# How fast can you go on a bike?



## DirtCrash (Apr 11, 2004)

Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven’t seen any riders on the trails (or road) don’t go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I’ve read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


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## bulC (Mar 12, 2004)

*fast and slow*



DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven't seen any riders on the trails (or road) don't go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I've read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


When I raced track I could hit about 45 mph in an allout sprint, for a few long seconds. On the road, time trialists can hold well over 30 mph for the length of the race, I think I recall that LeMond's average speed when he won the '89, i think it was, Tour de France over Fignon by 8 seconds was like 34 mph.
the fastest I've gone on a bicycle is 65 mph on a MTB tandem with Ground Controls howling down a big pavement descent. Probably 55 or so on a single road bike on descents. Been upside down and sliding on gravel and dirt at around 45 mph on an MTB, it ain't fun, still have some gravel in my shoulderblades. Also been sliding on pavement at better'n 50 mph, also not recommended. Of the two, pavement crashes hurt worse, feels like a blowtorch, I think the rougher surface of MTBing destroys nerve endings, while road crashes leave them intact and hurting big time. A good thing to remember when you're tempted to let it hang out is that physics says the Ouch Factor increases with the Square of the Speed. So, if you go twice as fast, you're looking at Four Times the Pain and Injury when you hit a tree or otherwise part ways with your bicycle. Three times as fast, Nine Times the Ouch. So if you're tempted to let off the brake and hit 30, Nine Times the Ouch as if you go 10 mph. Me, I go slow, crashing sucks.


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## MoparShaha (May 26, 2004)

Fastest I've hit was 55 MPH on a paved road on my MTB. Pretty scary. It's rare that I even hit 30 MPH. It's hard to get up to any real speed on an MTB. The gearing isn't setup for top speed. After 25-30 MPH, an MTB just runs out of useable gear ratios, so you really need a long descent to attain any more speed. If you want flat out speed, you need to be on a road bike. They have gear ratios geared toward high-end speed.


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## DaFireMedic (Jan 13, 2004)

DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven't seen any riders on the trails (or road) don't go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I've read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


I regularly hit 30 mph on a local fireroad, but it has a straightaway section thats long and flat with a downhill grade (a buddy of mine, an expert class racer, has hit 48 mph on this section, and I believe him because I've seen him fly down it). I'm also very familiar with that section of fireroad. The speeds you are talking about aren't usually on level ground, and usually not on singletrack trails. But its not difficult in the right place. Its also scary. That same buddy fell once going 38 mph in standard XC attire, i.e. lycra and a little XC helmet. Talk about road rash!

Also, the speeds you mentioned cannot be sustained on an MTB unless its a downhill grade. The gearing just isn't there. Even the best racers cannot maintain 40 mph on level ground.


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## Mike T. (Dec 30, 2003)

DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven't seen any riders on the trails (or road) don't go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I've read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


There's much BS about speeds. Here are some facts. The gear ratios on my mtb will allow me to top out pedalling at about 36mph downhill. So, where someone above says mtb's have no usable gears for fast speeds that's BS too. Yes the fastest road time trial of all-time was LeMond's in the TDF (just a few short km) and it was like a 34mph average. So If I had the legs (which I don't and no-one does) I could ride the fastest TT the world has ever known on my mtb gearing.

A decent roadie on a road bike can average about 20-22-24 mph on a good training ride. Race averages are about 24mph and the TDF guys average that for three weeks of the TDF for 100mls/day. Fast, shorter races will average up to 30mph.

Good national caliber road time trialers will average up to (and maybe a touch over) 30 mph. That's for like 15-40km distances. The time trialers in the UK (where TTs are very common) will average 27-28mph for 100 miles.

I'm old enough to be your dad and on my mtb I average about 17mph on a packed dirt road training ride of 24 - 30 miles. That's a big effort for me. Of course on trails that's down to about 9-12mph depending on terrain.

I've no idea but I'll bet I could get up to 25mph on a dirt trail. It would have to be smooth & flat and I wouldn't be doing it for more than a few seconds.

Stronger, younger rider's results may vary.


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## Scanner (Apr 23, 2004)

*Real world!*



Mike T. said:


> There's much BS about speeds. Here are some facts. The gear ratios on my mtb will allow me to top out pedalling at about 36mph downhill. So, where someone above says mtb's have no usable gears for fast speeds that's BS too. Yes the fastest road time trial of all-time was LeMond's in the TDF (just a few short km) and it was like a 34mph average. So If I had the legs (which I don't and no-one does) I could ride the fastest TT the world has ever known on my mtb gearing.


Mike,
I thought that LeMonds record fell. Didn't Boardman maintain 37mph in the prologue a few years ago?

I used to be able to sprint- on pavement - on my mountain bike up to 35 mph, that was many years ago and like was said before it was only for a long second. My road bike I never checked in a sprint - they are just too damn scary!

I posted my fastest descent coming out of Rock Mountain National Park at 62. Down hill with slip stream/slingshot from a car in front of me. (and I would rather do that then be in a pack sprint anymore!)

If you program your computer to the exact roll out of your tire you can get a very accurate speed. If you use the numbers your computer provides this will be close - close enough for the average Jolene.

What is really amazing is the speed pro can maintain and for how long.


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## Talisman (Apr 5, 2004)

*It Depends*

On pavement with a decent down hill I can hit 34 MPH according to my Cateye that is calibrated for my tires. The gearing on my mtn bike is such that is about maximum velocity for my bike, me with flapping bike shorts, a camel back and rumbling tires.

On packed and wide trails I can get up to the low to mid 20 mph for a short distance, but on regular single track with logs to hop, hills to climb, streams to cross and mud to wallow through I honestly average 7.5 mph but can push this a little higher. Biting insects like mosquitos, deer flies and horse flies can only fly at around 5 mph so if you are getting bit, pick up the pace.


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## Warp (May 24, 2004)

*Pretty Much BS....*

Only time you could get over 30 (pedaling) is a flat fire road. MTB generates enough drag and rolling resistance to slow down even the fastest.

OTOH, going downhill you can easily go over 30. My max ever was 37mph on a smooth downhill fire road. And it scared the shift out of me.... On the same ride and trail few miles ahead I was doing 30 when I saw a nasty big bad tree and a "S" on the trail sorrounding the tree that meade me leave a skid of about 60ft long (the terrain had like one or two inches deep mud over hardpack and I was really scared).... on a Wallmart Bike... no discs brakes there.

So, ride hard and don't believe tales. When someone brag about how fast could he/she go make them race against you 10 to 20 miles... no more bragging after that you'll see....


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## yobdlog (Feb 5, 2004)

*Crazy or otherwise...*

I recently found out how fast I could go on my trusty hardtail down what started as a singletrack descent that widens up into a fireroad and then leads to a scarier road descent (Penn. State).

The singletrack portion - 28MPH
The fireroad portion - 32MPH
The road portion - 39MPH

By far the scariest portion for me was the fireroad portion. My mentality was, I can't believe I survived and kept up with my friend (on a full suspension no less) down a helluva singletrack without flying off the side of the mountain. Then I got to the fireroad and despite the calmness of it beyond the singletrack, I didn't realize how easily some of the gravel just slid from under you at certain patches making you skid time from time if you hit the brakes at the wrong spots.

By the time we hit the road, I wasn't scared, just unbelievably stupid and really curious how well I could handle it.

Oh and I wanted to beat my buddy down.


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## Bikinfoolferlife (Feb 3, 2004)

*Well, I'll throw my .02 in as well...*

I once did 58 on my road bike drafting a tandem down a nicely paved mountain road, and didn't think it was too scary. I once did 54 down a hill on my road bike where the road wasn't so well kept and all I could think of was not flatting until I got to the bottom and stop. On a mountain bike on a paved road I got up to 42 once and that was kinda scary when the road curved a bit. On a mountain bike on a fire road I got up to high 30's a couple of times and some were scarier than others. I've never really measured a section of singletrack for speed. I'd have trouble thinking of any singletrack I could really get going on...but I'll be thinking about that next coupla times out.


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## fantom1 (May 31, 2004)

I hit +45 going downhill on a hill by my apt. regularly on my roadbike. Not really sketchy until I look down at the front fork and watch it springing back towards me a little bit with every bump. You get some cool looks from cars at the stop lights


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## jabpn (Jun 21, 2004)

*speed depends on riding path type*

Mostly I ride my mtn bike on pavement. Usually I ride 15-27 miles a day depending on my mood. (By the way I like mtn biking instead of road biking because of the greater resistance and greater effort required to maintain speed etc. Simply more of a workout for me....hehe). My avg speed on flat pavement/sidewalks is 20.5 MPH to 22 MPH. Slight uphills drops me down to 17 or 18 MPH and steep hills I can avg 5-8 MPH. Downhills I've gone around 36 MPH with slight downhills avg 24-25 MPH. I personally ride almost entirely with my gearing on 3-8 (or largest front cog and second to smallest rear cog). I'm to the point now where 3-7 or lower simply feels way to easy to pedal. I'm also a large rider at 6' 1" 207 lbs (3 mo. ago I was 232 lbs....man I hate Michigan winters). When I actually ride off road my computer says I avg. 12-15 MPH depending on the trail. I think that trail riding is so dependant on the type of terrain you're riding. But I do know this, ride often and you will get plenty faster.


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## Scanner (Apr 23, 2004)

jabpn said:


> . I personally ride almost entirely with my gearing on 3-8 (or largest front cog and second to smallest rear cog). I'm to the point now where 3-7 or lower simply feels way to easy to pedal.


Instead of what feels harder or easier count your cadence - the number of times your legs come around in a minute. A good cadence is between 75 and 85 rpms. Road racers often will be at about 100 rpms. A track sprinter will get up to 120 or higher (one gear - no shifting!)

This might seem hard and to "easy" for a while but soon you will get used to it and you will find that you are riding farther with less effort. You will also find that you will shift your gears more to keep at the same cadence - that is why bikes have so many gears.

If you think of yourself as a car engine, and the cadence the tachometer, you might get the idea. If you try to start moving a car in 5th gear the engine chugs, and judders, and dies. If you try to do 60 mph in first gear the engine revs way too high and will eventually over heat and burn out. Well, even the best bicyclist in the world don't generate 1 horsepower. Not even close. I believe I read that Marty Nothstein, world champ track racer will only put out 1/2 horsepower.

So back to the real world. Since on a good day you might be putting out 1/8 horsepower wouldn't it be best to keep the engine (you) in a range where it is running best? Once you get used to a faster cadence (spinning) you will find that you shift more to keep in that range.

You can find your cadence speed easy: set you computer to stop watch and count when one leg peaks for 15 seconds - mulitply by four and you will have your rpms. Many years ago, before the age of bicycle computers, I learned to count cadence and to this day I can still tap out a beat of 100 rpms. The count becomes my mantra on those long road rides!

Pedal On!


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## Warp (May 24, 2004)

*Yup... agreed...*

Just watch out for your revs (cadence) not going over 80 in altitudes over a mile high. Your lungs are struggling for getting oxygen... make them work faster will lead you to generate lactic acid which will eventually lead you to aches.

I guess some track racers can put out very close or more than 1HP... but for less than 90 seconds... I'm lucky if I get 1/16th!!!!


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## Scanner (Apr 23, 2004)

welllll... how do account for Lance keeping a 100rpm up the Alps? Ok, so he is a finely trained athlete (I won't get into the latest accusations).

I was never anywhere near a Lance but I would try to maintain my cadence even on long Rocky Mountain climbs - on dirt or off dirt. A good friend of mine and a former pro would dance up climbs easily turning 100 rpms. 

I only offer this as hearsay evidence. I have not been coaching for a couple of years now, but I still try to keep up on research. I have not ever seen any hard evidence that high rpms build lactic acid. I really think it is how you condition your body. If you are used to pedaling at 80 rpms and then try to push 110, at any altitude, your legs are going to scream in pain. Your muscles are not going to be used to pumping blood around at the speed which they contract and lactic acid will build up.

Warp, no offense meant, I just need the research.

Cheers!


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## Warp (May 24, 2004)

*No offense taken here also...*

And I would like to hear the truth from someone with your experience.

I live in Mexico City (well above the mile high at 1.37miles) and some of our trailheads start at 2800m and then climb. I've ridden up to 3750m (+12,000 ft) and I wish I could put out 80 at that high at any gear but as you said I'm not a trained athlete but a sunday warrior.

The reasoning comes from that to push the same gear at the same cadence (same power) at higher altitude your HR goes a bit higher as the oxygen collected by the lungs (air volume) is lower and hence the heart compensates by giving out more bpm's and that can put you into anaerobic. It's just a matter of self control I think. I understand some athletes can climb at incredible paces... but they are "hot-rod's". Human Machines specifically shaped for performance.

If you find out something let me know.... this is just interesting.


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## Scanner (Apr 23, 2004)

And that is why you can ride so much better if you come down to see level - your body is used to running on less oxygen. And you reasoning is right on. What is your usual leg speed? And what type of climbing are you doing - on or off road? 

I don't want to capture this thread totally so if you want e me at tad at bodyscanningcrm.com

Peace!


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## 777heavy (May 18, 2004)

Is 27.6 MPH slow or fast for me that was my top speed on A ROAD.


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## Warp (May 24, 2004)

*777...*

Don't worry about top speeds... what really counts here is average speeds.

Anyway... it's normal. I've hit on a flat leveled road like 32.5mph on a MTB. Incredibly enough my top speed on a downhill is only 37.4mph which is on the very slow side.


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## mattv2099 (Apr 15, 2004)

On my mountain bike with the 11 tooth cog in back and the 46 tooth ring in front I spin out around 35 mph. In XC races on the downhills I commonly go over 30 mph.

With my road bike if I sprint downhill I can hit 55 mph pretty easy. But I get scared when I go that fast so I've never tried to hit 60, which I know I'm capable of. *note - I've only gone this fast on a very steep downhill while sprinting all out.


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## GuruAtma (May 17, 2004)

*779 mph*

I go about 779 mph going uphill. That's if you take into account the speed of the earth's rotation at my latitude. I don't even get sore muscles, and it doesn't hurt that much when I crash.

Other than that, the geometry/head angle of some mountain bikes make them more or less stable at high speeds.


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## stavpal (Jul 12, 2004)

*46mph*

On my full suspension mountain bike with the 11 tooth cog in back and the 42 tooth ring in front I have reached in "easy" (not steep) off-road downhill 46mph sprinting. I could go more but there are many "tight turns" so then i quickly brake to below 31mph. I don't usually try to go that fast because it's scary. Usually i go dowhilling at 28-32mph. It's really very scary sometimes when i reach turns at 46mph - how to brake fast enough without the front brake throwing you out. It's really scary at such high speeds also because of the wind - when it's perpendicular to the way you are going.


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## laxguy86 (Feb 2, 2004)

41 mph on mountain knobbies, downhill, pavement,
truck passed me and the slipstream nearly pushed me over

-dM


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## otis24 (Apr 1, 2004)

In the prolog of the TDF they said that Lance Armstrong had a 54 or 56 tooth chainring. I can't remember which I think more likly 54 teeth. Anyway he spins really fast and that's a pretty big gear. I don't think I'd last too long in the gears those guys use. Anyway I've hit 60 on road bike with crappy breaks going down a steep hill about 20 feet behind a ryder truck. I hit 45 on a mountain bike with slicks and B.O.B. trailer with a total weight of about 100 pounds. That was pretty scary the trailer started to shimmy and the vibration got worse and worse I almost lost it. That was in the first week of a 6 week bike trip too.


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## Jettj45 (Jul 25, 2004)

*Is 27.6 MPH slow or fast for me that was my top speed on A ROAD.*

OQ:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Is 27.6 MPH slow or fast for me that was my top speed on A ROAD.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yes that is really really slow ive hit 75 on my road bike(specialized Allez pro) down hill, 27.6 is a good pace speed if your doing a century ride.


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## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

got going 42 on the kamakazee at mammoth last weekend.....


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## LBmtb (Jul 29, 2004)

My quickest so far is ~35mph in all my 3 months of riding. This was on an entry level hardtail (trek 3700).


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## cohenfive (Jan 12, 2004)

i've been up to 34.7mph on my mtn. bike in the dirt (yes i have a computer!). that was on a long, straight downhill fireroad and i didn't stay at that speed very long.


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## Bob the Wheelbuilder (Sep 21, 2003)

*And the Polar Xtrainer Plus says...*

48.7 mph on a calibrated speedometer MTB/knobbies/pavement at the end of the first Brian Head 100. My highest I can remember is 54.something on the road bike downhill.

As others have said, the average is more telling. 20 mph average is pretty fast for a century on the road with any amount of climbing, 10-15 mph can be fast over a 2-3 hour technical MTB ride. Pro's mileage will vary.

Spinning a higher cadence is likely best at all altitiudes. At elevation, you might see a higher heart rate, but the significance of altitude on your usual HR is variable. You may be above your "lactate threshold" HR without being truly anerobic. Over time you'll learn to correlate your perceived exertion with your heart rate. Sometimes one is more valuable than the other.

Once your muscles are trained to do it, spinning a lower gear faster will allow longer rides with less fatigue. One of the mistakes I made early in training was to never push a big gear. You need some hill climbing in a big gear occasionally to build strength.


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## AdamOn6thStreet (Aug 20, 2004)

I biked down Pike's Peak a few summers ago. I don't know within even 10 mph how fast I was going, but I passed a few cars. The scary thing was that I was on a rental bike....it was a decent Specialized (Rockhopper, if I remember correctly) with a Rock Shox fork and the guys checked it out for about 15 minutes before I rode it....but still, looking back i can't believe that I did something like that. If I were to guess I would say I was probably at or around 50 mph. The top third of the Peak is dirt, the bottom 2/3 is pavement. I was going slower on the dirt, but faster on the pavement. About halfway down the mountain it started to rain. I slowded down a little bit...but not enough. There was one corner (on the pavement) where my rear tire started to slide out very slowly...just exactly when a car was approaching in the opposite direction.....


...ok enough of this, Im starting to get the shivers.  

Oh yeah, first post btw. Hi


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## TheSherpa (Jan 15, 2004)

Jettj45 said:


> OQ:
> 
> Yes that is really really slow ive hit 75 on my road bike(specialized Allez pro) down hill,.


No you haven't.

-TS


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## eman (May 2, 2004)

I can hit 40-41 pedaling and topping out on a huge hill in town. 
I can hit 25ish flat out on flat ground for a few seconds, not very long.
Thats on a mtb btw. On a trail I dunno what I hit, i never look at my speedo on the trail, I would probably crash and hit a tree  .

I want to see what I could do on a road bike


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## Thomas15 (May 16, 2004)

My all time fastest speed on a road bike was 56 mph during the Princeton event, probably around 1988. I was going downhill all out trying to get away from a "friend" that I worked with at the time.

I have one of those older road bikes that has the brake cables exiting from the top of the hood and forming a big loop right in front of the bars. All I remember about the experience was those cables buzzing and my forks were a blur from the vibrations due to the rough road surface. It took quite a while for me to stop the bike at the bottom of the hill.

Today, I have no desire to travel that fast on a bicycle. At the time, I remember being very concerned for my safety, I don't know how the racers travel that fast in such big packs and inches away form each other.


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## Jettj45 (Jul 25, 2004)

TheSherpa said:


> No you haven't.
> 
> -TS


..... what makes you say that?


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## DJrider04 (May 4, 2004)

About 38mph, lost my front tire in some mud during a DH race, got hucked over the bars. You really dont think about anything when crap like that happens, your just kinda sailing through the air, and looking at peoples faces as they scramble to get out of the way


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## franktank232 (Feb 21, 2004)

*speed kills*

well...ive gotten 46Mph with my Trek 5500 on a very steep section of local road (i live in bluff country)..this is accurate because i double checked my speedo with my GPS and it was dead on (i was amazed at how accurate these devices are)...

that 75mph claim...whats your rpm and gearing used to achieve this? i bet that must be some kind of slope!










heres a link to some fast bikes (81mph on flat land??!) https://www.wisil.recumbents.com/wisil/whpsc2003/speedchallenge-2003.htm


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## 006_007 (Jan 12, 2004)

The fastest recorded speed on a bicycle is..... 167.043 MPH

www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=43641&Reg=1


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## soulsurfer104 (Sep 6, 2004)

*road*

i have gone 58.6mph on my road bike on a screaming descent in SoCal. it's so smooth and fast that it's hypnotizing. you realize that your life could end at any given moment- if you hesitate, if you make a mistake, if your bike falters, etc. it's very cleansing, mentally.


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## Th' Mule (Aug 31, 2004)

Okay, level ground on a MTB with knobbys I was able to max out at about 32mph (51kph) and it just about killed me. The fastest I have ever been brave enough to go on a MTB has been downhill at 40mph (65kph) and that was on pavement with a pretty nervous captain at the helm. I only average about 14mph (22kph) when I do the trails right now for a 10 mile (16km) stretch, being out of shape and all... But I am getting better!


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*I've hit 42*



DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven�t seen any riders on the trails (or road) don�t go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I�ve read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


 ... once. Bike computer calibrated for my bike, recorded 42 mph as a max speed on a ride I was on once. There was a paved decent that went for a couple of miles that joined one section of trail to another. Not super fast, but fast enough for me. I hit 35 MPH on Skyline Blvd at the Sea Otter race last time around. That's downright scary on that loose gravely stuff.

My average speeds on rides, depending on terrain is around 8-12 MPH. No way I could sustain anyting much faster than that, unless it was flat and smooth hardpack.


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## Tracerboy (Oct 13, 2002)

44Mph is my max. this was on my hardtail (no longer with me). I found it quite scary even though it was a nice wide trail.

It was also fairly downhill and nice flat, hard packed mud all the way.


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## Managuense (Jun 8, 2004)

About 31mph on a 1 mile stretch of fireroad on 2.0 inch knobbies all downhill. This is without a big ring up front, though I'm not too sure I would want to go any faster on dirt.

Of course some clowns will claim they do 80mph, welcome to the internet.


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## sdkwan (Aug 30, 2004)

My max speed was 35mph but i haven't been able to get that speed for a long while. The most recent top speed was 32mph but that was on a regular road going downhill for about .75 miles.


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## s1ngletrack (Aug 31, 2004)

I have a strong feeling someone's gonna tell me I'm full of it but.. I've hit 55mph,on my hardtail MTB with a friend racing down an extremely steep and well packed portion of a powerline service road when I lived on Kauai, it only lasted for about 20 seconds or so before we both had to brake like crazy. My friend (who was a bike mech.) said his computer was calculated correctly (of course I asked - who wouldn't?) We came to the top of the very steep portion of road (from the downhill section above said portion) flying - so spinning out wasn't much of a factor once gravity took hold.

I hit 56 on the roadbike once, drafting a car and somehow it seemed scarier than the MTB.

You can get into the low to mid 30's pretty easily on some of the trails here (Denver & surrounding) - but not for very long, usually it's more like 10-15 mph tops.


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## wraith (Jan 12, 2004)

s1ngletrack said:


> I have a strong feeling someone's gonna tell me I'm full of it but.. I've hit 55mph,on my hardtail MTB with a friend racing down an extremely steep and well packed portion of a powerline service road when I lived on Kauai, it only lasted for about 20 seconds or so before we both had to brake like crazy. My friend (who was a bike mech.) said his computer was calculated correctly (of course I asked - who wouldn't?) We came to the top of the very steep portion of road (from the downhill section above said portion) flying - so spinning out wasn't much of a factor once gravity took hold.
> 
> I hit 56 on the roadbike once, drafting a car and somehow it seemed scarier than the MTB.
> 
> You can get into the low to mid 30's pretty easily on some of the trails here (Denver & surrounding) - but not for very long, usually it's more like 10-15 mph tops.


No you're not full of it. I've done 60+ going downhill myself. Going fast down downhill is easy.

Personally, I'm not real impressed by downhill speed. You want to impress me on how fast you are. Tell me how fast you can you climb a steep hill. What your average speed on a 60 mile ride (hopefully not all downhill of course)? Let's get some max speed without the assistance for gravity

BTW, I agree drafting a car is way scarier then bombing down a hill.


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## SCUBAPRO (Jun 29, 2004)

*45 Mph*

My max was 45 MPH down a fire road...but I'm pretty sure the DH pros do over 60MPH downhill.


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## scottms33 (Mar 13, 2004)

*53*

last year at a race. indian caves in nebraska, i knew i was going fast so didnt really want to look down at the computer to see what it was, plus my eyes were watering pretty bad. when the race was over i checked the computer and there it was 53 mph.. thats the fastest i have ever gone on a bike. little tree and bush limbs hurt pretty bad when they hit your arms and shins at that speed...

scott


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## WR304 (Jul 9, 2004)

The fastest I've been on a road bike is around 60mph. It'd be faster if there were some bigger hills round here though.

The quickest way to descend on road is tucked in and freewheeling. On a road bike it's fastest to have your hands on the drops and then sit on the top tube with your nose on the bars for the lowest frontal area. It's either that or stretch out and rest the saddle on your stomach to get a similar aero position. You sometimes see pros descending with their hands behind their backs in a similar position to speed skaters.

Remember to get out of the tuck before your braking point though as you're not fully in control of the bike like that!!!

Those positions aren't very comfortable but are a lot faster than the normal tuck people do where you put your hands on the centre of the bars, sit on the saddle and try and put your nose on the handlebar.

Descending is fun but easily the most satisfying way to go fast is slipstreaming a car, lorry or motorbike on the flat. If you get behind a slow lorry it gives you a massive wind break and you can easily stay with them till you run out of gears. A few years ago I got behind a lorry at 50mph+ for several miles on the flat and was only dropped because I couldn't pedal the 53/12 any faster. 

It's even rarer of course but there's nothing better than sitting behind a superbike on the flat at 40mph.  

A mountain bike isn't as fast because of the poor aerodynamics and bumpy trails but it's normal to get up to 35-40mph+ on fast off road descents. It just takes commitment.


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## smittie61984 (Aug 26, 2004)

*As fast as you gear it*

In theory you can go as fast as you want.

It just depends on your gear ratio. I saw on TV once where some guy went 160mph on a bike. He drafted behind a car with a wall on the back of it. They had to tow him to 30mph becuase his gearing was so large he couldn't peddle it.

But he accidently drifted out from behind the car and he crashed. Some broken bones but I think he was ok.

I try not to pay attention to speed. I just go with what seems right.


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## Mellow Yellow (Sep 5, 2003)

*If memory servs me correctly*

30+mph on a mountain bike; 55mph (last year) on my road bike.


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## LBmtb (Jul 29, 2004)

I've only gone up to 30.4 so far in my 4/5 months of riding.


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## Jettj45 (Jul 25, 2004)

*75 mph*

It was probably a 45 degree grade, long ass hill at least 1/2 mile. You have to keep in mind that im already going about 35mph before i get to the hill. I dont remember where I was because it was during a MS150 ride from cranberry PA to Lake Erie in Ohio. If have never seriously road biked then yes that seem extremely fast. I was on my Specialized Allez comp 2001. I dont remember what gear ratio i was in lol that was like 2 years ago, why would i remember that.


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## grover (Apr 14, 2004)

smittie61984 said:


> In theory you can go as fast as you want.
> 
> It just depends on your gear ratio. I saw on TV once where some guy went 160mph on a bike. He drafted behind a car with a wall on the back of it. They had to tow him to 30mph becuase his gearing was so large he couldn't peddle it.
> 
> ...


I got my Specialized Enduro up to 650 mph when I took it to Maui. Pretty amazing considering I was drinking beer the whole time.


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## sgt_hedgehog (May 18, 2004)

*not BS*



DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven't seen any riders on the trails (or road) don't go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I've read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


I must have hit at least 50 MPH goin down a hill on my road bike. I don't know for sure because I didn't have a computer, but my dad had one and he said he was going about 45, and i was way ahead of him. This is a wild guess, but my top speed on a MTN bike on dirt would probably be something around 30 MPH.


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## bstguitarist (Jul 4, 2004)

I went about 40 MPH on my MTB, I can back it up because I use a Garmin Rhino GPS that is mounted on my handlebars and it told me my current speed. I was going down a very... long and relatively steep road.


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## SocalSuperhero (May 5, 2004)

It's pretty easy to hit 50+mph down the kamikaze (Tomac did 59mph at nationals). There's enough downhill that you don't even have to work to spinout a 44x11, which for me is around 44-46mph on short cranks, and still keep picking up speed. Road bikes are a whole other story...


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## themontashu (Aug 31, 2004)

68.2 acording to my little computer on my road bike.


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## Racer9 (Mar 8, 2004)

With a properly calibrated computer I hit about 35 MPH in this part of twon where all these old people live (Got some wierd looks and then some doofus in a car decides to back out in front of me(Scary as hell!)

I would say about the same on dirt.


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## BigLarry (Jul 30, 2004)

*45 MPH to keep from being run over*

I rode from Los Gatos up to Lexington Resevoir last summer. I didn't want to take the thick mud trail back and someone suggested I just go back down Hwy 17 from Santa Cruz. I wasn't local and didn't realize until too late he must have been sarcastic.

I found out later this 4-lane road (2 lanes each way) is so steep and windy it kills someone almost every week in a car or motorcycle accident. It also has no shoulder at all. Once I realized the mistake, I pulled out into the middle of the right hand lane to block traffic from passing me on the shoulderless road. To keep from getting hit by cars decending fast and quickly trying to change lanes to avoid me, I tucked in and kept my speed up to 45 MPH, which scared me no end, especially with fast wild drivers at my rear and me with muddy MTB tires.

Worse, my friend didn't have the sense to occupy the lane and tried to stay to the right on a shoulderless road between the cars and rail. He almost got hit a few times by trucks whizing by mm from his bike. After getting to an open section I stopped and waited a VERY long time. I thought for sure he got hit or fell. But then he straggled down looking completely white and told me what he'd done.

Another time, going down a steep fire road at 30+ MPH, I tried going through thick grass to the other side of the road to avoid a hiker. After hitting a small ditch, I ended rubber side up. Result: Fast trip to ER for lots of CAT scans. Nothing broken - just sprained everywhere possible and all my joint skin gone on all fours.


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## Dramius (Oct 13, 2004)

I hit 39.0 mph (short downhill sprint) on my XCpro fs The other day. 37 today different hill. If I had a longer run I might do better, but highest gear pedallin fast I doubt I'll get better than early 40's. If I calibrate my comp to smaller tires I might hit 50  !! 

30 feels fast, 39 felt like all hell was ready to bust loose!! \m/\m/


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## stavpal (Jul 12, 2004)

46mph on a slight slope (tarmac) on my fs - pedalling at about 160rpm). On flat road max is around 31mph for a few seconds. (160rpm - WAY difficult). Max cadence (on 22/32 (chainring/cassette) around 200rpm (under 30 secs)
with 200rpm if i had strong enough legs i could sprint up to 58.4mph


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## theoneinventor (Apr 25, 2004)

really fast! 68.728 MPH / 110.607 km/h- keep in mind this is on flat ground. world record for the 2 hundred meter


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## Rooster (May 7, 2004)

GuruAtma said:


> I go about 779 mph going uphill. That's if you take into account the speed of the earth's rotation at my latitude. I don't even get sore muscles, and it doesn't hurt that much when I crash.
> 
> Other than that, the geometry/head angle of some mountain bikes make them more or less stable at high speeds.


If you're taking into consideration the rotational speed of the earth, you should also factor in the orbital speed around the sun, the rotational speed of the milky way, and the ever increasing outward expansion speed of the cosmos. Could be you're actually going, I dunno, like a zillion ( my Cat-Eye tops out at mach 10). 
If my wife's right though, its all about me, I'm the center of the universe, so my speed is actuall 0 mph/0kph no matter what


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## LyNx (Oct 26, 2004)

Max speed I've done on flat was 35 mph on my MTB ( on asphalt , maybe a 1/2 degree - read, very, very slight- grade) and it was sustained for about a 1/2 mile, I had on semi-slicks and my legs were going like mad - was the first time I figured out how to peddle really fast and get some actual gains from peddling and not just free wheeling.

I've done 35mph going down hill on tarmac and that was scary 'cause there were a lot of roads off the hill and I didn't know when I might but up on a car coming out 1 of them or tunring into 1 of them - lots of corners on the hill, rough to smooth surface and on my off-road tires.

When I used to ride all over on my Schinn racer after college I came down the same hill doing I don't know what, but I passed about 5 cars on the way down but wasn't scared at all - guess 14 years makes one a lot smarter. BTW once I had gotten donw the hill it started to drissle and I didn't slow donw enough and banked a corner and wiped out so hard when I hit down on my left side the peddle dug in and flipped my over to my right and facing back the direction I had come from and facing a flat bed truck. NOt nice had a huge set of gashes on my left knee(shouldn't bank so hard) and had to pick up my bike and peddle on to where I was going to.


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## Locoman (Jan 12, 2004)

*32 ft per second per second*



DirtCrash said:


> Every once in a will I read about guys going 30 MPH, 40 MPH or faster on a bike. I haven't seen any riders on the trails (or road) don't go that fast. I guess you could hit those speeds during a sprint but most these post I've read it sounds like guys are maintaining these speed of length of there ride. Can people actually go this fast (especially off-road) or is all BS?


I go this fast on EVERY drop.
I'd bet that everyone does.


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## Dramius (Oct 13, 2004)

*broke it!*

I just busted my 39 mph record, to 41.2 mph!! Same paved hill road. It's curvy, so at the last curve I took hard enough to be feeling iff-y, then; balls out 1/2 way through the turn! I was in the highest gear cussing & legs flying! There was still a light curve to the road & the grade flattened out very quickly.

If it were a longer grade I could get going faster but not much. In highest gear, my legs are going almost too fast. This is my 05 XC pro.


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## revrnd (Aug 13, 2004)

Mike T. said:


> There's much BS about speeds.


Get a GPS & you'll soon find out how fast you're riding.


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