Max Speed?

[I like Skol]

Were you on/off road? Going down a straight or winding road? I would have thought at anything above 40 the gearing becomes irrelevant and aerodynamics is everthing.

It was on the A635 road which is lovely and twisty in places. Gearing is important, not irrelevant. Take the argument to the extreme and you aren't going to do 40+ in the granny ring. As your cadence increases, the ability to generate meaningful torque decreases, until you reach the point where you are just frantically flapping your legs around trying to keep up with the wheels.



I hadn’t thought of Holme Moss. It would be perfect for a personal speed record attempt. Not sure which side would be the best, Holmfirth side is steeper but shorter then tight bends near the bottom while Woodhead side is much longer with more opportunity for repeat max speed attempts during the descent and while it isn’t as steep as the other side it is still an appreciable gradient.

 

[Basil.B]

140 mph in Germany, sorry wrong bike.

 

[Svendo]

I hadn’t thought of Holme Moss. It would be perfect for a personal speed record attempt. Not sure which side would be the best, Holmfirth side is steeper but shorter then tight bends near the bottom while Woodhead side is much longer with more opportunity for repeat max speed attempts during the descent and while it isn’t as steep as the other side it is still an appreciable gradient.

I've found Woodhead side better for 50mph plus, as you say not as twisty, although still requires some bravery! You need a bit of wind behind you to get over 40-45ish.
Had 52 ish down blackstone edge to littleborough (A58), with a good easterly and a long run up!

 

[mcshroom]

140 mph in Germany

I might suggest that wasn't on a bicycle

 

[ian emmerson]

Commuting home in icy conditions last winter, braking hard whilst coming over a hill in Shildon, Co Durham only to spot a hand held speed camera in front of me. policeman waved me to a stop only to bollock me for being clocked at 42mph approaching a 30 zone. Didnt have it in me to say i was braking when clocked. Was also reminded about the icy conditions etc etc.

 

[Albert]

48.0 mph going down the hill into Pontrhygroes in Mid-Wales.

 

[Baggy]

42mph somewhere on Dartmoor - the slight bend at the bottom didn't look like much...until I took a really bad line through it, which nearly gave me a far closer look at a stone bridge than I ever wanted!!

 

[rich87]

50.6 mph down one of Kent's many hills on my old road racing bike. After the initial sprint on the pedals it was all about tucking in and getting as low over the handlebars as possible. Might have to try it on my new bike with the racing tyres on!

 

[Shrim]

42mph going down Crank Road in Billinge but I must admit I did bottle it as there is a nasty little blind road for the golf club halfway down where the cars have to edge out to see. Its a 14% incline at its steepest section.

 

[PpPete]

42 mph (according to the GPS) on the tandem... with my 9 year old son on the back calling "faster Dad, faster" as we approached a 40 mph speed limit.

A3090 approaching Romsey from the west.. a nice quiet bit of dual carriageway with a safe run-out at the bottom.

 

[Tigerbiten]

Scariest decent was probably Blue Bank near Whitby. 40mph in the dark. Tigerbitten almost made 50mph on the same ride on his trike.

Blue Bank was fun .............
But I only hit 49.7 mph.

On my local hills, ~9-10%, I'll hit ~45mph with a good wind behind me and ~40mph normally.

Ps. I normally spin out at ~34 mph pedalling.

Luck ...........

 

[Garz]

Only 46mph last year. Will try to break it when its a dry surface this year!

 

[summerdays]

Well some how my bike COMPUTER not the bike ... recorded a speed of 71 mph last week ... no idea how it did it, I doubt me and the bike were going faster than 25 mph .. but my fastest (I'm a wimp), was about 40 mph down a hill in Devon doing the C2C.

 

[Cubist]

Well some how my bike COMPUTER not the bike ... recorded a speed of 71 mph last week ... no idea how it did it, I doubt me and the bike were going faster than 25 mph .. but my fastest (I'm a wimp), was about 40 mph down a hill in Devon doing the C2C.

Wireless by any chance? They get set off by strobe LEDs and Taxi radios. Mine once did 72 mph on the breadbin, I think set off either by the signal from my Blackberry, or a faulty under-cupboard worktop light.

 

[JonnyBlade]

42 mph on a 7 speed Raleigh Pursuit. If I weighed about a stone heavier (currently 9 stone 10) then I suspect it would have been somewhat quicker. Getting speed down hills is a little difficult if you're a feather weight