What's your fastest?

iain_j

Shamelessly nicked from the Commuting forum... what's the fastest you've been on your bike?

I did 51mph once down the twisty side of Holme Moss years ago, and caught up a motorbike which had overtaken me on one of the bends - don't know who was more suprised, me or him! That was on my old Halfords-esque British Eagle... at the time i didn't realise it wasn't meant to do those speeds never mind the distances i took it. That speed was probably due to its sheer weight (with front sus), don't know how i got it up Holme Moss in the first place!

Haven't topped 50mph since but frequently hit the high 40's on long descents.

Anonymous

47mph.

Was trying to break that the other day, did 45mph down terrington bank I think it's called in Yorkshire, hit some black ice at about 43mph though and could feel the bike slipping, lukilly I stayed on!

snakehips

Mine is a modest 37.5 downhill at a spot where many go much faster. Maybe I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat , but there is an abrupt right turn near the bottom. There is also a rather low speed limit to be considered.

Slow Downcp

209.8mph on the flat - although it could have been interference from the overhead power lines

morite

Slow Downcp wrote:

209.8mph on the flat - although it could have been interference from the overhead power lines

Sounds like when my heart rate went to 402

47.6mph on roads I didn't know in Cornwall

iain_j

Slow Downcp wrote:

209.8mph on the flat - although it could have been interference from the overhead power lines

Nah, most likely you had a tailwind

I've lost my nerve on most descents, i only really let go on hills with long straights and easy bends, otherwise i'm heavy on the brakes. I blame the brakes on my new bike, they don't inspire me with confidence. May treat myself to an upgrade.

Anonymous

I notice on the flats going on the drops don't make much difference but on descents, you on the hoods, then suddenly you get onto the drops and you accelerate so much faster it's scary!, I always go on the hoods on descents as it's so scary on the drops I feel like I'm going to fall off even though I know I have more control on the drops :shock:

mortozola

55.2 mph in the Preseli Hills (B4329) in SW Wales. Haven't come close since.

I have to admit I cheated a bit though. Was doing a loop from my Grandparents house. First time I went down the hill I clocked the computer at 47mph but had to slow up because the OS Map in my jersey pocket was about to fly out (an it didnt belong to me)! I could tell it was a perfect opportunity to try and break the 50mph, so I rode back to my Grandad's house and convinced him to drive me to the top so I could give it another go...55.2mph was the max recorded speed once I got to the bottom. I had my eyes shut and was more worried about my Grandad running me over!! :shock:

finchy

45mph down a hill.

I hit 53mph on my rollers yesterday, but then had to slow right down because it's hard to control a bike on rollers at that speed.

iain_j

willhub wrote:

I notice on the flats going on the drops don't make much difference but on descents, you on the hoods, then suddenly you get onto the drops and you accelerate so much faster it's scary!, I always go on the hoods on descents as it's so scary on the drops I feel like I'm going to fall off even though I know I have more control on the drops :shock:

I get this too, especially on my Dalesman. It accelerates like a bullet when i'm on the drops, and as i said the brakes aren't brilliant. There doesn't seem to be much between light braking, hardly slowing me down, to feeling like it's going to lock up.

popette

around 36mph and that's probably enough for me - I get a bit scared going that fast. I can't imagine what it must be like to go 50mph on a bike - I would be absolutely terrified :shock:

nasahapley

Bang on 60mph going down Fleet Moss into Hawes with a bit of a tailwind. Was a bit dubious as to whether it was accurate but my mate recorded 60.5 at the same time so I'll take it! To be honest 60 doesn't feel too much different from 50, which is much the same as 40. Rather daftly took a picture of the speedo when I got back, which the girlfriend later found on the computer - cue a sizeable b*****king.

iain_j

I remember 51mph not feeling that fast compared to doing less speed on other roads. The steering on that old bike was terrific though, i was flinging it through the bends.

I remember reading on some other forum years ago, some fella did 50+ on a tandem with his kid on the back, down something in Dartmoor. He got a b*****king from other forummers

antfly

I`ve done 50mph also, down Roby Mill and always do the mid 40`s at least there.The toughest part is not braking at the top and just letting it go.Sometimes it feels much faster than others.

Anonymous

nasahapley wrote:

Bang on 60mph going down Fleet Moss into Hawes with a bit of a tailwind. Was a bit dubious as to whether it was accurate but my mate recorded 60.5 at the same time so I'll take it! To be honest 60 doesn't feel too much different from 50, which is much the same as 40. Rather daftly took a picture of the speedo when I got back, which the girlfriend later found on the computer - cue a sizeable b*****king.

Is fleet moss not really narrow and windy? Or is that the other side of it?

popette wrote:

around 36mph and that's probably enough for me - I get a bit scared going that fast. I can't imagine what it must be like to go 50mph on a bike - I would be absolutely terrified :shock:

Well 42mph+ is awesome, not scary, I just want to go faster and faster and faster!, you get a real buzz from it, it feels like 100mph in a car, but different.

iain_j wrote:

willhub wrote:

I notice on the flats going on the drops don't make much difference but on descents, you on the hoods, then suddenly you get onto the drops and you accelerate so much faster it's scary!, I always go on the hoods on descents as it's so scary on the drops I feel like I'm going to fall off even though I know I have more control on the drops :shock:

I get this too, especially on my Dalesman. It accelerates like a bullet when i'm on the drops, and as i said the brakes aren't brilliant. There doesn't seem to be much between light braking, hardly slowing me down, to feeling like it's going to lock up.

Yea my breaks don't seem too good, I worry about skidding.

In the north york moors it is so fun, there was this bumpy slightly sloping long rode with some bends, all the way on that it was like 30+mph constant, usually 45 constant but I could not get any higher speed due to the wind, this woman who is usually leading the rides was like slow down, she always goes slow down hills.

Red Rock

I've posted this before...

43.4 mph on road bike going down Roby Mill on 9th March 2008.

56.0 mph on mountain bike from Ffestiniog down the B4391 in the summer of 1990. I got a little scarred at the time

Must say that a mountain bike is a lot more stable and controllable at speed than a road bike, and I can bring my mountain bike to a stand still a hell of a lot quicker too.

Oh, and 567 mph on a toilet (Singapore to Sydney on Qantas 747).

Anonymous

How powerful would a cyclist have to be to be able to cycle happily at 40mph on the flat.

Even better, how powerful would a cyclist have to be match a 747?

With my old speedo my max speed was 74mph as I was crossing a junction.

mark_oakden

47.3 mph, about here, pedalling downhill like crazy on my ~13 kg hybrid a couple of weeks before I bought my road bike.

Not too keen to repeat or better it though - on a subsequent commute on the same bike, I had a blowout (at low speed, thankfully) on the front tyre valve stem:- almost instant flat tyre - wouldn't have been nice at that speed.[/url]

FSR_XC

On a bike . . . . . 156mph . . . . . but I did have 950cc of engine between my legs.

On a cycle . . . . 48.9mph . . . . now I'm looking for a bigger hill

Topped 45mph a few times recently too.

nasahapley

willhub wrote:

nasahapley wrote:

Bang on 60mph going down Fleet Moss into Hawes with a bit of a tailwind. Was a bit dubious as to whether it was accurate but my mate recorded 60.5 at the same time so I'll take it! To be honest 60 doesn't feel too much different from 50, which is much the same as 40. Rather daftly took a picture of the speedo when I got back, which the girlfriend later found on the computer - cue a sizeable b*****king.

Is fleet moss not really narrow and windy? Or is that the other side of it?

The Buckden/Oughtershaw side of Fleet Moss is indeed narrow and windy, but the Hawes side is perfect for top speed madness - steep, fairly wide, no bends as such (though there is a 'kink'), and you can see the road for well over a mile ahead. Good climb to get to it too. Doing over double that speed up it on a motorbike is a laugh as well (or at least I imagine it would be, officer).

gert_lush

47mph on the road bike
47 mph on a fully loaded tourer
49mph on my snowboard :shock: :shock: :shock:

iain_j

willhub wrote:

How powerful would a cyclist have to be to be able to cycle happily at 40mph on the flat.

As powerful as your average TdF rider - I think 40mph is a typical speed in a sprint finish.

"Happily" depends on whether he wins or not

Ken Night

I've never really had the cojones, to let go properly on the N side of Fleet Moss-for me it has the potential to be a first 60mph descent.

Pork Hill, nr Tavistock often sees 55 mph, and I've done 57mph. one person claims 60 (there is always one isn't there?) but this was before the days of cycle 'puters

These days I tend to start thinking of the flimsiness of the wheels etc when I get to 45mph, and more recently I came off on some ice at around 30mph, so I'm doubly cautious

Roadie Rods

just over 60mph... with a just a little help from the Galibier down to the Lauteret!

Anonymous

iain_j wrote:

willhub wrote:

How powerful would a cyclist have to be to be able to cycle happily at 40mph on the flat.

As powerful as your average TdF rider - I think 40mph is a typical speed in a sprint finish.

"Happily" depends on whether he wins or not

No, I meant happily cycle at 40mph.

They aint happily cycling along on a sprint finish lol!!!!!

jimycooper

i've got 88kph down devil's dyke just outside brighton, its a long, strait and steep desent
sooo thrilling and i try and top it every time i go down.

little wiser

hit 40 mph on my commute a lot keep up with traffic ,from memory fastest on road bike 56mph some where in wales. fastest on motorbike 174mph (and it wasnt mine lol)

dennisn

I remember being somewhere around 50 MPH coming down off the top off a high Colorado pass, the road was really straight for quite a distance , so I said to myself "let's have a go at this". My "go at it" lasted all of a couple of seconds as I seemed to, all of a sudden, pick up an enormous amount of speed. I never looked at the speedo but simply sat up and
said "what the hell am I doing". That, whatever it was, was fast enough. Luckily I didn't
have to stop and clean out my shorts.

Dennis Noward

John Moore

2 years ago on my road bike 8)

reecesanford

46mph on the A58 between Ripponden and Smithybridge.
Mind you i had the pleasure of keeping the wind off me sitting behind a car that couldnt go any quicker.Most of it i was on the brakes all the time as well.

Was even more spectacular as i saw the Red Arrows fly past at the same time.

MrsT

Many years ago I was stopped by a policeman with a radar gun, He wanted to tell me I was doing 34mph in a 30mph zone, he thought it hilarious that my 2 year old daughter was behind me in her child seat yelling "Faster Mum!"
She's now 18 and won't ride a bike, whereas I'm still pedalling!!!!