Most bang for your buck: bike

You lose energy in shocks so use a bike with no shocks unless your are riding off road.

So you have your bike. What can you do to make it faster? What is this most cost effective way?

Things that make you faster - aerodynamics that cheat the wind, friction reduction on moving parts and from the road, weight, not losing power in energy transfer. <--of these weight is the least important.

Here are some suggestions:

New tires - if you reduce friction between you and the road, you will go faster. If you are using mountain bike tires and you aren't on trails -GET RID OF THEM. road tires can be bought for as little as $20 pr. On road bikes you want tires that have minimal road contact - use the minimum tire width for your rim, a high profile center and a high max pressure. Decent 700cm road tires start at $20 ea.

Getting your bike fit properly for you. I'd recommend havng a more experienced cyclist give you pointers and then do some trial and error. It is free. You can also pay for professional fittings for $100-$250 but I don't recommend this unless you have disposable income and are a front of the pack cyclist.

Keep your bike clean and tuned up - $15 for a bike maintenance book and $3 for some WD-40 will be your best purchase.

Latex tubes are faster than butyl tubes. Why? I don't know. They just are.

Clipless pedals will help you go faster but that is $30+ for pedals, $60+ shoes and if you need help getting it all together there is labor cost too. The cheap and effective alternative and it is a MUST if you aren't clipless is to get some basket toe clips. $5-$15 at Target. Screw them on, adjust them for your favorite riding shoes and your off. Ideal shoes for biking are lighter and have a stiff sole - so pick the pair of your shoes that best fits that description.

An Aero Helmet - you'll look like a tool but the claim's are fantastic. In order to realize the benefit it must be one that covers your ear. These can sometimes be found for $50 on sale. Or you could just get a nice normal helmet that has good aerodynic flow $35+

The number one thing to make your bike go faster is the most effective tool and it's free. It is you. Train properly and get to your ideal weight.

Shoe Inserts

SO it has been a LOOONG time since the last post.

I was talked into a pair of Superfeet running shoe inserts. I put them in my Mizuno Wave INspire 5's - they hurt. I took them out and the shoes felt great. I stuck the inserts in a lesser pair of shoes New Balance 1140's I thought the shoes were bad. I took the inserts out and voila! the shoes are fine. INSERTS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY.