It’s funny: I’ve had the Sun EZ-Sport for over three years, and the Burley Django for over a year, but it’s never occurred to me to test them against each other. I suppose this is mostly because I’ve been using the Django almost exclusively since I got it, and hadn’t given much thought to the older bike.

EZ-Sport vs. Django: Head-to-Head

But awhile back I got to thinking about how the two bikes compared. I’d always assumed that the Django was faster, based on my average speed, but I’d never actually tested that assumption. Was the Django really faster than the EZ-Sport, and if so, how much?

Only one way to find out – run an experiment – in this case, a time trial.

I moved the pedals to the EZ-Sport, along with the pump, tools, and water bottles, and took it out for a short 16-mile out-and-back over a largely flat course. The bike was still set up just as I’d left it, and yet it felt strange to ride it again. I remember when I first test-rode this bike three years ago, it felt so natural, so easy to ride. Now, the lower bottom bracket, higher seat, more upright seating position, and outstretched arms felt awkward. But I completed the ride, and it was feeling more comfortable by the end.

I then moved the pedals, pump, tools, and water bottles back to the Django and rode the exact same course.

The results: 14.41 MPH for the EZ-Sport, and 16.01MPH for the Django. That’s a pretty significant difference – the Django was 1.6 MPH (11%) faster. OK, so why?

  • I weighed myself plus each of the bikes on my bathroom scales, and it came out to 205.8 pounds for the EZ-Sport, and 200.4 for the Django. That’s a difference of only 5.4 pounds (about 2.6%), so that’s a big part of the difference, though certainly not the whole story.

  • The pedals on the Django are quite a bit higher than on the EZ-Sport, so I’d expect that I’d use slightly different muscles, and since I’ve been riding the Django almost exclusively, my muscles are optimized for that bike.

  • The EZ-Sport has a more upright riding position, whereas the Django’s is more reclined. Perhaps the windy conditions gave a significant advantage to the more aero riding position.

  • The EZ-Sport uses Kenda Kwest tires, and the Django uses Primo/Serfas tires, which are lighter weight. (Note: This test was performed before I switched the Django over to fat tires.)

All those factors favored the Django. However, I rode the EZ-Sport first, so I had fresher legs, and rode the Django when I was already tired.

So, bottom line I’d say that the Django is definitely faster. Perhaps not 1.6 MPH faster under all conditions, but probably at least 1 MPH faster the majority of the time.

That basically validates my earlier assumption about how the two bikes compare.

The bigger question is whether moving another 5 pounds down in weight would result in another 1.0-to-1.5 MPH speed increase – perhaps. How about if I could save 10 pounds? 15 pounds?

How about when I’m touring and am hauling 30-40 pounds of excess weight? What will that do to my average speed?

These questions are still to be answered….