Record speed!

elyob said:

I got 53mph down Ditchling Beacon .. I want a road bike too now 🙂 I reckon I can top 70mph .. 😉

Should not be difficult if you choose the Dark Side. Darth Oliver of London Recumbents has hit 70
coming off the Beacon on a Challenge Hurricane.

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Paul said:

What is a respectable non-wind/hill assisted speed?

Anything over 70 mph is respectable these days:
wisil.recumbents.comresults.htmOpen ↗

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Phil.Winterbourne said:

Paul said:

Are these speeds downhill or on the flat? I tend to get really nervous going at speed downhill,
I have managed 30mph on the flat on a mountain bike. What is a respectable non-wind/hill
assisted speed?

30mph is a very respectable speed for a mountain bike on the flat.

A good place to try a fast flat speed is on the Thames Cycle Path between the Millennium Dome and
Greenwich Yacht Club.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Paul

'Very' downhill, the best I've got on the flat is about 24 mph & that's going as fast as I could in
top gear. I think there was a bit of a tail wind as well :-)

Phil

--
remove remove to reply

Maureen said:

No doubt all you guys on here are fearless

I used to be, but advancing years bringeth both a keener sense of ones own mortality #and# more
visits from the P+nct+r+ Fairy. Anything over 40 is unusual these days. I think I need a trike.

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Lee said:

Quoted message said:

Maybe I am just getting old, but I am inclined to start thinking things

like

Quoted message said:

"What if my forks broke and I went head first into the road at 40mph"

Mind you, I am a woosy female!!! No doubt all you guys on here are

fearless (:

Thats exactly my point! I think things like that - think ill be on the local news "CYCLIST
CRIPPLED RIDING TOO FAST", i see photo's of myself splattered!!!

Maybe IM just weird!

A friend of mine was descending on his road bike at 40-45mph. A car coming in the opposite direction
didn't see him and pulled out to overtake a car in front. To give you some idea of the carnage, the
car was a write-off. Fortunately, he's still able to walk and his helmet saved him from becoming a
vegetable.

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"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

elyob said:

I got 53mph down Ditchling Beacon .. I want a road bike too now 🙂 I reckon I can top
70mph .. 😉

Should not be difficult if you choose the Dark Side. Darth Oliver of

London

Quoted message said:

Recumbents has hit 70 coming off the Beacon on a Challenge Hurricane.

Yeah, I'd like a go on a 'bent too ... 🙂

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Lee wrote:

Quoted message said:

A friend of mine was descending on his road bike at 40-45mph. A car coming in the opposite
direction didn't see him and pulled out to overtake a car in front. To give you some idea of the
carnage, the car was a write-off. Fortunately, he's still able to walk and his helmet saved him
from becoming a vegetable.

--
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blimey, my helmet is a good investment then!

In uk.rec.cycling Paul <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Are these speeds downhill or on the flat? I tend to get really nervous going at speed downhill,
: I have managed 30mph on the flat on a mountain bike. What is a respectable non-wind/hill
: assisted speed?

That's downhill.

30 mph on the flat is really moving, esp if you can sustain it 🙂

Arthur

elyob <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"elyob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Phil.Winterbourne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...
> last night on a pleasant little loop near Otley I managed 47.6 mph

on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> the last road back into the town. This is a personal best & I'm

well

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> chuffed. One day I'll buy a road bike & try the same stretch :-)
>
> I could probably have gone a little faster, but I couldn't see round

the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> last bend and wasn't sure if there were any side roads so I started breaking about 1/4 of a
> mile too early for the 'best' speed.
>
> Phil

I got 53mph down Ditchling Beacon .. I want a road bike too now 🙂 I

reckon

Quoted message said:

I can top 70mph .. 😉

Dont u guys get scared - i do and im prolly only doin 20!

I get bored if I'm doing less than as fast as I can go. Of course, I do

this

Quoted message said:

without hacking through one-way streets the wrong way, on pavements and

the

Quoted message said:

like. As and when I fall off at this speed, I may get 'the fear', but not yet .... Still coming
off at 20 is as dangerous as any faster speed IMO.

Hmmm, sometimes it works that way, other times, no!

Fastest I came off a bike was about 20 mph - car pulled out _fast_ from a row of parked cars in
front of me, swung right, then left to take a left hand corner (UK - I was on the left) presenting
me with its left rear side. Front wheelput a nice dent in the back end of the BMW, I went over the
boot, still toe-strapped to the pedals. That hurt - my ankles were stuffed for weeks - the abrasions
to elbows, forearm and knees didn't hurt nearly as much.........Still, it could have been much
worse.......

Shaun aRe

"Maureen" <maureendotdoigatbtinternetdotcom> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dont u guys get scared - i do and im prolly only doin 20!

Maybe I am just getting old, but I am inclined to start thinking things

like

Quoted message said:

"What if my forks broke and I went head first into the road at 40mph"

Mind you, I am a woosy female!!! No doubt all you guys on here are

fearless (:

Quoted message said:

Maureen

You're right. It's the getting old thing I'm sure. But I'm inclined to see it more as getting more
'knowledgable' rather than getting 'old'. I approach some things with more caution now (a fearless
kind of caution, mind you...). But then I'm back at physio for my CV collarbone joint that I busted
just before Xmas last year too. I am now more "knowlegable" of the consequences of hitting the
ground upside down at 10 mph. ;-)
--
Westie

Phil.Winterbourne said:

last night on a pleasant little loop near Otley I managed 47.6 mph on the last road back into the
town. This is a personal best & I'm well chuffed. One day I'll buy a road bike & try the same
stretch :-)

I could probably have gone a little faster, but I couldn't see round the last bend and wasn't
sure if there were any side roads so I started breaking about 1/4 of a mile too early for the
'best' speed.

How do you all get to these speeds? I have a mid-range MTB, highest gear 44/11, 26x1.5 (Specialized
Nimbus) semi-slicks pumped to 80PSI, and I have never, according to my (Sigma BC700) cycle computer,
gone above 70 KPH (approx. 43 MPH), wind and hill assisted and spinning out.

I guess Road bikes and their setup make all the difference.

Or, what I suspect to be the true case, is there is a little gremlin inside my cycle computer that
plays with all the numbers before displaying them, always to make them appear worse than they
truly are.

Disappointedly in the sub-50 MPH club,

Ian.

--
__________________________________________________________
Ian Bates
[email hidden] acse.shef.ac.uk~batesOpen ↗ Automatic Control and Systems Engineering
Department, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield S1 3JD +44 (0) 114 222 5234
(day) 29C098F5

"Shaun Rimmer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Phil.Winterbourne <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

last night on a pleasant little loop near Otley I managed 47.6 mph on the last road back into
the town. This is a personal best & I'm well chuffed. One day I'll buy a road bike & try the
same stretch :-)

I could probably have gone a little faster, but I couldn't see round the last bend and wasn't
sure if there were any side roads so I started breaking about 1/4 of a mile too early for the
'best' speed.

Phil

Huh - and I thought I'd done well at 38.9mph! That wasn't scary though - straight road, no
junctions, bike felt extremely stable. Surprised I

managed

Quoted message said:

it with 2.6 tyres though. Mebbe that the bike weighs about 36lb helped.

I might have done faster on my skinny tyred (with 65 psi) steel rigid

since,

Quoted message said:

but it ain't got a 'pooter on it yet.

Shaun aRe - good going Phil.

Geez Shaun, at 36 pounds you'd get more speed by dropping it off a balcony or something!
--
Westie

"Arthur Clune" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In uk.rec.cycling Paul <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Are these speeds downhill or on the flat? I tend to get really nervous

going

Quoted message said:

: at speed downhill, I have managed 30mph on the flat on a mountain bike.

What

Quoted message said:

: is a respectable non-wind/hill assisted speed?

That's downhill.

30 mph on the flat is really moving, esp if you can sustain it 🙂

Or average if you're Lance ...

Phil.Winterbourne <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Maureen said:

"Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dont u guys get scared - i do and im prolly only doin 20!

Maybe I am just getting old, but I am inclined to start thinking things

like

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"What if my forks broke and I went head first into the road at 40mph"

Mind you, I am a woosy female!!! No doubt all you guys on here are

fearless (:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Maureen

It's mental discipline - just don't think bad thoughts. Also as I was on a MTB with nice wide bars
control is easy I bet I'd need to get confident on a raod bike before trying something like that.

BTW it's not that blokes are fearless - we just can't multi-task and so can;t worry and ride at
the same time :-)

Phil

Heheheheheh - speak for yerself! I'm perfectly capable of worrying while doing any number of
potentially dangerous other things............!

Shaun aRe - not a worrier, just don't like pain......much......anymore........

Had to be a BMW driver of course...

"Lee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Lee wrote:

Quoted message said:

A friend of mine was descending on his road bike at 40-45mph. A car coming in the opposite
direction didn't see him and pulled out to overtake a car in front. To give you some idea of the
carnage, the car was a write-off. Fortunately, he's still able to walk and his helmet saved him
from becoming a vegetable.

--
a.m-b FAQ: t-online.deambfaq.htmOpen ↗

a.bmx FAQ: t-online.debmx faq.htmOpen ↗

blimey, my helmet is a good investment then!

No. Property can be a good investment. A good education can be a good investment. Helmets are for
protecting your interests; and a box is for storing your nuts.
--
Westie

Ian Bates said:

Phil.Winterbourne said:

last night on a pleasant little loop near Otley I managed 47.6 mph on the last road back into
the town. This is a personal best & I'm well chuffed. One day I'll buy a road bike & try the
same stretch :-)

I could probably have gone a little faster, but I couldn't see round the last bend and wasn't
sure if there were any side roads so I started breaking about 1/4 of a mile too early for the
'best' speed.

How do you all get to these speeds? I have a mid-range MTB, highest gear 44/11, 26x1.5
(Specialized Nimbus) semi-slicks pumped to 80PSI, and I have never, according to my (Sigma BC700)
cycle computer, gone above 70 KPH (approx. 43 MPH), wind and hill assisted and spinning out.

I guess Road bikes and their setup make all the difference.

Or, what I suspect to be the true case, is there is a little gremlin inside my cycle computer that
plays with all the numbers before displaying them, always to make them appear worse than they
truly are.

Disappointedly in the sub-50 MPH club,

Ian.

Well I was on a top-of-the-range MTB so you can't blame your tyres :-) I would have thought that
Sheffield would give some fantastic opportunities for speed!

The hill in question is a corker, at least a mile long and with one of those little chevron things
on it. It's best feature though is that it is straight and smooth.

I gave up pedalling fairly soon, then just went low over the bars, [censored] way out back and let gravity
do it's work (maybe my 16 stone helped there!)

As for speedo gremlins - the best way is to do roll-out test & then verify with a GPS.

Phil

"Ian Bates" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Phil.Winterbourne said:

last night on a pleasant little loop near Otley I managed 47.6 mph on the last road back into
the town. This is a personal best & I'm well chuffed. One day I'll buy a road bike & try the
same stretch :-)

I could probably have gone a little faster, but I couldn't see round the last bend and wasn't
sure if there were any side roads so I started breaking about 1/4 of a mile too early for the
'best' speed.

How do you all get to these speeds? I have a mid-range MTB, highest gear 44/11, 26x1.5
(Specialized Nimbus) semi-slicks pumped to 80PSI, and I have never, according to my (Sigma BC700)
cycle computer, gone above 70 KPH (approx. 43 MPH), wind and hill assisted and spinning out.

I guess Road bikes and their setup make all the difference.

Or, what I suspect to be the true case, is there is a little gremlin inside my cycle computer that
plays with all the numbers before displaying them, always to make them appear worse than they
truly are.

Disappointedly in the sub-50 MPH club,

I've checked my speedo with the mileage etc ... the mileage London-Brighton was just under 58miles
according to my speedo, so it can't be completely off. The one thing I did forget to mention was
that I was sat on the back wheel of two racing bikes, thus allowing me to slipstream quicker bikes.
My speed was done on a mountain bike with normal gearing.

I did hit 46mph in Cornwall before the 53mph, and that was with 15st me, two full panniers and a
tent onboard.

Ian Bates said:

How do you all get to these speeds? I have a mid-range MTB, highest gear 44/11, 26x1.5
(Specialized Nimbus) semi-slicks pumped to 80PSI, and I have never, according to my (Sigma BC700)
cycle computer, gone above 70 KPH (approx. 43 MPH), wind and hill assisted and spinning out.

I guess Road bikes and their setup make all the difference.

Nope, I've hit 70kmh off road. Of course, by that point you're no longer pedalling and you're
dependent on gravity. It's therefore a case of finding the right hill. And having the balls to keep
off the brakes 🙂

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Sadly I didn't sustain in for long, I just about touched 30mph. 20-25mph is sustainable on the flat
on a still day. My mountain bike does has a 48tooth large ring and an 11 tooth cog on the cassette
which certainly helps compared to 42x12 that can be found as top gears on some mountain bikes.

And of course, I guess the accuracy of one's speedo. makes a differance :-), I think that the chart
that came with my speedo. was a bit out, since doing a roll out test when getting new tyres my
average speeds have dropped a bit.

Cheers, Paul