How fast can an 8-speed bike go? (Different bikes compared)

Have you ever wondered how fast an 8-speed bike can go? If you’re anything like me, then you may have even tested it out before. But is that really the right question to ask in the first place?

How fast can an 8-speed bike go?

An 8-speed bike can go as fast as 30mph. But that requires a good rider and a light bike with good gear ranges. The better question to ask would be: How fast can YOU go on an 8-speed bike?

How fast can you go on an 8-speed bike?

Your speed on this type of bicycle depends on two things:

Your fitness level and your bike.

The determining factor is probably about 75% your fitness and 25% your bike choice.

Because the sad truth is this:

Yes, you will be faster on a 30-speed, top-of-the-line road bike than on an 8-speed mountain bike. Especially over long distances and on paved roads.

But a Tour de France rider on an 8-speed mountain bike will still be faster than you if you ride a pure-bred 30-speed racer. Probably in both sprints and long distances.

The rider is just the bigger factor in all of this.

So let’s take a closer look at what speeds you can expect, based on your fitness level first.

We will then look at what difference the bike makes and how uphill / downhill affects your speed.

What is the top speed of an 8-speed bike?

Let’s assume that we are talking about a regular (hybrid) 8-speed bike for this.

The average rider can expect to top out around 30mph on a good bike.

A rider who is in better shape may be able to push it past the 40mph mark.

This is not a modern road bike purpose-built for racing.

Road bikes usually come with more gears and allow you to maintain higher speeds for longer.

What is the average speed of an 8-speed bike?

Again, this is more about the rider than the bike.

Most beginners may average around 6-12 mph (10-20km/h).

An average rider may average about 15-20 mph (25-32km/h).

A trained (and fit!) rider may average as much as 25mph or more (40km/h) over a long distance.

So the speed itself is not the issue when it comes to 8-speed bikes.

So what is the problem?

What difference bicycle types make

Now let’s see how different types of 8-speed bikes compare.

We will only look at the Average Rider from the table above.

As you can see, upgrading your bike will make you faster.

But it will rarely ever be faster than a fitter rider.

If you’re interested in seeing a real-life test on this, check out my article How fast can a 7 speed bike go? (Faster than you may think).

In it, I took my 7-speed for a spin and went as fast as I could. The results have truly surprised me and inspired this post in the first place. For reference: I consider myself an average rider at this point.

The problem with 8-speed bikes

The issue with an 8-speed bike is that it is much less efficient than, say, a 30-speed road bike.

The different gears on a bicycle are designed to help you sustain your cadence.

Your cadence is the number of pedal revolutions per minute.

Most people maintain a cadence of about 60 to 90 revolutions per minute.

Now, what we’re looking for are gear ranges that allow us to ride in our desired cadence for extended periods of time – at the desired speed.

The problem with 8-speed bikes is that their gear range is very limited.

• You will either end up with a bike that has a very low range (the lowest speed is not much different than the highest speed).
• Or you will have a wide range in gear ratios, but the distance between them is very big. So if you shift through your gears, it will always feel like “a big step up” when you enter the next gear ratio. This will make it really hard to find your perfect cadence (i.e. desired gear ratio) and takes more energy to sustain.

How fast can it go downhill?

The downhill speed of a bicycle is not as dependent on the number of speeds.

Rather, it is often limited by the highest gear range.

So a single speed bike can be just as fast as a 30-speed bike.

The bigger question is: How steep is that hill and how long can you roll for?

If you have a big enough hill, an 8-speed bike can realistically reach over 60mph (100km/h).

But if that’s safe is up to the rider to decide.

Most 8-speed bikes don’t have breaks that are made for these kinds of speeds.

So please don’t try to go that fast on a regular hybrid bike.

How fast can it go uphill?

How fast an 8-speed bike can go uphill depends on the hill more so than on the bicycle.

The steeper the climb, the slower the bike.

If it is really steep, it may even be too steep to ride uphill at all.

In which case you will probably have to push it at as slowly as 1mph (1.6 km/h).

As a general rule of thumb, the only gears that matter in this case are the low gears, or even ultra-low gears.

Those are the biggest cogs on your real wheel.

The bigger the largest gear, the slower (and more effortlessly) your bike will be able to crawl up the hill.

So the answer is: Anywhere between 1 mph and your average speed on the flat ground.

Are 8-speed bikes slow?

Now you have seen how fast 8-speed bikes can be. You also know how to make them even faster.

But are they fast compared to other bikes?

Let’s summarize:

• For most people, 8-speed bikes are fast enough.
• 8-speed bikes aren’t necessarily any slower than other kinds of bikes. What matters more than the number of speeds, is the gear ratio of the high-speed gear: You essentially want to combine the biggest front chain ring with the smallest rear cog.
• You are limited to 8 steps to get from the slowest to the fastest gear ratio – you are not limited in speed itself.
• Generally speaking, an 8-speed bike is not built for speed. It is often a recreational bike that lets you commute to work or school, haul some groceries, and get to the park to meet friends on the weekend.

If you are looking for a fast bike, you may want to upgrade to a road bike.

Who is an 8-speed bike Great for?

The humble 8-speed bike is great for someone who wants a reliable, simple, and inexpensive bike.

Something that can be used for commuting the whole year, whipping through the city, or going for a chill Sunday cruise.

Most of them are 8-speed hybrid bikes that are easy to customize and probably the most versatile bike out there.

They may not be the fastest bicycle on the road or even safe to take on a downhill trail.

But they’re perfect for everyone who just needs a bike.

They simply don’t get the love they deserve.