Speed

[Iain G]

Hi all I just wanted to know peoples max speed they've managed to do while riding their Recumbents? My specially adapted trike has a advisory max speed of 10mph by the company 'Draisin' who built it but I managed 28.5mph down hill the other day. My trike only has 7 gears so I don't think I'll break that speed right now but I'm hoping to get some more gears & get to 35+ but don't tell Draisin that

 

[neil earley]

Owned a catrike 700 managed downhill 34mph , bottled out and used the brakes to slow down! Only had it a few weeks at the time so was still getting used to it. Got to say did enjoy it even if I did chicken out.

 

[Iain G]

That's some speed you was going good stuff mate. I found it was a great feeling & felt free as a bird but a slightly frightened one lol. The icing on the cake would of been me over taking a moped but there wasn't any on the road at the time of my descent but their time will come

 

[BlackPanther]

I hit 40 a couple of times downhill on my Bacchetta Strada and Optima Baron (no longer own) and down a steep hill the full front fairing Catrike 700 has seen 45. I've heard of much faster speeds achieved on faired trikes, but trust me, 45 on a thin wheeled trike feels a lot faster than in a car/on a motorcycle. I suspect 50 would be the absolute limit. The fairing makes a massive difference when riding the Catrike, and means I can still accelerate downhill even when the gearing means I can't pedal any more.

I did also hit 43 mph on a fully laden road bike (panniers full/tent/sleeping bag etc on a rack) on a very steep downhill near Meltom Mowbray. That was very scary!

 

[Tigerbiten]

Dependent on wind direction, as long as the hills are long and straight enough to hit terminal velocity then my speeds are ...........
2% downhill = ~20 mph.
4% downhill = ~30 mph.
8% downhill = ~40 mph.
16% downhill = ~50 mph.
My max speed is only 55.1 mph, which I've hit twice down different hills.

The hardest one of those speeds to reach is the 30 mph on a 4% hill.
The +40 mph one are easy as long as there are no corners.

 

[byegad]

AZUB-4 81 speed, 52mph, and still pedalling! (Gear range 15-150")
QNT 50.2mph.
Kettwiesel, over 50mph (Not sure exact figure but not by much.).
Trail 48mph...
So far in each case, except the AZUB which I sold in 2008. We have some big hills so gravity is not the problem, a clear road and no junctions are the key requirements.

Far too often I read of people going for a PB speed and wonder if they were taking silly risks in order to get there. I've had to slow on the hills where I've hit these speeds far more often that I've been able to let the trike run because of poor road conditions or traffic. Please, take care, at 50mph any impact is going to hurt and may well maim or kill you!

A friend told me she managed 70mph, fully loaded for camping coming off Shap on her recumbent trike. I have every reason to believe her.

 

[n-ick]

52 mph (by GPS), lovely long hill, levelling out to flat.Air pressure pushed me safely down in the seat,neat,Nick.

 

[BenM]

nearly 50mph (by GPS) on the Orca down a "safe" new road - safe as in no junctions, clear visibility, little traffic, exceptionally good surface and an empty lane between me and oncoming vehicles. Not going to try it again I don't think - as Byegad says coming off at that sort of speed is going to result in hospital or worse...

 

[Recycle]

1. 47mph once down a steep hill on my speedmachine, measured by GPS. I ran out of gears a little after 40mph so the rest was by gravity.
2. Next fastest was 41.7 mph down Ditchling road in Brighton. That was gravity + pedal assist.

With (1) I was still accelerating when I bailed. I wan't sure which would end first, the hill or my life. I think it would have been a synchronised event.

 

[arallsopp]

Not playing this game. Suffice to say, fast enough to taste both the adrenalin at the time and the fear when recollecting.
All too easy to open up the brakes and let her gather speed.

From GPS logs acquired over the last 3 years, my experience is that on a decent surface with gravity assist:
- a tucked in upright can be worryingly fast.
- the Furai is about 11% faster than the upright. (or 14% if both are really going for it)
- the StreetMachine and Seiran are about 4% faster than the Furai. (Probably due to rider position, increased weight of bike and soft front ends)
- the VM is at least 15% faster than the Seiran, which means you don't want to be anywhere near an upright when the road tilts down.

 

[CopperBrompton]

54mph is my record so far. I'm determined to find a hill long enough, steep enough, with few enough junctions and sufficient visibility to break the national speed limit one of these days!

 

[derrick]

My gps came up with 47 mph but my cateye said 36, i beleive my cateye.