Liggett: "...In excess of 60 MPH"

[Harry Gonzalez]

I broke the sound barrier once going downhill...

"henry" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> 59.5
>
> "Tony Austn" <[email protected]_screw_spam> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Liggett said "...in EXCESS of 60 miles per hour". Have any of you gone 60 miles an hour on 700 x
> > 23 tires?
> >
> > In article <[email protected]>, "Jiyang Chen" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > Perhaps 60 kph? I see them pedaling during the descents, but their
top
> gear
> > > is 53x11, and you have to spin them really really fast to reach 60mph.
> > >
> > > Jiyang
> > >
> > > "Tony Austn" <[email protected]_screw_spam> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > > > I have never been able to hit 60 mph on a bike - did Jan and Lance actually go faster than
> > > > 60 miles an hour?
> > > >
> > > > Also. CBS needs to turn down the John Tesh music in the back ground
> > >
> >

 

[Bill Davidson]

Jiyang Chen wrote:
> Yeah, but when they descend I always see them pedalling, and they are NOT pedalling 160 rpm.

I see them coast a fair bit too on the steeper sections. I don't know about 60 mph but I think
greater than 50 mph is very likely. If my old arthritic legs can get over 45 mph with my old bike
with a 48-13, I'd think they could do more easily. In my younger days with a 54-13 I could get up to
about 55 mph on some hills (though I was coasting in a tuck by the time I hit that speed).

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

 

[Daniel Connelly]

g wrote:
> g FORCE (as opposed to acceleration) is proportional to weight, but wind resistance is not. So
> heavier riders descend faster.
>
> GK

Force is roughly proportional to weight^0.75 , leaving weight/force at a given v roughly
proportional to weight^0.25, which yields a speed at a given force roughly proportional to
weight^(1/12).

 

[Daniel Connelly]

Tony Austn wrote:
> I can't pedal past 45 KPH if that.
>
> Tony
>
>

You need to do downhill spin exercises. I can easily spin a 53/12 @ 45mph.

 

[Gregory Kinney]

Well, it is all depending on my computer (which I did x-check with my GPS once, and it was pretty
accurate), but coming down a wide open mountain pass descent in Montana, peddling my ass off, I got
up to 58mph on 700 x 25. I don't know what my gear ratio is, but I have a 105 triple... I was
flying-high rush , a bit scary...

Tony Austn wrote:

>Liggett said "...in EXCESS of 60 miles per hour". Have any of you gone 60 miles an hour on 700 x
>23 tires?
>
>In article <[email protected]>, "Jiyang Chen" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>>Perhaps 60 kph? I see them pedaling during the descents, but their top gear is 53x11, and you have
>>to spin them really really fast to reach 60mph.
>>
>>Jiyang
>>
>>"Tony Austn" <[email protected]_screw_spam> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
>>>I have never been able to hit 60 mph on a bike - did Jan and Lance actually go faster than 60
>>>miles an hour?
>>>
>>>Also. CBS needs to turn down the John Tesh music in the back ground
>>>
>>>
>

 

[Ilan Vardi]

Tony Austn <[email protected]_screw_spam> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> I have never been able to hit 60 mph on a bike - did Jan and Lance actually go faster than 60
> miles an hour?

The French TV commentators continually quoted speeds from the speedometers of their motorcycles. I
found this quite annoying, like when there is a lone breakaway, and the commentators says that they
has been doing 50 kph but needs to crank it up. This was especially annoying since Jalabert also did
it, and you would have thought that he would know the correct speeds. I think that someone must have
noticed though, because, by the end of the Tour, they were consistently saying "according to the
speedometer of the motorcycle" when quoting speeds.

In general, a motorcycle speedometer is at least 10kph optimistic.

As far as actual speed is concerned, altitude plays a big factor, and in my experience, I have never
been able to coast alone faster than 50 mph when descending near sea level, and I am quite
aerodynamic and heavy for my bike size.

-ilan

 

[Dave]

"Ewoud Dronkert" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 27 Jul 2003 19:02:48 GMT, Tony Austn wrote:
> >Liggett said "...in EXCESS of 60 miles per hour". Have any of you gone 60 miles an hour on 700 x
> >23 tires?
>
> Yes.

71 , Palm Springs Tram road

Dave

 

[Jiyang Chen]

Do you need very very good hubs to go that fast? Are my Tiagra hubs preventing me from reaching
60 mph?????

Jiyang

"Bill Davidson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:yi7Va.28398$Ne.1279@fed1read03...
> Jiyang Chen wrote:
> > Yeah, but when they descend I always see them pedalling, and they are
NOT
> > pedalling 160 rpm.
>
> I see them coast a fair bit too on the steeper sections. I don't know about 60 mph but I think
> greater than 50 mph is very likely. If my old arthritic legs can get over 45 mph with my old bike
> with a 48-13, I'd think they could do more easily. In my younger days with a 54-13 I could get up
> to about 55 mph on some hills (though I was coasting in a tuck by the time I hit that speed).
>
> --Bill Davidson
> --
> Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.
>
> I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

 

[Tony Austn]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Ilan
Vardi) wrote:

> As far as actual speed is concerned, altitude plays a big factor, and in my experience, I have
> never been able to coast alone faster than 50 mph when descending near sea level, and I am quite
> aerodynamic and heavy for my bike size.
>
> -ilan

That explains it because all of my descending has always been a ride near sea level.

 

[Tony Austn]

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Hardman
Knott) wrote:

> "guess who" <[email protected]> wrote in message

> I sprinted out the 53X12 and got into a tuck -- my speed increasing untill I hit the brakes about
> 100 meters from the 4-way stop sign at the intersection of Douglass and Clipper. I managed to slow
> to about 30 MPH as I went through...
>
> Hardman Knott

I did 50 MPH on Topanga canyon in Los Angeles and I was able to keep up with a bunch of motorcycles
on the way down. That was my most thrilling cycling moment

Tony

 

[Tony Austn]

In article <[email protected]>, Daniel Connelly
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Tony Austn wrote:
> > I can't pedal past 45 KPH if that.
> >
> > Tony
> >
> >
>
> You need to do downhill spin exercises. I can easily spin a 53/12 @ 45mph.
>

My bad, I meant 45 MPH

 

[K. J. Papai]

[email protected] (Hardman Knott) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> "guess who" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> > I went down an incline (sure couldn't call it a hill) in Florida at over 55 mph. I weighed much
> > more than competitive cyclists, and there were absolutely no turns. I can believe that Tour pros
> > could go well over 60 >mph on a mountain downhill.
>
> I hit 58.5 MPH on a *city street* in San Francisco. That would be Clipper street between Portola
> and Douglass. The tires were 20mm Michelin Hi-Lite Pro clinchers inflated to 125 PSI rear; 120
> front. I sprinted out the 53X12 and got into a tuck -- my speed increasing untill I hit the brakes
> about 100 meters from the 4-way stop sign at the intersection of Douglass and Clipper.

You must have a lot of guts because you don't have much room to brake going down Clipper. Nice.

> I managed to slow to about 30 MPH as I went through...

I hit 58 mph descending Oakville Grade towards Napa Valley. I could've tucked tighter and easily
upped this by 5 mph but didn't think it was worth it.

> Hardman Knott

 

[Bill Davidson]

Jiyang Chen wrote:
> Do you need very very good hubs to go that fast? Are my Tiagra hubs preventing me from reaching 60
> mph?????

I had cheap Campy hubs on the bike when I got up to 55 mph. I think I paid $100 for the pair of
pre-made wheels on sale in 1986.

If you actually want to go that fast on a bicycle, you probably just need a steeper hill and a big
gear to get your initial velocity up.

--Bill Davidson
--
Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.

I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

 

[Antti Salonen]

Segv <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Polar's website, http://tdf.polar.fi/tourdefrance/heartrates.html Servais Knaven recorded a max
> speed of 109.5 kmh on Sunday July 13th.

That is almost certainly invalid data. If you compare Knaven's data with Mancebo's on the same day,
you can see that Mancebo's top speed was only about 82 km/h, in the end of the descent from
Galibier. Mancebo finished 40 minutes before Knaven that day.

Several other graphs show max speeds above 90 km/h, so this seems to support the original claim.

-as

 

[Robert Chung]

"Bill Davidson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:H3BVa.30314$Ne.24809@fed1read03...
> If you actually want to go that fast on a bicycle, you probably just need a steeper hill and a big
> gear to get your initial velocity up.

Initial velocity only limits maximum velocity if the hill is short.

 

[Pete Harris]

People,

This thread is peppered with personal accounts of high-speed exploits. Bad way to get your thrills!
Too much can wrong out there. Face it, our bikes have no suspension and absurdly small contact
patches, so when a car, dog, or 2x4 appears out of nowhere, there's not much to do except crash. Get
a cafe racer and get more thrills safely at 70-100 MPH than you're now getting at 35-50!

I just had a riding buddy killed Saturday on a descent. Probably, though there were no real
witnesses, he overcooked the corner, and slid or crashed into oncoming traffic. Sure, when you're
racing, do what you've gotta do, but when you're just training, descend about 5-10 MPH less than you
actually could. Concentrate on perfect cornering, which is satisfying. If you're in a group and get
dropped, hammer your way back on.

Take a minute to think about everyone you know who's gotten seriously hurt on a bike. How many of
them were descending? Then think about what a small percentage of our time on the bike we actually
spend on descents, and hopefully you'll agree this is not a 'cheap' thrill.

- Pete

Antti Salonen <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Segv <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Polar's website, http://tdf.polar.fi/tourdefrance/heartrates.html Servais Knaven recorded a
> > max speed of 109.5 kmh on Sunday July 13th.
>
> That is almost certainly invalid data. If you compare Knaven's data with Mancebo's on the same
> day, you can see that Mancebo's top speed was only about 82 km/h, in the end of the descent from
> Galibier. Mancebo finished 40 minutes before Knaven that day.
>
> Several other graphs show max speeds above 90 km/h, so this seems to support the original claim.
>
> -as

 

[Dashi Toshii]

"Pete Harris" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

>. Sure, when you're racing, do what you've gotta do, but when you're just training, descend about
> 5-10 MPH less than you actually could. Concentrate on perfect cornering, which is satisfying. If
> you're in a group and get dropped, hammer your way back on.

Good Advice, I've had several accidents, none descending, but each one took 6 weeks to 6 months out
of my ability to ride a bike.

It's not worth the injuries and layoff to let it all hang out unless it means something.

Dashii

 

[Jiyang Chen]

Read my post... "Kurgan Gringioni" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "AndresMuro" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Sixty Kph is not something extraordianry. It is about 40 mph. Road
> cyclists
> > regularly reach 40 mph during sprints. I have gone over 50 mph down
hills.
> This
> > is about 80 kph. this is not unheard of or extraordianary by any means.
>
>
>
> Dumbass -
>
> read the title. It says 60 MPH.

 

[Jiyang Chen]

About how steep a hill do you have to ride to get to 60mph? The hills they descend averages 7-9
percent usually. maximum I've gone is 46 mph at a 12% grade, and the speed tends to stop about there
even though I get in the aero tuck and coast.

Jiyang

"Bill Davidson" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:H3BVa.30314$Ne.24809@fed1read03...
> Jiyang Chen wrote:
> > Do you need very very good hubs to go that fast? Are my Tiagra hubs preventing me from reaching
> > 60 mph?????
>
> I had cheap Campy hubs on the bike when I got up to 55 mph. I think I paid $100 for the pair of
> pre-made wheels on sale in 1986.
>
> If you actually want to go that fast on a bicycle, you probably just need a steeper hill and a big
> gear to get your initial velocity up.
>
> --Bill Davidson
> --
> Please remove ".nospam" from my address for email replies.
>
> I'm a 17 year veteran of usenet -- you'd think I'd be over it by now

 

[Raptor]

Jiyang Chen wrote:
> About how steep a hill do you have to ride to get to 60mph? The hills they descend averages 7-9
> percent usually. maximum I've gone is 46 mph at a 12% grade, and the speed tends to stop about
> there even though I get in the aero tuck and coast.
>
> Jiyang

You're doing something wrong then, unless you don't have enough straight road to maintain your tuck.
Give me a straight 12% road and I'll break 60, I bet. I hit 56.2 on a 7-ish% with a great tailwind
last year (and a slightly generous computer).

--
--
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