Max speed...

Kieran_Burns

I can (well I say *I* - it's a mates commute) beat everyone on this thread He hit Mach 1 as recorded on Endomondo

http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/41366031 - max recorded speed of 681mph. We thought he'd farted, apparently it was in fact a sonic boom.

(Ah - got it...)

pdw

Headhuunter wrote:

I was going to ask a similar question. My Garmin reckons that my max speed during a 115 mile sportive at the weekend was 48.8mph! Yet when I look at the little graph thing that shows your speed through the ride, at no point does it reach much above 40.... So how come the registered max top speed is 48.8mph?

I think there's two things behind this.

The first is that a GPS can give a direct speed reading based on Doppler shift of satelitte signals, rather than by taking the distance and time between consecutive points and dividing. When you upload data to computer, I think it just takes positions and times, and then calculates your speed from that (this is certainly the case if you go via a GPX file, I'm not sure if Garmin's own apps do better).

The other issue is how much smoothing is applied i.e. how many points do you take an average over. If you only hit your peak speed for a very short time, this can have a noticeable difference. Less smoothing makes it more susceptible to errors, more smoothing will under-read your peaks.

I use Garmin Training Centre which has a slider to adjust smoothing. The peak speed on my last ride varies between about 41mph (minimal smoothing) and 33mph (maximal smoothing).

walkingbootweather

Il Principe wrote:

Icklesham. Home of the best pub in the world!

I rather think you mean the Queen's Head rather than bizarrely better rated Robin Hood?

il_principe

walkingbootweather wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

Icklesham. Home of the best pub in the world!

I rather think you mean the Queen's Head rather than bizarrely better rated Robin Hood?

But of course!

Initialised

Sport
Cycling, transport
Start Time
Jul 29, 2011 5:35 PM
Distance
33.24 miles
Duration
2h:10m:01s
Avg Speed
15.3 mph
Max Speed
45.5 mph
Calories
1331 kcal
Altitude
164 ft / 846 ft
Elevation
692 ft ↑ / 640 ft ↓

~330 ft descent over ~1.5miles

45.5mph best yet

MTB with semi-slicks and mud guards. Hoping to hit 50+ in the same spot with slicks and no guards.

itboffin

Best yet is 57mph on the dragon ride several years back but no garmin data so it doesnt count and 47.6mph last year again in wales http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98508722

Tour of the Black mountains, flipping hard work made worthwhile by the lightning descents.

chedabob

meanredspider wrote:

BTW - loving all these comments about braking. Get discs on your road bike!

Not really going to help because on any long descent you'll cook them.

Fastest I estimate I've done is somewhere close to 50mph. I say estimate, as I didn't have GPS or a cyclecomputer, but I was on a road with a 50mph limit and slipstreamed a lorry the whole way (at a decent distance). Oh, and it was on a MTB with knobblies :twisted: It did require pedalling the whole way though.

itboffin

itboffin wrote:

Best yet is 57mph on the dragon ride several years back but no garmin data so it doesnt count and 47.6mph last year again in wales http://connect.garmin.com/activity/98508722

Tour of the Black mountains, flipping hard work made worthwhile by the lightning descents.

and the high 30s x 3 going down broomfield last year.

meanredspider

chedabob wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

BTW - loving all these comments about braking. Get discs on your road bike!

Not really going to help because on any long descent you'll cook them.

Not true. There's a guy (a bike dealer) running a Volagi in a mountainous region of the US who regularly exceeds 50mph and has no issues with his BB7s. He's destroyed carbon wheels doing the same rides. The main point I'm making, though, is I have far more confidence to nail it down a hill knowing I'm going to stop when I want to. I'm not the build of a jockey, though, so I know it's not the same benefit for everyone.

essex-commuter

I hit 40mph plus every commute home (downhill). On Tuesday I was doing 42mph when a van came passed me...probably 20" to spare between us. It sh*t me right up.

madtam

Max speed on the commute is low to mid thirties but if in a keen mood and I head up over Holme Moss then as long as there are no cars to get in the way over 50mph is acheivable. I think the fastest I have ever clocked using the cheapo Cateye is 56mph and it all gets a little bit dodgy at that point. Unfortunately I have recently started to contemplate the results of coming off at these speeds wearing only a few scraps of lycra, and the thoughts are that it could all be a bit messy.

Sailorchick

Blimey you guys are quick! I thought I was doing well hitting 36.1mph (very cheap bike computer) on a long steep downhill this Monday gone on my old Carrera Subway. Previous top speed had been about 26mph on a short steep hill I commute daily on.

meanredspider

Sailorchick wrote:

Blimey you guys are quick! .

That's because we all weigh so much

benno68

meanredspider wrote:

Sailorchick wrote:

Blimey you guys are quick! .

That's because we all weigh so much

I'm the slowest up hill amongst my cycling buddies but the quickest down them. It must have something to do with being 88kg and having a bad long term memory - I've forgotten the pain of coming off and doing my collarbone! I've hit the low 50's going down Caerphilly Mountain into Thornhill, road surface is not great and there's a bend which can be an arse twitcher at those speeds.

EKE_38BPM

The fastest I've been on a bike is (apparently) ~58mph down Ditchling Beacon when I did L2B about 10 years ago. I was pedalling hard in as tucked a position I could get into, whilst shouting "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" to all of the nodders.

It was a stupid thing to do, but it sure was fun. I don't think I've been over 50mph since then.

rjsterry

Benno68 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Sailorchick wrote:

Blimey you guys are quick! .

That's because we all weigh so much

I'm the slowest up hill amongst my cycling buddies but the quickest down them. It must have something to do with being 88kg and having a bad long term memory - I've forgotten the pain of coming off and doing my collarbone! I've hit the low 50's going down Caerphilly Mountain into Thornhill, road surface is not great and there's a bend which can be an ars* twitcher at those speeds.

It's even more fun when someone pulls out of the side road in front of you. 14 years later, I can still remember the incident in detail. Only ever reached 42mph down there though.

Santa cruzing

New PB of 49.5mph last night - river hill out of Sevenoaks for those that be local.

Still looking for that magic 50!

rick_chasey

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.



10mph for me.

meanredspider

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.
.

Funny - I don't sense this as a p!ssing contest - doesn't strike me as very competitive. Competitive shows up when people start shouting down others' claims.

Kieran_Burns

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.



10mph for me.

You've changed, man. You've changed....

itboffin

meanredspider wrote:

Sailorchick wrote:

Blimey you guys are quick! .

That's because we all weigh so much

Oi one does not reveal such secrets besides it's all relaxed muscle :roll:

roger_merriman

using strava/etc about 40mph which is about what you'd expect for the fairly tame hills of the North Downs and like.

I suspect that the bigger hills near my folks place would yield far greater speeds since the hills are both longer and far steeper, and with better sight lines. But i've never recorded my speeds down those.

domgears

I grew up in the Lake District, home of some of the best descents in the country (but you have to go up them first), this was about 22 years ago, I was 15, fearless and stupid back then, heavily built etc. However back then I did not have a speedo but I know some of those descents were damn fast, if only I had the balls and the time to replicate them today.
3 years ago, with a cateye wired comp, my fastest is only 42.5mph but we have a distinct lack of long hills here in Singapore, that was on a short minor gradient, on the flat with a sprint, running 53x12 I only hit 38mph and only for a short time before returning to a 25-28mph cruise.

Just returned to cycling, max gearing only 50x11, so max so far (severe lack of fitness and power currently) 32mph on flat and 37 on a short hill, haven't found a good stretch to properly test myself yet.

secretsam

42ish on the Iain Rennie ride last weekend...overtook a couple of MTBs who were putting the hammer down, left them standing. Nearly sh&t my pants, mind...

notsoblue

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.

Surprised? Really? I found this forum, specifically this section, through the SCR thread. Probably the biggest p!ssing contest on this site :P

rick_chasey

notsoblue wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.

Surprised? Really? I found this forum, specifically this section, through the SCR thread. Probably the biggest p!ssing contest on this site :P

True true.

People get held to account on those threads.

I can't suddenly turn up and be the big d*ck swinger without scalping a lot of people.

Anyone can make up a max speed.

As a general rule to get nearer to the actual max speed someone's achieved - take their speed in mph - cross out the m and write in a k.

notsoblue

Rick Chasey wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Surprised guys.

This thread topic is a favourite over at road beginners. Surprised you're all getting involved in the p!ssing contest.

Surprised? Really? I found this forum, specifically this section, through the SCR thread. Probably the biggest p!ssing contest on this site :P

True true.

People get held to account on those threads.

I can't suddenly turn up and be the big d*ck swinger without scalping a lot of people.

Anyone can make up a max speed.

As a general rule to get nearer to the actual max speed someone's achieved - take their speed in mph - cross out the m and write in a k.

Meh, I'd say everyone here knows what it takes to get to their max speed. And its not necessarily fitness or skill. It usually involves a steep gradient, lots of space, and a load of foolhardiness. The fastest I've ever been was on my hybrid with a load of panniers, I was coasting down hill, and whimpering like a frightened schoolgirl.