Salty seadog
Space Cadet...(3rd Class...)
44.9mph.
How fast do you go downhill?
- Thread starter Welsh wheels
- Start date
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Shut Up Legs
Down Under Member
51.5mph going down from Mont Ventoux toward Malaucene. There's a long, steep, straight, smooth bit perfect for it. No pedalling required.
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Deleted member 35268
Guest
I touched 40 in wales a few years back, I don't need to repeat that ever again
tobykenobi
Über Member
I generally descend like a pensioner who has just learnt to ride and had his stabilisers taken off. Depends on the road and visibility but much more than 30 mph and I start braking. (Having said that, have just upgraded my brakes and feel more in control as a result so may go faster in future.)
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Don't do it, you WILL die!
It is not about brake performance but is something you are born to. You have to be relaxed, have confidence, good reactions, forward planning and decent bike handling skills. You have to expect the unexpected so it is not unexpected, there is always an animal in the road, a cattle grid after a bend or an idiot motorist performing a U-turn in an S-bend, deal with it. If you cling onto your bike for grim life at anything above 30mph, or even consider that going faster than you have ever gone before is shocking then you should slow down, right now!
tobykenobi
Über Member
How did you know what the little voice in my head is saying?
I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
It's the glass half full/half empty thing.
I have done 55mph. If I went out and did 56mph I would be mentally high-fiving
and the voice in my head would be screaming YES at top volume. I guess some people would be more 'OMG, I did 56mph, that's insane!'.....
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
No idea and only if you can see a looong way ahead and are sure your brakes are going to stop you within what you can see to be safe.
I've been faster than that on the flat flat fens. On a hybrid.
classic33
Leg End Member
It's always fullIt's the glass half full/half empty thing.
I have done 55mph. If I went out and did 56mph I would be mentally high-fiving
ColinJ
Puzzle game procrastinator!
- Location
- Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
When I did 56 mph, I hit a raised manhole cover so it was more a case of screaming AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!It's the glass half full/half empty thing.
I have done 55mph. If I went out and did 56mph I would be mentally high-fiving
steverob
Guru
- Location
- Buckinghamshire
It all depends on how familiar I am with the road. The first time I go down any descent, I am always wary and will use the brakes frequently, and not just around corners either. Give me a handful more times to check it out and if I feel it is a road that is safe for a fast descent (which isn't a guarantee in my neck of the woods), I'll be pedalling hard as I approach it, assuming as aero a position as my body will allow and bombing down as fast as I can.
The downhill where I have my equal best ever recorded speed (I choose this one, because the other equal best I've only ridden once), on the first time I tackled it, according to the Strava segment I averaged 20mph and maxed out at 30mph and even then thought I was pushing my luck. But as I got used to the layout of the road, eight of my next nine attempts at it were just that little bit faster than the last and at that point I felt ready to give it a proper try. Managed to average over 30mph and had a max of over 42mph. Will never better this and don't plan to - it was my only attempt (even including ones I've done since then) where I did not touch the brakes once.
It's a pity there's no straight, long distance descents near me - they're all short sharp hills that are over too quickly and/or have ridiculous amounts of bends in them. I did get to come down a 24 mile long hill (average about 3%) while on a cycling holiday once that was a lot of fun - long before the days of GPS though, so I have no idea how quickly I did it.
The downhill where I have my equal best ever recorded speed (I choose this one, because the other equal best I've only ridden once), on the first time I tackled it, according to the Strava segment I averaged 20mph and maxed out at 30mph and even then thought I was pushing my luck. But as I got used to the layout of the road, eight of my next nine attempts at it were just that little bit faster than the last and at that point I felt ready to give it a proper try. Managed to average over 30mph and had a max of over 42mph. Will never better this and don't plan to - it was my only attempt (even including ones I've done since then) where I did not touch the brakes once.
It's a pity there's no straight, long distance descents near me - they're all short sharp hills that are over too quickly and/or have ridiculous amounts of bends in them. I did get to come down a 24 mile long hill (average about 3%) while on a cycling holiday once that was a lot of fun - long before the days of GPS though, so I have no idea how quickly I did it.
- Location
- Essex
The only hills i will descend fast, are the ones that i know will have a good surface and there are none or very few houses.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
As fast as possible. Exactly what constitutes "possible" for me depends on a number of things. How steep it is, do I have a following wind, is the road wet or dry, how is the road surface, how straight is it and lines of sight, do I know the road well?
Fastest is 56mph and I've done plenty of 50+ descents. The fastest I've seen recorded on the hills I've descended is 59mph....off Holme Moss towards Holmfirth. You get a straight km of about 13% and often a strong tailwind. But beware the hairpins at the bottom
On the proper hills around here anything less than 40mph feels slow. You have to have confidence and the mental ability to relax. Tense up and you're asking for trouble
I find solace in my thinking that the difference between coming off at 40 and coming off at 50 for a cyclist is probably pretty marginal
Fastest is 56mph and I've done plenty of 50+ descents. The fastest I've seen recorded on the hills I've descended is 59mph....off Holme Moss towards Holmfirth. You get a straight km of about 13% and often a strong tailwind. But beware the hairpins at the bottom
On the proper hills around here anything less than 40mph feels slow. You have to have confidence and the mental ability to relax. Tense up and you're asking for trouble
I find solace in my thinking that the difference between coming off at 40 and coming off at 50 for a cyclist is probably pretty marginal
bigjim
Legendary Member
- Location
- Manchester. UK
My local circuit involves a 37mph descent. I regularly hit over 40mph on club runs. I'm pretty heavy so it's not hard to achieve those speeds coming down from Yorkshire into Lancashire. The most I have ever done is a reading of 120kph on a new Pinarello coming down a long steep hill into Petra, Mallorca one summer evening. Long, long sightlines on an empty smooth tarmaced road. I assume the computer was way out, but I'm sure it was close to 60mph. The dam thing was still accellerating when i glanced down and saw what I was doing. Cowardice kicked in and I applied the brakes.
