Maximum accelleration

davidof
davidof Posts: 3,032
edited April 2014 in Road general
What's the maximum acceleration of a cyclist?
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Comments

  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    It depends on the speeds involved e.g. 0-1mph or 10-20mph.
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  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    and if there's a red light involved ... ;)
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    drlodge wrote:
    It depends on the speeds involved e.g. 0-1mph or 10-20mph.

    lets say above 10kph / 6mph
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  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 7,978
    oi snowhead :wink:

    I would say it depends on a lot of factors, maybe to many to quantify.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    If you can get hold of the split times riders do on the track in the pursuit discipline, that would give you a good indication of what can be achieved in terms of zero to whatever
    left the forum March 2023
  • homers_double
    homers_double Posts: 7,978
    And it's a more controled environment, I would expect all the riders are on 99.9% similar gear.
    Advocate of disc brakes.
  • mpie
    mpie Posts: 81
    oi snowhead :wink:

    I would say it depends on a lot of factors, maybe to many to quantify.

    Ignoring the trivial cases like whe you ride off a jump (9.8ms-2) or into the back of a stationary car (higher), it's limited by the grip of the rear tire (on a road bike at least). Given that I don't think you can hold a bike on a 45 degree slope, that limits max acceleration to about 6ms-2. Doesn't seem much... ?
  • mfin
    mfin Posts: 6,729
    What you need is a big roll of tickertape, a 15 year old kid doing gcse Physics, a long classroom and a really good cyclist on a really good bike (probably a Boardman Air :) )
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    If you can get hold of the split times riders do on the track in the pursuit discipline, that would give you a good indication of what can be achieved in terms of zero to whatever

    I will do that, good idea
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  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    I read (admittedly in an in flight magazine) Chris Hoy can do 0-42mph in 10 seconds.
  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    iPete wrote:
    I read (admittedly in an in flight magazine) Chris Hoy can do 0-42mph in 10 seconds.

    So that's an acceleration of 4.2 mph/second :D
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  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    thanks, that gave me this

    ChrisHoyKiloQuaterMileProjection.jpg
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  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    davidof wrote:
    What's the maximum acceleration of a cyclist?
    This is very, very vague.

    Assuming you're talking about a cyclist on a standard bike under his own power: Boring - I don't care!

    But does the cyclist have to use a bike? Is a cyclist someone on a bike or someone who's often on a bike but not necessarily right now. After all although most "cyclists" are terrible runners initial acceleration under his own steam will still be much greater on foot than on a bike.

    However I'm still making lot's of assumptions. You haven't, in fact, stated whether the cyclist has to survive the acceleration and if other equipment is allowed. For example you could get some serious acceleration if crashes or explosives are permitted and the cyclist is expendable.
  • markhewitt1978
    markhewitt1978 Posts: 7,614
    Me thinks OP has a homework assignment? Of course there's a big difference between Cav pounding down a sprint, and me trying to get through the junction before the big lorry gets to me. The latter being faster obv ;)