Max speed on a trike?

[Fiona N]

I've had the Windcheetah over 100kmph a few times in Switzerland and Italy - warm air makes a big difference to max speeds. The best was overtaking a Porsche Carerra (top down) descending into Waldshut (on the river Rhein between Switzerland and Germany) from the southern Black Forest. Where I overtook the (probably sleeping) driver, there were 2 descending lanes but within a few hundred metres - i.e. where the Porsche driver woke up and wanted to overtake - the road narrowed to one descent lane for the final couple of kms into the town so he never got past and had the indignity of following of trike into town The max on that ride was 105kmph which pales compared to a recent descent on the Speedmachine on the A6 from Shap summit on a warm morning with a light NE blowing - 121 kmph And not at all scary as the down draft glues you to the road and makes the little chicane at Borrowdale feel like flying

 

[Andy in Sig]

Those are seriously impressive speeds!

I once hit about 65 kmh on my street machine but something induced a bit of a lateral wobble in the front wheel which caused my bottle to go and made me dab the brakes.

Was that the Wutach valley which you went down into Waldshut? I've been thinking for a while of going down that valley and then up to the Bodensee.

 

[Fiona N]

Was that the Wutach valley which you went down into Waldshut? I've been thinking for a while of going down that valley and then up to the Bodensee.

No, the road comes down directly from the high ground between Waldshut and St Blasien. It's part of a circuit that I often used to ride when I lived in northern CH: Baden to Waldshut, up to Grafenhausen and Rothaus then around the Schluchsee anticlockwise to St Blasien and Hausern then up the hill to Hoehenschwand. From there, it's a great undulating ride back to the lip of the Rhine valley with the superfast descent directly into Waldshut. It's about 120km with about 2000m of ascent in total so was a nice Sunday morning outing.
It's a great area for cycling and the (German) drivers are very good on the narrow valley roads like Wutach or the road to Grafenhausen.

 

[Andy in Sig]

I'll check that out on the maps then. It sounds like it might be one for a long weekend next summer although I don't know if I'll have the bottle to let rip at those kinds of speeds. Maybe I do need to get a trike after all.

 

[fards]

as said I've done 72mph on the old optima trike.
Done 66mph down the same hill on the catrike, I think I could go faster if I could keep the front wheels on the floor, for silly speeds suspension really does help. If the road was very smooth then it'd be doable.
I've hit over 45mph coast down on the same road.

I find I have to wear glasses past 18mph or I can't see anything from streaming eyes.

there's a couple of vids on yobtoob of me on my local roll down test hill. (not the same as the very fast one at 1/3 steepness and 1/2 the length at 1km, but it's good fun).
first one from standing start

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=osyS54Q8JII

and at warp speed (from about 5min 15)

View: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XlfLvhGoOSk


1km in under 45 seconds ** both done on lowracers.

 

[bonj2]

Someone told me you would go faster if you're heavier? Is this true?

I think my husband goes a bit faster downhill. He's lighter than me but he also has a narrow track Trice Q which presumably has less wind resistance.

i know my mtb rolls a lot faster than my mate's one, it's got the same hubs, same rear tyres, my front tyre's fatter (so should be slower), same rear tyre, neither brakes drag, only difference is i'm heavier and my bike's heavier.

 

[byegad]

Generally speaking with two riders on equal bikes freewheeling down a hill the heavier rider will pull away from the lighter.

 

[BentMikey]

It's called cross-sectional density, normally won by the salad dodgers.

 

[Riding in Circles]

I'm big boned thankyou very much!

 

[byegad]

I'm fat! Fit enough but fat! And really fast downhill.


Note to all.
I refuse to answer questions about going up the hill on the grounds it could be sizeist!!

 

[ufkacbln]

Don't forget the dynamic advantages of an "aerobelly" as it improves airflow and profile!

 

[byegad]

Don't forget the dynamic advantages of an "aerobelly" as it improves airflow and profile!

And makes my sillouette look like Alfred Hitchcock!