Highest Sprinting Speed

MichaelSmith said:

I have recently started cycling and was wondering what was the fastest speed you guys can sprint when riding on your own. The conditions must be minimal wind and on a flat road.

I can reach 34-35mph. Is this good

Cheers

Mike

That's about average I would say for a rider with few miles in their legs. Sprinting is not something that a typical cyclist does very often. Therefore it probally won't improve a lot, unless you really train for sprints. I assume this is a road bike, not a mtn bike.
It really depends on what your backround was before cycling.
Most mid level amatuer road cyclists who compete (cat3/4) can go slightly faster.

I can max out at 37 or so on flat ground with no wind. I'm an endurance rider but occasionally get sucked into sprints. 😉

MaxPrime said:

I can max out at 37 or so on flat ground with no wind. I'm an endurance rider but occasionally get sucked into sprints. 😉

OK thanks for the replys. Any info about improveing sprint speed. (Off The Bike)

Considering I am only a junior racer I can hit max speed 24-25mph. My coaches can hit about 35-37mph. Other male adults I know can hit just under that. My fellow junior teammates can hit 27-28mph. So for a new rider a sprint at 34-35 is very impressive.

MichaelSmith said:

OK thanks for the replys. Any info about improveing sprint speed. (Off The Bike)

Track racing.

MichaelSmith said:

OK thanks for the replys. Any info about improveing sprint speed. (Off The Bike)

Try complementing your bike workouts with running with occasional 30-second sprints. I also play soccer which helps with the sprints.

jimone said:

im new and i used to find sprinting a huge weakness however after doing 1 footed pedalling for a week i managed to top out @ 39mph on falt with no wind🙂

Unfortunately, one legged training doesn't do anything to increase performance, except of course to make you better at one-legged cycling. it's a completely worthless exercise to do unless you only have one leg. Any 'improvements' are most likely due to coincidence (especially as one week isn't long enough for a training adaptation).

ric

Sprinting is an interesting concept.

Patrick Sercu is on record as saying that Mario Cipollini is not really a sprinter. He simply gets to the front and rides so fast that no-one can come past him; as he showed at Zolder.

The roadman-sprinter will cover the last 200M at about the same average speed as the pure track sprinter, but the skills involved are utterly different.

Having confused the issue, my own very limited experience is that if you do sprints as part of your training, you'll get faster. No [censored], Sherlock.

ric_stern/RST said:

Unfortunately, one legged training doesn't do anything to increase performance, except of course to make you better at one-legged cycling. it's a completely worthless exercise to do unless you only have one leg. Any 'improvements' are most likely due to coincidence (especially as one week isn't long enough for a training adaptation).

ric

It doesn't improve your pedaling efficiency? If you can teach your legs to apply more force throughout the pedal stroke, wouldn't your power increase? Since this is a sprint, the limiting factor is mostly muscular strength and speed. It's the same reason why I can produce more power with clipless pedals compared to flat pedals. I am able to apply force throughout a greater range of the pedal stroke. You can only push down with flat pedals.

velomanct said:

It doesn't improve your pedaling efficiency? If you can teach your legs to apply more force throughout the pedal stroke, wouldn't your power increase? Since this is a sprint, the limiting factor is mostly muscular strength and speed. It's the same reason why I can produce more power with clipless pedals compared to flat pedals. I am able to apply force throughout a greater range of the pedal stroke. You can only push down with flat pedals.

In studies using (e.g.) iEMG and force detecting pedals, elite cyclists compared to good but less elite cyclists push down more and pull up less, even though when pulling up the less good cyclists produce small propulsive forces on the upstroke.

The vast majority of the force generated is on the downstroke, and it would appear that by pulling up with more force you lessen the amount generated on the downstroke (but don't make enough up on the upstroke).

Again, using instrumented force pedals and iEMG analysis, track sprinters are in fact the biggest mashers around, and additionally at high cadences the muscles have to be activated to push down prior to reaching top dead centre as you're exceeding the speed of contraction of the muscles.

i can't see any reason whatsoever to practice one legged cycling (with the exception of being a one legged cyclist, and when i first started racing we used to have one-legged competitions up hill, practising for it would have improved my ability at it).

ric

Where are these flat roads with no wind? please let me know cause where
i am there is only hills and headwinds. haha

steevo said:

Where are these flat roads with no wind? please let me know cause where
i am there is only hills and headwinds. haha

Haha! me too. except for our local indoor velodrome 😎

Did somebody say there is a place where there are "FLATS" and NO "HEADWINDS"? Where be this mystical place that I have searched for for so long...?

my fastest sprint speed is 37mph im only 17 but i used to do a lot of track sprinting in running and therefore ive built up power and fast twitch fibres from doing that

jimone said:

ive now managed to up my speed by 1mph to 40mph😄

not bad and im 14 and sprinting is my weakness, well was n e way🙂

if you really are hitting 40mph on a flat road with no wind, by yourself, at 14 then that is exceptional good. The 200 meter sprint record in the states for 14 year old juniors is 11.405 set by Andy Lakatosh, that is 39mph. (I think I am right, not 100% sure)

you use mph in the UK? I thought all you chaps were metric!

I started road biking/racing 5 years ago when I was 14 too. I think my best sprint was 37mph or so. It's funny, because I haven't done a lot better over the years, although I am a lot stronger in sprints now. Maybe my computer was off?

Anyways, I don't know of any 14 year old who can hit 40mph, like I said above. Top speed is really dependent on conditions and position on the bike too. The slightest wind or slope in road will throw your speed off.

I suggest you get into racing if you aren't already. Sounds like you will destroy all those other little juniors in a sprint. Maybe you belong on the track with that kind of speed.

What gear were you using jimone?

MichaelSmith said:

I have recently started cycling and was wondering what was the fastest speed you guys can sprint when riding on your own. The conditions must be minimal wind and on a flat road.

I can reach 34-35mph. Is this good

Cheers

Mike

The highest speed I've ever reached sprinting on flat ground, without wind being a factor, was about 40 or 41. Damn near passed out from the effort... but I got the town line 🙂