efficient when you put the power down,
but to be honest,
unless if I was just riding normally to work
and I wasn't racing against the Duracell bunny
I probably wouldn't notice.
There's not much in it.
(upbeat music)
- Well this isn't really going to plan, is it?
It's like the tortes catching the hare.
(inaudible)
(upbeat music)
(yelling)
Oh! He's done it!
He's done it!
(laughing)
Not so fast!
See you later!
Right it's been about 30 seconds without a traffic light
and Ollie's a speck in the distance.
This is when I can gain some time to get some speed up.
Now a good point to make is that riding
is also about
having fun and enjoying it.
So why wouldn't you want to be on your best bike?
After all that's what I'd do on my weekends,
so making it count during the week
makes sense, doesn't it?
I mean it is great fun riding this.
- Right, now I'm plodding along,
let's talk about the benefits of commuting to work by bike.
Now aside from the health and fitness benefits
and also the reduced environmental impact.
cycling to work
can also save you an absolute fortune
and being from Yorkshire I'm all about that.
Once you've paid the upfront cost of a bike,
then the annual cost of cycling per year
is estimated to be about 200 pounds.
And that factors in replacement parts for wear and tear,
things like your chain
and maybe a service from a friendly bike shop as well.
And also a few accessories like,
waterproof clothing which
would of come in handy today.
Now if you compare this to commuting to public transport,
well a route like Bath and Bristol or Bristol to Bath
by train is going to cost you around 2,200 pounds a year.
Loads!
And then if you drove to work in a car, well
even a small family hatch back like a Ford Fiesta,
that's going to cost you about 2,900 pounds
a year in running costs.
Which is loads!
Although this isn't really a Ford Fiesta
it's more like a Volvo 850 Estate.
It's astonishing though, isn't it?
The amount of money that can be saved,
but it is noticeably slower than my normal bike
and I'm finding it even harder than usual
to keep up with Hank
and that is something that I do normally struggle with
on my best bike,
but the bike just feels a bit more sluggish.
I mean, it's heavier
and so consequently every time the road heads uphill
it feels a little bit harder.
but you know this could be a good thing,
I mean to go the same speed,
you have to put in more effort
which means you get a better workout every cloud.
There's another advantage to,
which is that right now,
while Hank's riding his best bike
mine is safely tucked up at home
meaning that after I've ridden this all week,
when I get it out and ride it on Saturday
it's going to feel even better!
(pants)
(bass music)
- Well saving your best bike for the weekend
is an interesting one.
I mean, how long does it take
to ruin your best bike if you're riding it everyday?
I guess it's like a car,
if you've got a car and you take care of it,
you service it regularly,
you clean it and you look after it.
Well the bills aren't going to rack up
and it's much the same as a bike.
These are made to take punishment,
so as long as you
service it, clean it, lube the chain, etcetera.
It will last!
Then again you will have to eventually replace brake pads
and chain, etcetera
and that will be more expensive
than Ollie's cheap project bike,
but look how much fun you're having!
Even around the corners and everything.
(excited shouting)
One of the biggest differences between our two bikes
are the brakes
and brakes are essential when you're commuting
and riding your bike anytime really,
but particularly when commuting
because of all the hazards
and junctions and things that you often need to stop at
in urban environments,
but these brakes...
they're a low cost break,
but event if they're properly maintained
they can work really well.
Not as well as Hank's
super expensive hydraulic disk breaks,
but well enough to stop me
should I need them.
(upbeat music)
- Right, here he is.
- Oh god, how long you been here?
- Well, I had half my hot chocolate
so I would say around seven...
seven and a half minutes.
- Seven minutes?
Pfft, that's not too bad.
- [Ollie] Hank completed the 22.8 kilometer route
in 41 minutes 18 seconds
with an average speed of 33.1 kilometers per hour.
He did have to stop for quite a few traffic lights
out of Bristol.
I managed it around 7 minutes slower,
48 minutes 42 seconds
around 28 kilometers per hour.
Although admittedly had I also been on a super bike
Hank probably still would've beaten me
just by a smaller margin.
- One thing I did do mate, is order you a coffee
- Aw, thanks mate...
- and a waffle.
- A half eaten strut waffle
(laughter)
- Yeah... about that.
- Thanks mate, thanks for that.
Well I'll tell you what right,
the cheap bike
does have a big advantage over the super bike right now,
and that is...
it's a far less attractive target to thieves
than your super bike
and no bike lock in the world
is going to stop a determined thief
from nicking your bike,
it's so nice.
And I think it just makes it less practical,
like if I want to stop off at the shops on the way home,
you can't really do that with yours.
- It's by no coincidence that we're sitting outside
and I've got a good view of of my bike,
but for riding purposes the super bike
is a far better bike to ride
and far more fun,
but it's not that much quicker
and yeah, I can't just roll up to a cafe
and leave it out of sight
or even a pub.
- Yeah.. but I think
if your commute is over a few kilometers
then there's no reason why you shouldn't do it
on a really nice bike like that as well,
you'll get your destination quicker,
you'll save more time...
there's more time you can have you know..
back home. It's not dead time
or you can use it to ride further
and you'll probably enjoy your riding more as well.
- Even a bike
that costs a few thousand pounds can be cheaper
than commuting by train or by car
making it economical justifiable
- Yeah! Right mate.. I've got to go.
- Where you off to?
- Oh I've got a flight to catch,
business class. Flying to the Maldives
for a cruise.
Putting all that money that I saved
not buying a decadent super bike to good use.
See yea!
(chuckling)
- Well I guess that ends our experiment.
If you did enjoy this video
then make sure you give it a big thumbs up
and for more cheap bike versus super bike
why don't you click over there.
I've got home vacation...
(cursing)
He's got my bike!