How fast can your bike go?

ohlala!

I don't have a cycle computer, but last time I was riding the speed reminder sign on the side of the road flashes the word "slow!". The road is a 30mph zone. I thought it was flashing because a car was coming on fast, however there were no cars behind me.

I was rather pleased, I thought I couldn't reach 30mph on a flatish road (very slight incline).

Stewie Griffin

If I went balls out on a sprint, you would all wake up as children again. Thats how fast I am

blu3cat

Stewie Griffin wrote:

If I went balls out on a sprint, you would all wake up as children again. Thats how fast I am

uh-huh, little bit of time travel using general relativity there. How fast would you need to be going?

Stewie Griffin

blu3cat wrote:

Stewie Griffin wrote:

If I went balls out on a sprint, you would all wake up as children again. Thats how fast I am

uh-huh, little bit of time travel using general relativity there. How fast would you need to be going?

No idea, my bikes computer doesnt do standard form. I need a Garmin 8)

jonmack

First ride on a road bike ever today and on the flat the computer was reading between 20 and 21, got it up to about 36 down a nice hill though!

Gav2000

bobtbuilder wrote:

My bike can go really fast!

It's my legs that are the problem. :oops:

I too have a very fast bike that is let down by the rider. If I had a bike that was in line with my ability I think I'd still be on a Raleigh Grifter.

Bhima

Went 55.3mph for 8.6 miles - drafting my mate's van down a big empty dual-carrageway at 2am. We did it just for fun really, no reason!

In a tailwind down the A54 I once held 53mph for ages... Was quite disappointed when I got to Blaze Farm for some food and had to slow down - I wanted to just keep going!

Unaided on the flat, i've held 33ish for about 20 seconds. Really really hard. I held 40mph on the flat for about 3 seconds after a short downhill section in a crosswind too. Absolutely died after it though.

ollie cb wrote:

Oh and can anyone please tell me what sort of speed sprinters get up to on the tour or giro? I've been trying to find out for a while now.

Depends on the sprinter and the conditions.

A friend of a friend of a friend's husband was at the end of this year's Milano-San-Remo and used one of those laser gadget things on Mark Cavendish as he decided to accellerate to his all-out effort. 37/38 mph I think, although he was nowhere near the finish line - where Cav was probably going a LOT faster! I remember the first time I went 40mph - I was in shock and remember thinking about how inconcievable it was to be able to accellerate to that on the flat without the aid of a hill. If those laser speed readings are correct, it really puts things in perspective! :shock:

Infamous

You can sprint to 40 mph on the flat, but it took you 13:56 to do a 5m TT ?

FCE2007

blu3cat wrote:

Stewie Griffin wrote:

If I went balls out on a sprint, you would all wake up as children again. Thats how fast I am

uh-huh, little bit of time travel using general relativity there. How fast would you need to be going?

88 mph (with a flux capacitor in your saddle bag)

Frenchy266

Going down hill I got 37mph on my Carrera Virtuoso, started Shaking then so thought best to slow down cos it would prob hurt if i came off at that speed !!

Any Ideas anyone !! I'm looking to get some new wheels ? Any sujestions ?

Cheers

cougie

Bhima- your speedo is bust.

LardLover

Shall I get my c0ck out now and start waving it?

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

antfly

Not in public,preferably.

TiBoy

My Nokia GPS recorded me at 51.4 mph going into Wallingford lst weekend when on the Oxfordshire Classic on a Sunday with a 53/12. Nice, previous best was 48.6 on a local short hill.

teagar

Somewhere around 67kph, in the Peaks. I find my gearing doesn't let me pedal at that speed and however much I stay tucked I can't really break that, even on the steepest long hills I can find around here.

No idea how you all get over 70kph, unless you're all fat bastards!

balthazar

teagar wrote:

Somewhere around 67kph, in the Peaks. I find my gearing doesn't let me pedal at that speed and however much I stay tucked I can't really break that, even on the steepest long hills I can find around here.

No idea how you all get over 70kph, unless you're all fat bastards!

Steep hills. I live in Cornwall and reach over 50mph a couple of times most rides. I like going downhill fast so I shape my rides around descents as much as for tough climbs and nice views. The only technique involved is not braking. 60 mph for me is very rare, it requires a strong tailwind on the hills around here. On mountain passes in Europe, higher speeds are attainable only if you have a strong tailwind, in my experience, because the roads are switchbacked and consequently less steep.

The allegations from some commenters (not yourself), that these speeds must be either tall stories or the product of lunacy, strikes me as unimaginative. Perhaps they don't live near hills. Bikes are very stable at high speed and with a clear dry road in front it is not the crazy extreme sport that many assume.

teagar

I wasn't aware the Peaks didn't have steep hills! :roll:

balthazar

teagar wrote:

I wasn't aware the Peaks didn't have steep hills!:

You read between the lines something that wasn't meant. The Peaks' hills are rightfully infamous but I was answering your query of how to go downhill fast. There are also plenty of hills in the South Downs - mere bumps! - that allow an easy 50mph too; perhaps your hills are too narrow and twisty.. I don't know.

Flasheart

Fastest I've had it up to (while actually riding and not on cyclecarrier on car) is 37mph.
No reeaaalllyy steep hills around the New Forest whereI live, and the only two sort of descent decents I know of have blind corners at the bottom, so I'm always thinking of the idiot in a car coming around on the wrong side of the road (seen it happen and I usually do my crow impression when they do) FAAARRRK :evil:

ohlala!

this thread cracks me up, bikeradar should create a special jokes section hahahahaha...

antfly

ohlala! wrote:

hahahahaha...

Is that the sound of you cracking up?

volvicspar

My personal best is 48.3 mph down Holme Moss. Not been able to beat that since.

Feltup

I got 52.5mph on Kirkstone Pass during the Fred Whitton. That is the best road I have descended in the UK so far. I didn't tuck as much as I could have so limited my top speed some what but with more knowledge of that road I could add a few mph to that.

cougie

I've hit 56mph twice - once in North Wales coming off the Moors on tribars seeing just how fast I could go before the bend came up.

Other time was downhill with a big tailwind and me in the 52*12 giving it loads.

I'm a bit older and wiser now - so I'm content to take it easy and live a bit longer.

paulorg

Tend to average about 20 mph on my short commute quite comfortably but I have been up as high as 42.6mph on a short downhill stretch of the A629 pedaling like mad going down hill in perfect sunny conditions on a newly serviced bike with flat bars, I did duck a little and only had to stop because I was going too fast for the traffic light sequence and it hit red 50 metres before I got to it. Bah

guinea

It's all in the wind, innit.

I've gone over 50mph a few times in the Alps, but not on every visit.

Coming off Galibier last year I gave it everything on a long straight but couldn't get 50mph. Previously I'd hit the mark freewheeling.

A couple of weeks ago I tried for some speed coming off Alpe d'Huez. From memory I knew the fastest two sections are the very last straight and section near the top at the junction. At the top section I had to brake at 73kph this year as I was getting blown into the middle of the road. After getting spooked the rest of the descent was fairly conservative until the bottom corner. However, I still failed to make it past 50mph/80kph.

Tino4444

ChrisInBicester wrote:

Once followed a milk tanker along the A52 Nottingham ring road [past The Queen's Med] and had an indicated 52mph for a little while.

These days if I can hit 30 on the flat unassisted I'm pretty happy.

52MPH on flat!!?? Blimey are you on drugs?

Tino.

balthazar

Tino4444 wrote:

ChrisInBicester wrote:

Once followed a milk tanker along the A52 Nottingham ring road [past The Queen's Med] and had an indicated 52mph for a little while.

These days if I can hit 30 on the flat unassisted I'm pretty happy.

52MPH on flat!!?? Blimey are you on drugs?

Tino.

It raises the eyebrows a bit, but I can just about believe it. Years ago when I commuted in London outskirts I used to chase trucks and buses when I had the chance, I can't remember how fast I went but it always surprised me – I guess 40++ mph. Even on fast trunk roads you only lose contact when it starts to go uphill, as long as you keep scarily close. I wonder if to some extent you are sucked along by the leading vehicle - it certainly feels like it - or whether it is simply the removal of air resistance. Either way, it always felt like a game which had only one - nasty - outcome, eventually.

53 x 11 at 50 mph is about 150 rpm. Practically possible, in such peculiar environments as the "death zone" behind a truck.

Records for this sort of stuff are in the hundreds of mph, set behind racing or performance road cars with big air dams to defend the cyclist from the air.

guinea wrote:

It's all in the wind, innit.
Coming off Galibier last year I gave it everything on a long straight but couldn't get 50mph. Previously I'd hit the mark freewheeling.

I think you'll only get there freewheeling. The aerodynamic cost to pedalling at 50mph, is never bought back by the force that pedalling generates. Behind a bus is a different matter because there is no high wind.

Mettan

Very fast........... when I'm not injured - take care of your knees, all

scherrit

I struggle to get over 60km/h on the flat- but that's only for 200m or so, been at around 90km/h on a downhill- needed my brown shorts after that, tho'.
S.