How Fast have youbeen on your bike ?

LeicesterLad

MattC59 wrote:

Mikeharris666 wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemj/

Interesting, as these are your bars, and I don't see that computer.

Classic.

durhamwasp

Ive done Kirkstone Pass a few times, and would be absolutely amazed if anybody gets up to 77mph on it, inc Thor Hushovd.

Fastest personally is 62mph coming down from Chapel Fell towards St Johns Chapel in Weardale (the same descent is to be used in the Etape Pennines closed roads sportive next year)

balthazar

I've gone over 60mph a few times, so have a few other regulars here, as reported in these threads which crop up periodically. I think "John T" has the casual record at high 60's (67mph?!). It takes a long steep hill, fairly high bodyweight, and a little wind assistance helps.

From my experience, and those reports, I think 70mph (ish) is a reasonable maximum possible for a solo cyclist (with double the weight, tandems are faster) on real roads. The report of 69 for Thor H fits with that. I'd doubt any claims of much higher speed for a solo cyclist: each mph is hard-won – and bear in mind, top racers are at a disadvantage, because they are so light.

There is nothing you can do except tuck and not brake on the right hill- pedalling is detrimental beyond about 40, because the loss of the aerodynamic tuck is more than can be regained from pedalling. If there is any skill at all, it's only evident in the "not braking". Still, these aren't tales of bravado, so much as living in the right place. In Cornwall with short steep hills and light traffic I have 50mph opportunities every ride.

lemoncurd

It's not about the bike. It's about the bike computer.

Get one of these and you can do 77mph in Kensington as well as Kirkstone Pass: Atech F13

rozzer32

It says you are doing 2.8 when it's on the table. I'd call the builders, looks like your house is on the move.

Spartacus topped out at 109 kph or 68mph descending in a TT this year (can't remember which race it was at). And that was a very fast descent and even he said it got a bit scary at moments. But of course you did 77mph with ease with your flat bar bike

Can I have your bike or whatever you're eating please because I'd win any race hitting 77 mph.

EDIT: Just in case you might think Fabian is a crap descender then watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_wEG2RNMJc

sfichele

77 mph. hmmm!

Look at the video closely! At 2.00 min the front bike is at the lay-by. At 2.30 min its at the car park.
At bit of sad line drawing on google maps gives that to be around 475 m.

475/30 = 15.8 metres per second

x 3.6 gives 57 kph

which equals No Cigar!

not even 77 kph....

jim453

It's not looking good Mike.

Have you got any other amusing PB's ?

LeicesterLad

jim453 wrote:

It's not looking good Mike.

Have you got any other amusing PB's ?

He did do LEJOG in 7 minutes.

greenphotos

LeicesterLad wrote:

jim453 wrote:

It's not looking good Mike.

Have you got any other amusing PB's ?

He did do LEJOG in 7 minutes.

on a fixie

Giraffoto

49kph - Not a startling figure by itself, but I distinctly remember that number coming up right at the moment the front tyre did that whooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh noise that is a fast puncture in a spinning wheel.

greenphotos

Good point Giraffoto. Anyone any tips on how to remain safe at high speed (i.e. high pressure in tyres? and how about rims heating up due to braking)

rick_chasey

Rims heating up? Don't brake so much - only when you have to.

greenphotos

My girlfriends brother had a blow out when coming down a mountain in the Pyrenees recently, it was due to his rims heating up apparently. It's a place you really wanna brake a lot!

rick_chasey

Yeah, I was in the Pyrenees a few years ago.

It was the slower guys who had the blow-outs > they had a tendency to brake because when they didn't have to - say, on a steep but nice and straight bit.

Brake little and hard (not so hard you fly off obviously).

GiantMike

And don't forget to sit up to help slow down too.

And don't ride faster than you're prepared to fall off at, especially on roads you're not familiar with.

Giraffoto

In my case it was just bad luck - evil tyres that pick their moments, that sort of thing: I don't think I've ever braked hard enough to even raise the pressure in a tyre noticeably, but then I've never been up any real mountains on my bike. My advice: if this sort of thing happens, and you have plenty of space to brake, sit up straight and use the back brake. If you have a pannier rack and mudguards, sit right back on them while braking, it stops the back wheel from skidding quite so soon. If not, prepare to fall off . . .

RowCycle

Stewie Griffin wrote:

The speed of light, I had to keep an eye on those pesky neutrinos.

I'd never bothered to go faster than the speed of light as I hadn't thought it was possible, now I might give it a try.

morstar

RowCycle wrote:

Stewie Griffin wrote:

The speed of light, I had to keep an eye on those pesky neutrinos.

I'd never bothered to go faster than the speed of light as I hadn't thought it was possible, now I might give it a try.

That was through rock though. You need to find a tunnel or it's just not possible!

AndyD2574

57.3mph!
Was doing a charity ride from Blackpool to Glasgow over 3 days and this was on day 2 round about Otterburn on my S3!
Shat myself as started to get a wee speed wobble.

Be a long time before I beat that..............was verified by my Garmin so proper genuine speed!

GiantMike

I got up to just under 50 on a crappy Trek 1000 hire bike in the States. I was on a desert road in the middle of nowhere and I realised that, if I came off, I probably wouldn't be found for a couple of days. So I slowed down.

bompington

I have been faster, but none ever felt so fast as the time commuting home when I hit a stone and blew out my front tyre at the exact moment I looked at my speedo to see it nudge over to 80kmh. Astonishingly there was no real drama, just braked to a halt on the rim, which was tidied up by LBS (Nicholsons in Dundee, chapeau to them 'cos they did it free) and is still on the bike a couple of years later.

A strange thing is that my speeds on the hill in question seem to be getting slower over the years. Am I getting older and wiser? Was I just lucky with tailwinds on the occasions when I recorded particularly high speeds? My personal theory is that the road surface has distinctly deteriorated over the 4 years or so I've been coming this way, the rattling and bouncing is quite entertaining and I'm loathe to really push it. I know that my computer has always been functional and correctly set.

Redhog14

Braking is a bit of an art form, never the same twice, one thing I have learned from riding fat tyres (i.e. MTB) has been to use the front more, the trick is to get your weight forward which feels wrong but if you unweight your front that is when it is more likely to lock up, I almost never use my back brake these days. takes a bit of getting used to but you can dive deep into corners which is the fun bit!

Can we rename this thread "how slow can you go?"

mikeharris666

LeicesterLad wrote:

MattC59 wrote:

Mikeharris666 wrote:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemj/

Interesting, as these are your bars, and I don't see that computer.

Classic.

The computeris on the bike in front....

15peter20

ooh Mike you big fibber!

sfichele

You massive, massive fibber. Either that or you are completely deluded.

To put the matter to rest here's some more analysis from the video and drawing paths on google maps:

Between 2:00 and 2.30 your buddy travelled 475m

---

> Speed approx: 57 kph / 35 mph
Between 2:48 and 3:00 your buddy travelled 235m

---

> Speed approx: 70 kph / 44 mph
Between 3:21 and 3:43 your buddy travelled 383m

---

> Speed approx: 63 kph / 40 mph

Which is no where near 77 mph !!!!!!

Kieran_Burns

Methinks someone has been playing with a bluetooth transmitter (works on the same frequency as cycle comps) I've got a photo of my old wireless bike comp showing 75 ish mph somewhere....

Ah, got it:

lemoncurd

Already posted this link but here it is again.

Looks like a problem with this model of cycle computer, here's another thread from a cyclist using the same computer that also managed to get to 77mph. Doubt that's a coincidence, sounds like a bug.

Atech F13

cyclopath

Giraffoto wrote:

49kph - Not a startling figure by itself, but I distinctly remember that number coming up right at the moment the front tyre did that whooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhooshwhoosh noise that is a fast puncture in a spinning wheel.

A puncture in a spinning wheel? That never happened to my granny.
Do you think she was pulling the wool over my eyes? :P

(Bit like the OP)

LeicesterLad

lemoncurd wrote:

Already posted this link but here it is again.

Looks like a problem with this model of cycle computer, here's another thread from a cyclist using the same computer that also managed to get to 77mph. Doubt that's a coincidence, sounds like a bug.

Atech F13

It HAS to be a blip, but surely any sane person can sense whether they are riding at 77mph or not, to get the blip and then believe in it, well...

sfichele

lemoncurd wrote:

Already posted this link but here it is again.

Looks like a problem with this model of cycle computer, here's another thread from a cyclist using the same computer that also managed to get to 77mph. Doubt that's a coincidence, sounds like a bug.

Atech F13

Oh dear!