Fastest you've been on your bike?

[Dogtrousers]

Apart from wear & tear of components and momentum for the next uphill.

Hmm by braking a bit less I'm sure I could indeed save money on brake pads. Possibly as much as several pence per 100 miles.

As for momentum. It might be important to people who race. It makes no difference to me. All the kinetic energy you carry into a hill is dissipated in the first few metres. Try freewheeling uphill.

 

[Ian H]

All the kinetic energy you carry into a hill is dissipated in the first few metres. Try freewheeling uphill.

It does depend on your speed. A series of ups & downs can often be negotiated with minimum energy by utilising gravity to its maximum effect. I have some small experience of this.

 

[Dogtrousers]

It does depend on your speed. A series of ups & downs can often be negotiated with minimum energy by utilising gravity to its maximum effect. I have some small experience of this.

Yebbut Colin's talking about long straight downhills.

I don't feel any moral imperative to stay off the brakes. Costs me nothing apart from a bit of rubber.

 

[ColinJ]

Yebbut Colin's talking about long straight downhills.

I didn't bother pointing it out, but Ian is right about the momentum question. If you look at the profile that I posted for the Long Causeway descent you will see that there are some slightly uphill sections. If you whizz down the descent then you can power straight over them. If you go down too slowly then you have to make more of an effort when the road goes back up. I would rather have the exhilaration of the descent and easy uphill bits than a boring slow descent and then have to make an effort when the road tilts back up.

The other thing is that I am not quick on climbs or flat roads so if I don't make up time downhill then my average speed ends up very low. I would only be getting round my longer rides in daylight in mid-summer!

 

[ColinJ]

The other thing is that I am not quick on climbs or flat roads so if I don't make up time downhill then my average speed ends up very low. I would only be getting round my longer rides in daylight in mid-summer!

Here's a profile of a local route with a lot of downhills. It is an exciting ride when the descents are taken quickly but it still took me about 6-3/4 hours. I could be taking 8+ hours and wearing my brakes out if I kept slowing down when I didn't have to!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Whatever ... Going back to your post about why do people brake downhill - I do it to stay safe and stay in control. It costs me nothing at least nothing if any significance. That's why.

You ride how you like. It's not my business

 

[classic33]

Do they exist?

Walls, livestock/rabbits?

 

[ColinJ]

You ride how you like. It's not my business

Ditto.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Ditto.

You did ask

 

[ColinJ]

You did ask

I DID, didn't I!

I have just been having flashbacks of riding with someone who was the complete opposite to you. He did the most stupidly dangerous descending I have ever seen. He went round one blind LH bend on a descent so fast that he almost 'did a Froome' against the wall on the other side of the road. He would have been a dead man if any vehicle had been coming round the bend at the time... A cyclist was killed there a couple of years ago.

Definitely better to be slightly overcautious than reckless!

 

[shirokazan]

PS Yes, a rabbit could suddenly emerge from the roadside long grass ahead of you - if so, bunnyhop it!

Agh! You've reminded me. On my first ever tour in 2005, I did unfortunately run over a rabbit. It jumped from the heavily overgrown verge, inbetween the front and rear wheel, so went under the latter. I heard it and felt it, but didn't see it. I looked round, saw something in the road, stopped, went back and discovered the rabbit. Dead, obvs. I was quite upset at the time. Getting a bit upset about it now actually.

NB Wasn't down a hill: doing about 15mph on the flat of Lincolnshire at the time.

 

[nickyboy]

100km/hr is really going some.

Since the advent of Strava it's possible to put this into context.

The fastest descent in the northern Peak District is off Holme Moss towards Holmfirth. It is steep, straight and is usually a tailwind.

10,700 cyclists have recorded a descent on Strava. Nobody has managed to hit 100km/hr. The fastest person topped out at 98km/hr.

100 for a skinny pro cyclist is very impressive

 

[roubaixtuesday]

10,700 cyclists have recorded a descent on Strava. Nobody has managed to hit 100km/hr. The fastest person topped out at 98km/hr.

Are these maximum speeds, or average for a segment?

 

[Ian H]

The late, great Nev Chanin had a quote for almost any cycling situation. Imagine a stentorian voice which could startle horses a quarter of a mile away*.
On this subject he said, Brakes are for emergencies only!


*I was there!

 

[nickyboy]

Are these maximum speeds, or average for a segment?

That is the fastest speed on that segment, not the average