I mean on a bike computer, even if momentarily.
Mine is 76 km/h on a road bike, brakes off, zipping down a hill in Monmouthshire where the cattle grids loom into focus pretty rapidly!
What you got?
I was thinking about this last night for some reason.
When I was about 15, back in the 90s, I clocked 45ish mph on my hardtail, cycling down from the stiperstones in Shropshire. Cutting corners, going on the wrong side of the road, you name it.
One of those things that as a teenager you just don't have any conception of how reckless and stupid you're being!
61mph/98kph.
I aiming for 100 and got close. Then had a bit of a wobble the next time and realised it was going to be whole world of pain if it went wrong at that speed. Pork hill coming off dartmoor into Tavistock.
Rarely go above 45mph now.
54 mph or 87 kph. Heading down slack hill on the road bike in the White Peak. Nice wide straight road with a corresponding up the other side, so fairly safe. That was 8 years ago when I did a 75 mile ride at an average speed of 15.4 mph. I'd struggle to ride 75 miles now, let alone at that pace.
84.4kph, descending into Clonmel in Co Waterford on the tandem. With a trailer on the back while touring around Ireland. I admire the Stoker's incredible nerve, for not screaming at me to slow down...
jeez some of these speeds are trouser stiffening! I thought 37mph was fast enough in my youth
there is no chance now i'm older, going super fast scares the bejeezus out of me!
Strava says 91.8kph coming off the south side of glenshee.
My deep section wheels on the propel prohibit me from more than 85koh. Anytime I do things get squirmy.
55mph on a road bike down the appropriately named 'Long hill' down into Shepton Mallet. Verified by Mrs Officer who was in a car behind me. Speed wobble at that pace is significantly puckering.
About 100 kmh in North Wales descending into Betsw y coed in the 90's when on a club run. Very little wind and we just flew down the descent. Tend not to do much more than 60 kph these days, I don't bounce as well.
60 ish MPH - speedo reading over 60. Tandem down a long hill
This sounds quite feeble after some of the speeds here but a few years ago I clipped 42 mph going through Hutton-le-Hole on my fully knobbly MTB and that was a tad scary..
62mph (99k)
Heavily loaded, 14% gradient, howling tailwind 30mph+
I quite noticeably slowed down, checked the cateye and i was still doing 55mph, which was quite surreal.
Fastest verified is 42mph.
Hit 52mph descending during the Tyne Vags mountain TT. Doing it on Tri-bars steering with your elbows adds a certain je ne sais quoi
<p>Over 60 mph down in to Otley</p>
Somewhere around 50mph on the hardtail, on the appropriately-named 50mph Road above Edale. I couldn't check the bar computer at the time, as my eyes were streaming. Either on a trailquest, or doing the Off Road Tour of The Peak around 1998. But I seem to recall the 'max' figure confirming it afterwards.
We hit similar on the road tandem coming down the Ironbridge bypass one time too; it didn't have a drag brake, so Mrs Lawman had little choice in the matter.
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This was on my road bike off a hill on the outskirts of Bath. This was scary enough not to want to go that fast again. Anywhere near 40mm and I’m done now - the consequences of sliding down the road in Lycra don’t bear thinking about.
Very slightly disappointed it wasn’t quite 50mph though.
53mph before I bottled it I think, long road descent in the peaks (forget where, but used for the Peak District Pioneer, mostly, off road sportive in 2017?) that had a really steep bit at the end.
Full sus MTB with XC race tyres. Aero tucked and everything.
Stopped recording not long after that.
No idea properly off road, but reckon nudging 40 on some French alpine/Canadian fire roads
82 kph on my 29er hardtail on an event in the Yorkshire dales. The same event where I lost the lining on one of my brake pads so was running on a spare! It did go through my mind as I slowed for the bottom of the hill!
I was actually thinking of posting something along these lines today. Not because of any particular feats of my own but we've just got back from a family trip to Hebden Bridge and we were on our way home down Halifax Road from the top of Cragg Vale when I spotted a roadie doing his damnedest to catch me so I eased off a little until he got in my draft and then gently increased to about 60 and possibly a little beyond... He stayed with me until the 40mph speed limit kicked in near the bottom at which point he shot past me.
When we got to the bottom in littleborough he was waiting for me at the junction with a massive grin on his face. We gave each other a thumbs up and went our separate ways 🙂
38.6 mph at Dyfi the other weekend. I was fully shitting myself.
Any Strava users interestedin findingout their top speed can use this tool:
https://github.com/fokkedekker/strava_max_speed
(there might be other ways but I'm learning python just now so liked the look of this)
Just waiting for my strava archive now.
As a roadie I’ve done quite a lot of fast alpine descents, have been over 100kph.
Also the road down towards Betwsy Coed, not the busy side. Pretty much straight road for 8 miles. Haven’t quite hit 60 on that one as the wind can be tricky. Many moons ago riding it I had no choice but to do 50mph, old fashioned carbon rims that were a lottery if they slowed down the bike or not.
South side of glenshee again here, 55.3 mph according to Strava. Not sure that’s my fastest ever, but felt up there. Had a wee vision of what would happen if I came off at that speed and backed off…I’ve come off going slower on a motorbike in leathers and that wasn’t fun, so in lycra it would be horrendous.
According to mrs_oab I was pulling away on my mountain bike as she followed in the car down Cairngorm ski road at 45mph....
47mph on my Raleigh Maverick in 1999 or so.
Measured on the speedometer of my mate's mum's Vauxhall Nova that we were using as a pacing/windbreak with the tailgate tied open with a bit of rope.
I could pretty much have read the car speedo from my bike if I hadn't been so scared.
#bestslipstreamevah
49.1 mph on my road bike somewhere on the Dartmoor Classic several years ago. I remember being a bit surprised as it didn't feel all that fast compared to other times that felt like warp speed.
Round where I live in the Midlands top speed on a ride these days is usually 40-ish though, combination of roads and being a bit older and wiser I suppose!
50 mph on a recumbent, coming down Beacon Hill towards Fleet in Hampshire. It was my temporary commute so did it a couple of times. Because of the MTB triple up front I couldn't pedal up to that speed, maxed out about 40 then tuck down into the seat. Overtook a car once. 👌
47mph on the A469 Thornhill road (south of Caerphilly mountain) from the Travellers Rest pub towards Cardiff on a Spesh Hardrock back in the day (so about 1991). Two of my mates (Spud and Dibs where are you both now?) were going faster and headed off into the distance after I started to consider my own mortality about halfway down the hill.
First time using a cateye cycle computer so I was either truly awesome/stupid when younger or, more likely, I didn't manage to do the wheel diameter setup properly. It did feel really rather flippin' fast though.
Best since then with a decent Garmin, my road bike and a strong desire to live is about 45mph.
50+ mph off Cairngorm (IIRC it was 86 km/h and I can't be arsed converting). The two problems are (a) the crosswind on that first, sweeping right-hander and (b) the various bumps and lumps on the section after the Sugar Bowl.
53.1 with the wind behind me down a steep hill, didn’t think much of it at the time but now shudder at the thought of hitting a chip sealed road wearing nothing but Lycra shorts, Oakleys and a t-shirt (no helmet of course)
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Around 70kph I think coming down Arthur's Pass in New Zealand. Panniers fell off when I hit a bump and I had to walk a long way back to find them.
The same day I set my mileage record in one day too which was 190km. Tailwind and 1000m drop in elevation helped somewhat!
I just had a look through VeloViewer (very handy for looking at these statistics). I have 85 km/h coming off the North side of the Lecht and the KOM for that segment is 90.4 km/h 🙂
I also have a recorded 81.7 km/h on Skye. That was during a Skye Sportive and as someone who was really a MTBer at the time, I remember thinking "why are all these roadies braking" 🙂
Can’t recall the exact figure but just shy of 50mph coming down from Avoriaz. I suspect on the straight open bit under the chairlift. The reward of dragging 90kgs up the Joux Verte.
45mph. Now I’m getting older, I bottle it anywhere near 35
When I was younger and at colleges I hit 50mph on a hill near Sidmouth. The following week I bailed off a longboard on the same hill at just under 30mph and knocked myself out for 5 minutes, broke the calcaneous (heel bone) and took off most of the skin on my back and arse. Pisspot helmet probably saved my life.
Obviously being about 21 we went to the pub (The Mermaid in Sidmouth) later that day to drink away the pain in my heel, skin and head (I wasn’t the smartest back then and we laughed in the face of things like head injuries - how naive). I think that was my 3rd concussion in what my wife and I believe is a total of about 12.
58mph at Ride London one year. That’s fast enough for me, particularly as I use deep section carbon rims and rim brakes…
The only high speeds I can find by traipsing back through Strava, that definitely aren’t gps error are a segment on the Mega Track near Huez (chasing cars). Repeated overall segment times of around 30mph with the highest being 32mph.
I’m sure years ago I remember seeing 50ish somewhere there.
Not sure I have the will power to find my best peak speed or trawl through road rides.
79.6kmh on my old Cotic BFe descending Divis just outside Belfast, the brakes were cooking at the bottom!
I just had a look through VeloViewer (very handy for looking at these statistics).
Does that only work if you have a paid for strava? I couldn’t work it out.
Two guys once pulled alongside to tell me I was hitting around 48mph, that was back in my twenties when I had XT v-brakes and Tioga factory tyres on.
49.something mph round the corner at the bottom of newlands corner heading towards clandon crossroads. also in the 90’s
i also overtook an allegro on my friend’s lowpro. that was both hilarious and dangerous. but mostly hilarious
I don't pay for Strava. I do pay for VeloViewer.
Same as, I’ll try to work it out
About 70kph dropping from ranmore towards Dorking. I say about because somehow my Garmin bounced off and down the road so I only have the memory of looking at the number in real time.
I stopped and turned as soon as I could and the raced back up the hill hoping it had survived and wasn't in £300 of bits under someone's wheels.
I probably averaged about 40kph on the climb..... unverified too because I didn't have the computer to record it! You'll just have take my word 😉
Usually hit between anywhere 50-60mph on the road bike now and again
But my record is 300mph! the computer never lies!
52 mph (as I saw later on Strava) on a descent in a closed roads Peak District sportive.
The main thing I recall was a bit of snot leaving a nostril and working its way up my cheek. I could feel it moving but knew I had to keep my hands on the bars or I was a dead man. Was too scared to even brake, just waited for the road to flatten out.
Seems funny looking back but no way I'd even consider it these days. Seeing the pro riders routinely descend at those sort of speeds (and more) just increases my respect for what they do.
High 50 on the Lecht - both sides. Same down Fleet Moss towards Hawes and on a road near Alston in the Pennines. All on a cat eye computer so may not be that accurate!
Did a charity event up and down the Tumble yonks ago, recorded multiple 57mph decents on Strava on my old flat-barred, V-braked hybrid. Never topped that on the CAAD8, but think I clocked a 56mph descent of the B4086, along the escarpment from Sun Rising Hill, north of Banbury.
I'm a larger gent, so going downhill fast on non-technical descents are the closest things I have to a strong point. Bit gutted to get smashed by tandems with trailers! 🙂
coming off the south side of glenshee
^^Yup,55mph on same stretch as ratty,dry road,no wind or traffic.
A lot of my fast club mates still clip 60mph on the hills,I have no bottle for that nonsense now and start braking after 45.:-)
Done 55mph off Woodhead to Sheffield side on a windy day. Bike started with a tank slapper due to the cross wind. Pharp.
Eased off, then went for it again..
62.7 down Cothercote Hill in Shropshire with a gale force tailwind. Something I won't ever try again, I was thinking while descending that I'd be dead if I crashed at that speed.
54mph down Bury Hill (A29) back in the 90s when it was steeper than it is today. Overtook two cars then slowed to turn right at the bottom cutting across the T-junction. Fully protected by Lycra and track mitts. Not the most stupid thing I have done but certainly in the top 100, far more sensible/dull these days
142 mph on a Suzuki Katana 1100. 1 am on the Edinburgh Bypass (the only section open at the time was between Wester Hailes and Fairmilehead). At that speed the gradual bend past Bonaly requires quite a lot of lean 🙂
142 mph on a Suzuki Katana 1100
I can beat the speed but not the bravery of doing it on a Katana!
My cycle computer went into 3 figures (kmh) at Ironman Switzerland 20 years ago this summer. To be fair it was the straightest, smoothest, widest most consistent descent with the longest run off you could possibly imagine. And the bike was a slippery disc wheeled beast with an aero lid on my bonce. Zero skill, just lots of young man sense of invulnerability and racing red mist. Good job I didn't come off as the wisps of lycra that constituted a race suit....I can't imagine the road rash.
A few year later at a very wet fred whitton I flashed past some poor lad being helped by paramedics who had seemly removed half his jaw making contact with a dry stone wall at similar speeds. In the work of a moment my big boy downhill with your arse on fire balls were reduced to shrivelled walnuts....where they seem to have remained ever since.
A quick look at some of my rides on Strava, 78kmph is my fasted off-road. There is one that showed 112kmph (mid ride) which must be an error as there 100% no way I have the skill/kahonas or trail to do that.
A lot of the guys do 60mph on this one but I refuse to go round the top bend off the brakes (because once there was a car in the middle of the road overtaking a bike coming up the hill) 🤣
And all the actual times above 50:
Also the road down towards Betwsy Coed, not the busy side. Pretty much straight road for 8 miles
Yup, tis a fast bit of road, reckon I’ve gone about as fast as I’ve ever gone on a bike down there, head down with a tail wind until my rear tyre went bang
88km/h off the Kirkstone Pass towards Brotherswater, many moons ago.
48.something mph, going down the long hill I live at the top of. I normally come down pushing 40mph, this day there was a fair tailwind and I was practicing my MTB position on my road bike (so probably acting even more like a sail than usual)... didn't realise the speed until I looked at Strava later, was annoyed because if I'd I've known at the time, I'd have pedalled a bit to try for 50!
I spend far more of my life grinding back up it at 6/7/8mph to get home though!
55mph/88kph coming south from Cairnwell (Glenshee), same place as Trailrat and Fasthaggis
Managed 44mph/70kph offroad last weekend though to be honest the track was like a motorway.
Fastest I can find on Strava is 53.7mph on my gravel bike.
Local -10% hill with a nasty blind bend at bottom.
Hit 50mph down there on the tandem last weekend. My g/f just closes her eyes and relaxes. So she says!
Well that python thing I linked to above doesn't work, but I wrote my own script that tells me I've been above 100km/h a few times. A quick look tells me some of those are glitches (I definitely didn't go that fast on a touring bike intoe a swedish headwind) but a couple of those were on Dyer's pass near Chistchurch NZ.
Offroad on my fatbike about 70 km/h throuh some alpine fields and I still got passed by the downhill rigs.
Road when I was about half my current age 114 km/h down a short but steep hill in Belgium
102km/h, somewhere in the Pyrenees on the Etape. Hurtling off a col between a series of hairpin bends. Properly sh1tting it. Reality check when at one of the bends there was a guy at the side of the road on a stretcher, covered in blood, bike smashed up, helmet a mess, and receiving medical attention. Slowed down a bit after that.
54mph down Kirkstone Pass towards Ullswster on the Fred Whitton a few years ago.
It was ace 😀
36mph according to strava on a long straight downhill blast out my local woods, how accurate that is though who knows 😂
64 Mph off Barbury Castle south of Swindon on a road bike many years ago. V Early in morning and giving it a good crank up before hitting the steep bit.
No F way would I consider anything near that speed these days.
Fraction over 100kph (62ish mph) on the descent of the Grossglockner Pass in Austria. It's got some long open stretches and good sightlines but it was still pretty bloody terrifying braking for the corners and feeling nothing...nothing...nothing...slight slowing. Was scared of bursting the tyres with the heat (this was on rim brakes).
I'd ridden the same bike in Etape du Tour on a baking hot day and on the first descent, loads of riders around me were puncturing with the heat from rim brakes.
I'm OK up to about 50-55mph now, any faster than that is terrifying.
There's a few hills I've ridden that had the potential for higher speeds - the descent off Stelvio into Bormio must be good for 60+mph on the top stretches but then the corners come far too fast lower down for anything that silly.
I remember (many years ago) doing high 50's mph on a descent in the Alps and the local guys were coming past me, sitting up for aero braking into the turns, whipping round them and straight back into the drops. Impressive stuff!
98.6kmph on a tarmac road on an mtb while commuting with my lunch on my back. There’s a 20% hill, with a long straight and a nasty bumpy dogleg. Mate on a road bike got the same speed behind me. Never quite matched that speed again.
On gravel there’s a few places locally I’ve clocked 70-80kph, overtaken cars.
57mph coming down a road decent in the Quantocks back in around 2007/8 on a Stumpjumper fsr with Fire XC’s and Mini monos.
In recent years, don’t know but fastest KOM is down Godlingston Hill in the Purbecks, average speed of 39mph, max 43mph.
52 mph (as measured by a Cat Eye lcd bike computer)
Bike: Fisher Hoo Koo e Koo (v brakes and a u-brake on the rear)
Road: Mt Ventoux
Tyres: spesh Fatboy slicks
Panniers: Karrimor massive green ones, plus a rolled up karrimat and a u-lock strapped to the top
Helmet: None
Pedals: Had reflectors
Shoes: Walking boots
Face: Sheer panic
Those were the days!
83.9 km/h coming down the Malaucene side from the top of Mont Ventoux in 2016. Since then, I've become a father, which seems to have put the dampener on things... as evidence, I came down the same descent in 2022 and had a top speed 60.9 km/h!
I've been faster skiing - there's a piste in Hochfugen that is extremely steep and wide and has an enormous (gently uphill) run-off. When I was there in 2014, I went well over 100 km/h - my legs started juddering/vibrating from the strain and I couldn't risk engaging the skis to slow down in case I caught an edge, so I just waited for the slope to go up and held on.
Not sure on fastest ever, but I had a look, and I regularly hit over 85kmh on a hill between Sidmouth and Newton Pop (bit cheeky too as it's a 40mph speed limit!)
48mph on a Singular Griffin with 2.3” tyres. Off Emley Moor, two of us taking turns pedalling and slipstreaming / freewheeling.
About 45mph going down Beech Avenue on my Rocky Mountain hardtail quite some time ago. I recall that my helmet was trying to lift off from my head and that I absolutely could not spin my legs any faster.
I don't use Strava and haven't had a bike computer fitted for a very long time but I can't think of any time I've cycled anywhere near that quickly.
Probably about 45 mph. Regularly hit 40 on my road bike and it’s terrifyingly fast. Yet I can hit 35 on the tt bike occasionally on a slight downhill with a favourable wind and it doesn’t seem nearly as scary. Probably because I’m still pedaling so the brain thinks I’m in control, despite being unable to reach the brakes
Regularly hit 40 on my road bike and it’s terrifyingly fast.
If I put my dropper down and tuck I do that speed on the hill past my house every time I head to work. I ride on the fog line for reduced friction 🤣
2.3” tyres feel safe though
High 40's, on a stripped down urban type bike. Scared the hell out of me as above, realized quite quickly what would happen if i lost it.