I was out on a rail trail today and a jogger turned around at the gate. I got on and she outdistanced me. I know I am not very fast,but This was disheartening:( That is partly why I am looking for the dual cranks. Anyway, how fast do people casually pedal? What should I be doing easily on a 26" Oracle?
When I had 165mm cranks on my 26", joggers would be marginally faster than my casual riding speed. A 26" oracle isn’t made for speed though, its made for muni, and I’m sure you’re having a lot more fun riding than they are jogging along.
I’m around 10km/hr but when I’m really working I’ll get about 12km/s on my 26er. I haven’t got a cycle computer so that’s calculated after the fact, measuring time & distance.
On my 20 i can just about go as fast as people running for about 100 meters 
(Me keeping that speed up for that long not a race over that length)
On the 36" with 125 cranks i can about 16 - 18 mph so can give a fair number of bikes a challenge.
I am learning on a 24" conundrum. I get passed by joggers routinely. I don’t care, I’m not in a race and refuse to pedal to exhaustion just so I don’t get passed. I run at an 8:30 pace on long runs, I think I move marginally slower(maybe a 9 minute mile?) on my uni. If I wanted to go fast, I wouldn’t buy a 24 though, my future paved cruising ride will be a 36. Try to pass me then, jogger!
I try to ride at just below the ignition point of my clothing. That varies with materials and sometimes I overestimate. Those are the uncomfortable rides.
As a longtime runner, I just wanted to point out that are joggers and then there are “joggers”: the first group sometimes moves slower than a normal walking pace, and the second group should really be called runners because they move at about 6min/mile pace or less. (And then there’s everyone in between.)
So the question might be, which group is passing you?
I learned on a 24 and decided I needed a faster uni when two ladies ran along side me while a third ran ahead and took a photo. I came home and ordered a 29. I think I should have the option of posing for a photo or not.
I am not that fast on it, but now I can keep up with most runners.
Thanks for the responses. I don’t think she was a runner:p I’m going to carry my GPS next time out to see how slow I actually am. Put in an order for shorter cranks, so I can try that eventually. Just wondered what I should be aspiring to. I do like the 26" over the 24" for speed and comfort. I’m faster than my husband, but he is on a 24". He goes really slowly. I have tried riding behind him, but I just can’t stay up that slowly. Fortunately, he doesn’t mind if I zip ahead.
I love that you both ride. Good on ya!
I can average about 10 mph (16 kmh) on a 29 and about 12 - 13 mph on a 36 for extended periods.
The 24 would be about 24/29 as fast as the 29.
I heard that JJuggle is sending you a pair of corduroy bike shorts for Christmas. 
Good for you to be riding somewhere are 62, let alone with your spouse! You should be aspiring to whatever makes you happy. The easiest way to increase your speed would be to get a 36", but then your poor husband would be riding by himself. Maybe a 29"?
On a standard unicycle (24"/125mm) I’m about the same speed over a marathon distance as a world class runner, and slightly slower over 10km.
One thing to keep in mind: If you ride much faster than you can run, you’ll have difficulty running out of a UPD and might do a face plant 
I ride a 24" quax. My GPS (endomondo) tracking shows average speed is around 7.5km/t. Tracked top speed is usually 12-15km/t.
You think that’s bad… I once had a trail runner come up behind me and “help” by pushing on the small of my back as I was trying to go up a hill. Correcting for the all the pushing made the climb quite a bit harder.
I’m not a fast rider, but speed and endurance are rarely my goal. In fact sometimes I think some of the muni videos I watch are played back faster than 1:1, that’s how slow I am. Besides, like BillyTheMountain said, I like to be able to comfortably run out UPDs.
Just for another datapoint, I can comfortably cruise at 13km/h on my 26er muni with 150 cranks and 18km/h on my 29er roadie with 125 cranks. I am a runner, and 13km/h would be a fast cruise running pace on the flat (though more effort involved than riding at that speed on my 26er) whilst 18km/h is race pace (maybe not now, but I’ve run 5km at that pace in the past) or interval training pace.
On my 26er I can certainly ride faster than anybody other than a proper runner can run - though personally I can do the routes I ride off-road faster when running than when riding.
Hi ya unibiddy. It’s great that your spouse rides uni as well.
I have been known to manage speeds of 6 mph on a 26” with 127 cranks.
Sometimes I feel :o when I get overtaken.
I’ve had moments (no not the cranks :D) on my 29” where speed got the better of me and I slowed down cos I knew I couldn’t outrun the upd 
On the 26" with 165mm cranks I can max ~10mph and average ~7mph over a 20 mile ride.
On the 36" I can average ~11mph on 165’s, ~12mph on 150’s and ~13mph on 125’s. The fastest I’ve managed that I’ve been able to record accurately is 17.4mph on 125’s, but that was on the very first time I’d ridden a 36er and I could probably do better now.
Yup, uni is slow esp on difficult terrain, only on pavement am I faster riding uni than running.
Don’t sweat the speed, if you’re in a hurry then run or ride a bike.
Think about uni as technical way to ambulate, sorta like rock clmbing: If it were faster then it’d be easier.