Maximum recommended speed for a road bike?

diy wrote:

I think I'd rather come off at 70 on a motorbike than 40 on a bike though.

I know what you mean. However, that is probably down to the false sense of security you get when kitted out in full motorcycle gear with all the armour.

Fastest I've ever been was this year on Mallorca. I was on a hired, new full carbon Pinarello. I weigh 90kg and I had a following wind. The computer was showing 110kph before I hit the brakes.
I just assumed I was going to die.

I did about 40.

worried about wheel wobble due to the imbalance caused by the speed sensor magnet.

Put another magnet on the other side of the wheel to keep it balanced.

It worked well, I go a lot faster now. Climbing has improved too

junglist_matty wrote:

My fastest speed this year was 49.3mph, Cadence was around about 130 in the 53/11 gear, it wasn't the steepest of hills, but there was a silly tailwind..... I've never broken the 50mph barrier, I've tried a few times but failed, and I usually descend faster than most; weighing just shy of 100kg helps.

http://www.strava.com/segments/3236898


In reality, I seriously doubt most cyclists have ever gone faster than 50mph, you run out of gears (unless running a stupid front chainring) to be able to pedal safely at that sort of speed, and you'd need a hell of a long straight descent to freewheel faster than 50mph, unless on a closed road, I doubt most would have the balls to corner a blind open road at more than 40mph (and even 40mph is silly fast for a blind corner on open road).

Nah, 50 is easy with the right conditions (long, straight, decent surface, no headwind). You can get yourself up into the 40's, get in a nice tuck then give a few short blasts to get up to 50. Admittedly there aren't that many hills where this is that easy in the UK, but I managed 51mph in Wales last month and could've gone a lot faster had a realised what a perfect descent it was earlier (ran out of road in the end). That was on a compact as well (50/11).

bluefinch wrote:

Bobbinogs wrote:

crankycrank wrote:

...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTfu0hjVtzE

Wow, great clip. I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it...but I never expected that

It's a good job he was wearing his special protective wellies

Don't forget his quality (and well fitted) helmet!

junglist_matty wrote:

… I usually descend faster than most; weighing just shy of 100kg helps …
In reality, I seriously doubt most cyclists have ever gone faster than 50mph, you run out of gears … to be able to pedal safely at that sort of speed, and you'd need a hell of a long straight descent to freewheel faster than 50mph

You don’t need that long a straight and if there is sufficient gradient and you tuck yourself in, when you reach about 35 mph you don’t need to pedal any more. And aerodynamics is more important/helpful than weight - well certainly between riders say up to 20-25 kg difference in weight. Maybe for greater differences, weight becomes more significant.

Near where I live, there’s a road up and over a hill. After the crest, there’s about 300 yards practically flat, then the road takes a slow right turn and drops straight for 650 yards at 10%, before easing off to a milder slope. If I enter the 10% with a bit of speed from the short level stretch, by the time I come out of the 10% I am between always 40-55 mph, depending on how much I bother tucking in and on whether there is any headwind or not.

But I don’t really advise anyone to speed until they know how to descend and are comfortable with descending. Even on less technical, empty, long straights, you still need to know exactly what you’re doing just in case there’s a sudden strong side wind, an unanticipated uneven patch of road, or a rabbit or a deer or the wild man of the woods leaps out in front of you, not to mention any bike problems.