Sprint max Speed

ressac

I do some sprints trying to improve my strength and speed. I do 10"-15" sprints with 5' recovery between them.
My problem is that i can't succeed more than 50 Km/h final speed. I tried with a 53/14 - high cadence and 53/12 - with lower cadence. The result was the same.

How do you train for sprint speed? Do you use a steady gear or do you shift during sprint?
What is your final speed at 150m sprint?
What should i do to increase my speed?

freehub

The best I can do is 56kmh or 35mph, I just get in a gear, start spinning up sat down then when it's easy enough to spin when stood up I get out of the saddle.

nolf

When you say a high cadence at 53/14, thats a fairly big gear for a "high cadence" spin.

For a sprint you should be aiming at towards 130/140rpm (so says chris carmicheal).

Try just doing more sprioints, working on your sprint position (how low do you go), using your arms to get a bit more leverage.

Try getting some mates together and practicing with them to get your most.

ressac

Saying "High cadence" i was meaning 100rpm max cadence. 130-140 seems very high for sprinting for me. Should i aim for a cadence like that?
What gear ratio should i use?

Anonymous

Try high cadence in the 53/12.

Anonymous

On a serious note, yes, you should be looking at 140ish then as you get stronger use higher and higher gears, at the same cadence.

scherrit

Most humans will get their best power (and hence best road speed) at around 130-140rpm. Using a gear chart (or Saint Sheldon's site) try sprinting in a 90' gear on the road and see which gears in that neighbourhood are the best for top end.

Best road configuration for training max power and good speed is a minor downhill, followed by a flat or marginal up. Roll down the hill at around 20km/h in your sprint gear and at the bottom sprint (out of the saddle at first, then sitting). It may not be very obvious but you'll need to rest or ride easy for around 10min to get each effort 100% useful for sprint speed. Use your cyclocomputer to record the top speed for each run, scribble it down and re-set for each run.
Good luck,
S.

ressac

scherrit wrote:

... try sprinting in a 90' gear on the road and see which gears in that neighbourhood are the best for top end.

Can you explain more, this one?

I'll try to increase my cadence since 140 is the max i can reach while sitting. I was trying to sprint while standing for the whole sprint like pro's. I'll try to sit for the final seconds in order to achieve higher cadence.

scherrit

Yup, just try the gears on your road bike -one cog bigger and one cog smaller than that gear and see where you're faster.

Only road riders (occasionally, and usually on uphills) stand all the way to the line - the aero effect of sitting is usually favourable.

140 is probably the best you can do in that gear, not the fastest you can rev.....
Good luck,
Scherrit.

nolf

You can hit 140rpm out of the saddle, use your arms to offest the swing of your bike and go crazy pedalling as fast as you can. Choose a surprisingly low gear.
I try a 50/14 for sprinting (compact chainset alas).

As for the aero effect of sitting compared to standing, when standing you can accelerate a lot better. Also if you practice you can try getting lower in the pout of saddle position to offset the aero difference.

Try watching what other people do in races (the fast guys) and emulate it.

bear baun

cavendish never seems to be spinning at that higher speed!! especially at his jump! anyone know why?

Anonymous

Because all Cav's sprints are shown in slow motion to the tune of "Gilette - the best a man can get..."

bear baun

hahaha!! but seriously how fast do sprint finishes get to in cat 3/4?

Alex_Simmons/RST

scherrit wrote:

Most humans will get their best power (and hence best road speed) at around 130-140rpm. Using a gear chart (or Saint Sheldon's site) try sprinting in a 90' gear on the road and see which gears in that neighbourhood are the best for top end.

Best road configuration for training max power and good speed is a minor downhill, followed by a flat or marginal up. Roll down the hill at around 20km/h in your sprint gear and at the bottom sprint (out of the saddle at first, then sitting). It may not be very obvious but you'll need to rest or ride easy for around 10min to get each effort 100% useful for sprint speed. Use your cyclocomputer to record the top speed for each run, scribble it down and re-set for each run.
Good luck,
S.

Recently I went to the track to follow some lead outs by my mates and got to 61km/h and 146rpm. That would have been a ~90" gear (50x14). I start back doing sprint work next weekend.

Peak power does tend to occur >130 rpm, however I have also set peak power PBs from standing starts when cadence of start from zero.

Standing starts are also an excellent way to improve your neuromuscular power.

scherrit

Yup, I've set some new pb's (in a phase where I was doing loads of st. starts) but usually when doing sprints.

Standing starts have the extra advantage of giving you lovely callouses on your mitts :-)))))

Road riders are just plain weird, doing all that out of the saddle sprinting in HUGE gears.....
Cheers,
Scherrit.

oldwelshman

scherrit wrote:

Yup, I've set some new pb's (in a phase where I was doing loads of st. starts) but usually when doing sprints.

Standing starts have the extra advantage of giving you lovely callouses on your mitts :-)))))

Road riders are just plain weird, doing all that out of the saddle sprinting in HUGE gears.....
Cheers,
Scherrit.

Thats because at higher cadence they get out of breath faster so many prefer to sprint on higher gear lower cadence.
Look at the vid of Cav in the final stage of the TDF and you will se he was out of saddle but very aero as he was over the handlebars and low back.
I am not very good in road sprinting but can do up to 40mph on the track, I just seem faster track sprinting than road even though I tried high and low gears on road