Fastest Speed on the Flats--NO WIND

[gntlmn]

What's your fastest speed on the flats with no wind? This has to be on a regular bike, not a human powered vehicle or recumbent and not on a downhill. How fast can you pedal the bike any distance in a sprint? Be honest now!

To convert from kilometers per hour to miles per hour, divide by 1.609. In other words, 1.609 kph = 1 mph.

 

[Weisse Luft]

Originally posted by gntlmn
What's your fastest speed on the flats with no wind? This has to be on a regular bike, not a human powered vehicle or recumbent and not on a downhill. How fast can you pedal the bike any distance in a sprint? Be honest now!

To convert from kilometers per hour to miles per hour, divide by 1.609. In other words, 1.609 kph = 1 mph.

When I am warmed up and spinning along at 24 MPH, I have put an all-out effort and gotten the bike up to 42 MPH. I have held 35 MPH for a mile.

The key is proper training. I do plenty of TT training on my morning commutes and even though its never pure interval(too dangerous), there are periods where I get up to 40 in a motorpace, preferably behind large trucks that cannot see me and have a tough time slowing.

Training. That is what it is all about.

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by Weisse Luft
When I am warmed up and spinning along at 24 MPH, I have put an all-out effort and gotten the bike up to 42 MPH. I have held 35 MPH for a mile.

The key is proper training. I do plenty of TT training on my morning commutes and even though its never pure interval(too dangerous), there are periods where I get up to 40 in a motorpace, preferably behind large trucks that cannot see me and have a tough time slowing.

Training. That is what it is all about.

Wow! You are fast! I can pedal 24 mph for a while, but not an hour. It seems like with the traffic lights and other slow downs, my average drops quite a bit lower.

Actually, I don't even know what my top end is yet, and that's why I haven't answered my own poll yet. I've ridden a LOT of miles too. I just haven't been in a rush about it, I guess. One roadie passed me the other day, however, when I had the bonk, and this stoked my competitive fire. I'd like to concentrate on moving a lot faster down the road. So I'll be looking for tips.

By the way, the top end is also without draft. It sounds like you can crank up to 42 mph without a draft, and sustain 40 with one. Yeah, you can haul. That's what they were doing toward the cobblestones yesterday in the TdF. I'm afraid I'd have to discover my big weakness and correct it before I could do that, and that's wishful thinking.

 

[hippy]

>Originally posted by gntlmn
>What's your fastest speed on the flats with no wind?

I don't really know on a road bike, but I can bounce
around 35-40kph on my singlespeed mtb for about 10 seconds. This is with 31/15 so my cadence is something silly, like 160+.



I remember looking at Polar data from a few crits that show
speeds just over 60kph on an uphill finish. No idea which way
the wind was blowing and there would likely be draft effect..

I'll have to find a flat bit of road and take the road bike out. Problem is, if it's flat it's usually windy!! Head winds are the
"hills" for flat towns

hippy

 

[SilentGTboy]

I'll have to get back to you on this when I get a road bike. (next week it's coming in!! However when I got my mountain bike back after a over week of sitting around and waiting I sprinted up the hill I live on at 25mph. I was so excited to be back on the bike!

 

[xxguitarist]

hm, i know i can break 30 seated, flat ground, with virtually no wind... but your poll is quite specific as to speed range.. so for me, i put 32-33. it'll be interesting to see how much faster i can go now with new tires (stock upgraded to 23cc michelin pro ironmans )

 

[cydewaze]

Depends on how long I have to hold the speed for. I know I can hit 40 on a flat for a second or two, but my max sustainable speed is 23-24mph.

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by cydewaze
Depends on how long I have to hold the speed for. I know I can hit 40 on a flat for a second or two, but my max sustainable speed is 23-24mph.

I guess I shouldn't have diverged above and started talking about sustainable speed. That's not what I meant. I'm talking about all out speed at your peak, even if it's only a fraction of a second. It sounds like you have some real horsepower.

Frankie Andreu was talking about wattage generated in sprints. He says that some people can generate upwards of 1800 watts in an all out sprint. You must be way up there too. Compare this with the high wattages for the one hour. Miguel was estimated to have sustained 512 watts during his record breaking performance.

Clearly there is an enormous difference between sustainable speed and sprint speed. This speed I'm talking about here is speed on the flats with no wind, no draft. Even if you can't sustain the speed, how high you go at your peak is what we're polling here.

It sounds like you're off the charts with the 40. That's fast. Mario Cippolini starts his sprint at 36 mph and steadily increases from that speed all the way to the finish line. Even if I'm fresh, I won't hit 36. I just don't have that kind of horsepower.

 

[cydewaze]

Originally posted by gntlmn
I guess I shouldn't have diverged above and started talking about sustainable speed. That's not what I meant. I'm talking about all out speed at your peak, even if it's only a fraction of a second. It sounds like you have some real horsepower.

I used to be a downhill ski racer and I have fairly huge thighs. Plus, I've been cycling seriously for around 17 years, so that's kept the legs in shape. Back at my peak fitness level, while climbing Catoctin Mtn in Maryland, I pulled up next to a suffering friend, taunted him, then put the hammer down. I was rewarded for my smugness by a snapped chain after two hard pedal strokes. I don't know how I managed to stay up, but the end of the handlebar took a good gouge out of my knee.

But now you have me very curious. I haven't tried a good sprint in a number of years. I think tomorrow I'll give it a shot and see how fast I can go on the flats. I'll let you know how I do. I hope I don't embarass myself

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by cydewaze
I used to be a downhill ski racer and I have fairly huge thighs.

Greg Lemond was a downhiller too, with Olympic aspirations. But when he took up cycling to get in better shape for downhilling, he discovered that his best game was cycling. It seems like downhillers make great descenders too.

There's one Olympic downhill skier here that did a duathlon once for fun--bike and run. On the cycling, she destroyed the competition.

 

[Stevedvg]

Originally posted by gntlmn
What's your fastest speed on the flats with no wind? This has to be on a regular bike, not a human powered vehicle or recumbent and not on a downhill. How fast can you pedal the bike any distance in a sprint? Be honest now!

To convert from kilometers per hour to miles per hour, divide by 1.609. In other words, 1.609 kph = 1 mph.

I've reached 54.5kph (34mph) on a flat with no wind assistance. It's not a speed I can sustain for very long though - maybe 0.5km.

 

[drewjc]

i have hit about 61-62km/h on the flat. i think that is about 38mph. obviously behind trucks u can go much faster. I have practiced my sprinting by popping out from behind semi trailers at 65km/h and passing them. Not as hard as it sounds believe it or not.

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by drewjc
i have hit about 61-62km/h on the flat. i think that is about 38mph. obviously behind trucks u can go much faster. I have practiced my sprinting by popping out from behind semi trailers at 65km/h and passing them. Not as hard as it sounds believe it or not.

Hmmm. Maybe the idea is to get used to the spin at higher speeds. I know this feels quite a bit different than the spin at lower speeds, even if your cadence is the same.

I get a little bit nervous around semis.

 

[Scott E]

Wow,
you guys must have legs og steel.
I just finihed a 30 mile ride. top speed of 30mph but that was a long downhill with a tail wind. average speed for the ride was 14mph. Not fast but for a 225 pound 50 year old... oh well I guess I'll never be fast but I enjoy the ride. THats what it's it all about.... right???
Scott

 

[Columbia]

Top ever speed (with a crosswind, but lets ignore that little fact ) was 63.3 KPH (39.5 MPH) just a couple of days ago. However, juniors are made to use restricted gears (I'd unrestricted mine for that day) so with them it's hard for me to replicate that speed even on a descent .

Top speed with my gears restricted was 34.5 MPH. It was in a race a few weeks back.

 

[gntlmn]

Originally posted by Columbia
Top ever speed (with a crosswind, but lets ignore that little fact ) was 63.3 KPH (39.5 MPH) just a couple of days ago. However, juniors are made to use restricted gears (I'd unrestricted mine for that day) so with them it's hard for me to replicate that speed even on a descent .

Top speed with my gears restricted was 34.5 MPH. It was in a race a few weeks back.

In a tuck on a downhill, whether I spin or not, it seems that my current top speed is only 42.4 mph. It always reads this same number. I'm beginning to wonder whether my computer won't read any higher than that.

I still haven't done the all out sprint on the flats this thread asks for. I like to pedal and pedal for hours, like a Forest Gump of biking. Sprinting I might do if someone challenged me, but on my own, it's hard to muster the adrenaline it would take to do a really great sprint. I hope I look at the speedometer when this finally happens.

 

[Daremo]

My fastest on a flat was 42 mph in a sprint at the end of a race.

My fastest downhill was 62 mph.

Scary fast, especially when you don't know the road that well .......... luckily it was a straight shot, no curves.

 

[cydewaze]

I haven't had a chance to re-clock myself on a flat sprint yet. Problem 1 is that I can't seem to find any flat places where I live, and problem 2 is that I put down 188.5 miles over last weekend, and I ran out of water a few times, so my legs feel like driftwood from the lack of hydration. Feeling a lot better now, but I still need to find a flat spot.

 

[Daremo]

My speedo registers the max speed, so I know what I hit .........

 

[MrCjolsen]

Is there a handicap for being on a mountain bike?

24 mph. (80 psi street tires)

I can hold 19 or 20.

I've been cycling (regularly) for about a month. I'm 42