How Am I Doing?

[bananabike]

Hi all,

At the end of last year I was essentially given a road bike by my friend's (he has a 1998 Pinarello Stelvio) brother (he has a 2008 Boardman team)_. It;s an early 2000s Apollo TDF 100, so nothing spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, but I love it!
I've been riding more and more recently with improved weather and fixing the bike a bit (new headset). I recently did a 34 mile rile in 2 hours and 5 minutes and did a 10 mile "time trial" in 32 minutes. (I'm 33 and not exactly my ideal weight!). I'm currently quite happy with this and I have no ambitions to "race", just fitness and pleasure (which I'm getting much of at the moment).
I would love to get a newer, "better" bike but finances simply don't allow it at the moment. Would I see any improvement in "performance" with a newer/"better" bike, or would it be more likely to have the psychological impact of "I've got a better bike, so I'm going faster".
In any case, my current machine has got me loving clocking up the miles and hopefully there are many more happy years of cycling ahead!

[martyn gall]

IME yes it does make you quicker but not for the reason you think I found when I started cycling 6 or 7 years ago that buying new kit kept me motivated to get more miles in so ultimately resulted in Higher averages and slimmer waistline. Now no longer need any motivation through kit as chasing the faster guys gives me all I need now