How fast can you sprint on the flat?

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I have managed 27mph on my front suspension mtb with the bomb proof tyres on.
 

AncientWyvern

Well-Known Member
Location
Mid Bedfordshire
I've hit over 30mph on my trek 1.5 when I was proper fit (not long after my first century well ok 116mile :smile: ) beat a club veteran to a road sign on a short sprint. Oh, happy days.

Its all in the thighs! ^_^


...was a wreck after the event though.
 

GrasB

Veteran
Location
Nr Cambridge
Sprint speed from a standing start is when I settle into 38-40mph for 100m or so. Flat out sprint, usually starting at 30-35mph at the end of a slow club run to the city speed limit sign, I'm up the front, but not first, is at a Cav aping 45-46mph. This isn't dead flat but ever so slightly down hill, maybe 0.33% but the power meter is showing I'm well into 4 figure output for 10s or so. I see the Cat 1 & elite riders slowly pulling away from me at this point, but all the cat 2s are behind.

Typical sprint speed 32-35mph. I suspect with most of us it limited by gearing (as well as leg power). My bike certainly has a compact chainset with a max 50T x 12T, but perhaps at full sprint with 53x11 this could be better. I doubt I will ever find out unless I borrow someone else's rig. Not going to splash to the cash for a theory!!! better to work on my power output instead.
50/12 gives you 32.5mph/100 rpm on 23-622 tyres, that should see you to 40mph at a leisurely 120rpm. I'm typically on 53/13 in the 140-145rpm area when I'm climbing into the upper 40s during a sprint, that's a 107" gear.
 

AnythingButVanilla

Über Member
Location
London
I think my max. speed on the flat has been about 18-20mph but I'm fat and lazy and ride a tank. No idea what I can do on my new bike as I've only had it out once since buying it six weeks ago :blush:
 

BlackPanther

Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
Location
Doncaster.
It's hard to tell if it's wind assisted, but realistically I can hit a tad over 25 on the road bike, I struggle to hit 20 on the hybrid, but on the recumbent (high racer) I can get up to 25 and hold it for well over a mile and I can do 30-35ish for a brief sprint. If I upped the gearing I'm sure I could add a few more mph, but at the moment it's set up perfectly for my commute.

And just to dispel the myth, the recumbent flies up hills easier and faster than the road bike (as long as they're not mega steep).
 
I've 'touched' 35 once, and I mean touched - no sustained sprint at all, just literally went for it, got there, and gave up free wheeling back straight away. I've had a couple of short SCR sprints lasting about two hundred metres at most with a friend, on the last section before he turns off and I carry on and both times on them I've been in the 32/33 area.
 

ACW

Well-Known Member
Location
kilmaurs
a challenge for my HIT excessive tomorrow night, instead of sprinting up a hill i will do it on the flat and see how fast i can go
 

Defy78

Active Member
Location
Cardiff
Regularly get over 28mph on my MTB, which is a home-made single speed conversion - 46/16 (about 70"). I did get just over 31mph on this bike a couple of times but only for a few seconds. It's weird as I have a road bike, which is lighter and has a max gear ratio of 53/12 (about 115") but can't get above 33-34mph on the flat. Maybe I would be faster spinning in a lower gear???
 
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