Nearly cracked 50mph today... « Singletrack Forum

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Nearly cracked 50mph today...

93 posts & 52 voices | Started 6 months ago by mboy | Latest reply from bigunxxl

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mboy - Member

So close, yet so far... 48 GPS verified mph on todays road ride. Definitely thinking the baggies, peaked helmet, spinning out my 50/12 tallest gear and the fact my stem is actually pretty high didn't help. Though I now see why some people still actually bother with a STD chainset, cos being new to this malarkey, I'm still struggling even with a compact and a 12-25 cassette.

Next week if you see someone on a Blue/White/Black Giant, this time decked out fully in lycra, peakless helmet, stem spacers moved on top of the stem, looking pretty serious on the stretch of road down from the Malverns down to Welland, it's me trying to crack 50!

Posted 6 months ago #
FunkyDunc - Member

You should easily be able to get 60 on a road bike.

Posted 6 months ago #
thepodge - Member

I did 49.9 coming down Bacup rd. was well cheesed off I didn't get 50 but that was on a 4" full suss with knobbly tyres.

Posted 6 months ago #
mboy - Member

Mate, I'm well aware the TDF guys are known to top 70, but I've not got the big hills they're riding on, the gearing, the technique or probably the balls either...

Anyway, I've done 160 on another form of road bike, but that's another matter...

EDIT: Respect to thepodge... Years ago in the Alps, my mate with a computer on his bike reckoned he hit 52mph coming down a steep fireroad (so offroad) on our DH bikes, but I'm not convinced it was calibrated properly. It was certainly over 40mph, possibly over 45, it was quick though... But I'm trusting the GPS on this one anyway...

Posted 6 months ago #
crazy-legs - Member

You should easily be able to get 60 on a road bike.

40 is easy.
50 is a challenge.
60 you need to have a lot of skill and balls and a very big hill - ideally without much in the way of traffic and potholes and with enough of a run out.

I've only ever managed 60+ mph once in this country and it was frankly terrifying. Done it a couple of times in the Alps though.

Posted 6 months ago #
stucol - Member

47 or so happens quite regularly where i cycle but it is hilly around my area.

Did hit 50 once on my Tourer coming down the Crow road on the Campsie Fells with a tailwind and the front end shimmying all over the shop !

Bit buttock clenching.

Much more stable on my current bike at that speed.

Can recommend the road from Dunoon to Loch Striven for high speed thrills. Though the front end coming off the ground over some crests is a bit interesting !

Posted 6 months ago #
Edric 64 - Member

You should easily be able to get 60 on a road bike.

Its not that easy I hit 59mph once on Dartmoor and live on top of the Mendips .Even tried on my tt bike with skinsuit on using 55x11 and only hit 57mph riding off the Mendips with a tail wind

Posted 6 months ago #
MidlandTrailquestsGraham - Member

Malverns down to Welland ?
How about British Camp down towards Ledbury, wouldn't that be better* ?

*Possibly displaying lack of local knowledge here. I think that ones longer and steeper.

Posted 6 months ago #
thegiantbiker - Member

Was pleased at setting the 30 mph sign off a month or two back on my mountain bike. Checked the gps in my pack and had done 42.

Posted 6 months ago #
aracer - Member

Malverns down to Welland ?
How about British Camp down towards Ledbury, wouldn't that be better* ?

Nope - Malverns down to Welland is significantly steeper - though I've only ever ridden up that, not down, so no idea whether or not it's a 50 hill. Don't even break 40 going down towards Ledbury though IIRC.

Don't get the idea your gearing is a limitation - at 50 (or even 40 for ordinary mortals) you're far better off being in a full tuck than sitting up a bit to pedal.

Posted 6 months ago #
thepodge - Member

@mboy, it took a lot of studying os maps to work out the steepest bit and how to hit that point at full pelt. did the full on airo-tuck and everything, I never do it now.

Posted 6 months ago #
van cough cough - Member

I once rode, for a stretch, in Acle, at 42mph. This was on a 1992 or 1993 GT Outpost weighing some 35lbs or so.

Posted 6 months ago #
terrahawk - Member

You should easily be able to get 60 on a road bike.

Posted 6 months ago #
cheers_drive - Member

48mph is the fastest I have done but there are no long steep downhills around here and I've only got a compact. 60mph sounds scary on anything but a wide, smooth, straight, and empty road.

Posted 6 months ago #
neninja - Member

Managed 60km/h on a short downhill stretch of road in Weardale today on a 5" FS with very muddy mud tyres on. Was still accelarating when I reached a 90deg. left hand corner and had to knock speed off.

Posted 6 months ago #
seosamh77 - Member

41mph on a mtb with slicks is as fast as I've gone, scarey enough for me!

Posted 6 months ago #
jet26 - Member

Managed 62 off fleet moss. Bloody good fun but somewhat scary...

Posted 6 months ago #
mboy - Member

Nope - Malverns down to Welland is significantly steeper - though I've only ever ridden up that, not down, so no idea whether or not it's a 50 hill. Don't even break 40 going down towards Ledbury though IIRC.

Yeah, the roads off the top of the Malverns especially down to Ledbury, in any direction, are all quite long, but nothing like as steep as the start of the road to Welland.

And as for it being a 50 hill, if I can do 48 on it with little effort, someone covered head to toe in skin tight lycra, with a decent aero tuck and a good set of legs to get good acceleration off the sharp left hand bend, should probably be able to push 55+ coming down there, maybe even 60 before the road starts levelling out. But you'd need to REALLY gun it out the corner for sure.

Oh, and I'm sure some eye protection would help too, I backed off a bit mainly cos I couldn't see anything cos my eyes were streaming!

Posted 6 months ago #
warton - Member

i've got over 50 a couple of times, never got close to 60, and to be honest not sure I'd want to

Posted 6 months ago #
Pigface - Member

I have done 45 with a BOB acting like a rudder

Posted 6 months ago #
Andy - Member

Barbary Castle nr Swindon. 63mph.

I never do it now

bloody right!

Posted 6 months ago #
Bregante - Member

46 mph at La Molina DH in the Pyrenees. Shaking like a sh***ing dog at the bottom

Posted 6 months ago #
rOcKeTdOg - Member

i got 43 mph on my MTB down cobbly hill, too scared to try it on the road bike because of rim brakes and the hairpin left over a blind crest hump back bridge over the canal at the bottom

Posted 6 months ago #
aracer - Member

And as for it being a 50 hill, if I can do 48 on it with little effort, someone covered head to toe in skin tight lycra, with a decent aero tuck and a good set of legs to get good acceleration off the sharp left hand bend, should probably be able to push 55+ coming down there, maybe even 60 before the road starts levelling out.

Maybe I should have a go some time - I have a very aero TT machine, though I'm not quite convinced I've got the bottle to stay on the tri bars at 50+! There is at least a good run out to that bit of road as you'll naturally be slowing down well before you reach the corner - my current personal best of 55mph was set on a road where you had to brake for the upcoming cattle grid, and also rather narrow (I doubt I'd have the bottle for that nowadays).

Posted 6 months ago #
Elfinsafety - Member

You should easily be able to get 60 on a road bike.

Pah! I managed 90mph on my Grifter, coming down a wheelchair ramp.

I wooduv dun wunundred, but I was skinning up at the time.

Posted 6 months ago #
mboy - Member

aracer, do it, let us know how you get on. Though personally, you wouldn't catch me trying it on a TT bike! Maybe put the aero wheels off it on your normal road bike, but the extra speed from the Tri bars really wouldn't be worth the lack of control IMO.

But yes, that road is pretty much ideal as it's got the worlds longest run out pretty much.

Posted 6 months ago #
stevenmenmuir - Member

Did 45mph on my Raleigh Mustang. It was too big for me and I had to use the Profile aero bars that plugged into the bar ends, 21" version if I remember right, to get to that speed. Also to get to that speed there was a corner we had to cut, we took it in turns to go first and give the all clear. Those were the days.

Posted 6 months ago #
bigthunder - Member

Bust 50 coming down the road from the quirang in skye. Couldve done faster but I was losing the light. Paced in a car.

Posted 6 months ago #
Junkyard - Member

48.2 off road on a mtb via gps
there is a pic of the gps unit somewhere on here but i dont have a copy.

Posted 6 months ago #
T666DOM - Member

51.3 on my cyclocross on the commute home, felt bloody fast, don't think I could get more down the road as it opens up at the bottom of the hill and you can get a nasty cross wind, makes things wobble a bit!!

Posted 6 months ago #
zangolin - Member

Fastest road bike descents in Herefordshire .
54mph on Stockley Hill over near Peterchurch and 53mph on the road down from Capler Camp near Fownehope. Twiddle 53x11 up to about 40mph 'ish then tuck in and hang on for the ride.

Did 55mph on the flat once behind a big coach, back in the day, on Formby bypass - but that's another story.

Oh the Tumble dropping down from Blaenavon to Abergavenny is another cracking 50mph descent - you can also bunny hop the cattle grids at 40 plus if you have the bottle!

Posted 6 months ago #
drookitmunter - Member

Bust 50 coming down the road from the quirang in skye. Couldve done faster but I was losing the light. Paced in a car.

Actually I was doing 50mph.. My bike didn't have the gears (or the engine) to catch up with you. So you were probably doing 55mph or so.

That was on MTBs

Posted 6 months ago #
Taz - Member

Hit 53mph coming off the Galibier. My mate passed me. He claims he topped 60mph. Certainly seemed possible giving the rate he pulled away from me. No doubt I could have gone faster but did not have the bottle

Posted 6 months ago #
Mr_C - Member

I once hit 55 on the road from Lochranza to Sannox, on Arran. This was on on my mountain bike on slicks which was decked out with panniers front and rear, must have weighed about 70lb with all the crap I had taken. This was back in the days of canti brakes and no sense of my own mortality.

Posted 6 months ago #
mooman - Member

50mph is quite common around here in S.Wales .. lots of little descents to get that.
Once did 62mph down Caerphilly mtn ... that was very scary as anybody who knows of the descent will know. Try to keep it low to mid 50mph now though.

Posted 6 months ago #