waterrockets 

3 mph is huge. Remember that power required is proportional to the cube of your airspeed, and you'd be getting that power back just from hauling less weight. Remember that the fitness that would shed that kind of weight would also probably be accompanied by more power...

gabdy

Have you seen his quads. WOW

rlodewell

A great point, and I do understand that, sort of. I mean, I'm aware of just how hard it is to go from 29 mph to 30 mph, for example. It seems like it ought to be easy, it's just one mph, but it isn't.

My lamentation was just because i'd like to hit 40 mph under my own power one time and it was discouraging to note that losing a ton of weight wouldn't jump me that high.

Oh well, that just means I have to work harder. Maybe i'll have to ride my bike today instead of cutting the grass.

MHR224

Its amazing how someone that can put out 2000 watts for a brief period. Thats like 2.6 HP. Flippin' awesome. I've sprinted for a finish line on a flat no draft or lead to 37mph with a 50 front and 13 rear. Hit my Max HR at 197bpm.

workscollective

So on my ride to day I'm going to dial it up to 3000 watts and see what happens...

Maybe I'll go to plaid. Ludicrous Speed - Go!

Seriously...low 30's but only for a few seconds. At 140lbs fully loaded I just don't have the power of lot of you sprinter types...

Bop Gun

I am a decent rider with good overall fitness. Been riding about 2-3 years, serious in the last year.
The max speed I can remember on flat A1A was 36.5mph, which for my height and weight is 1349W.

Therefore I do not doubt anyones claims, as I ride with many riders much stronger than me.

jrennie

workscollective-
Do you have the merchandising, merchandising, merchandising

May the Shwartz be with you

specq

Just fast enough to realize how pathetically slow I am. Today, that translated to 28.8 mph. Must...go...30....

Digital Gee

I've hit 27 mph once, and that was plenty fast for me. But then, I don't race, and don't ever intend to. I like riding below 20 mph. I like to enjoy my ride, not be scared witless throughout! Anyway, that's my story an I'm sticking to it.

bbattle

I've hit the upper 20's(27-28mph) several times; could possibly hit 30 but not hold it. Once was in a group ride that held mid-20's for several miles; not bad considering the lead guy might sit up there for over a mile. Three of us did a 24mph pace for three miles trying to catch a 60 yr. old on a beautiful purple Colnago Master Light frame with full Record and purple tires. He circled back for us- it didn't look like we would've caught him.

Fastest downhill was 51.3mph.

ratebeer

So after all this talk of max speed, isn't Zabriskie's 35 mph AVERAGE SPEED in the 2005 TdF prologue even more amazing? Yes, he had a bit of a tail wind but how fast was it? I DQ any of my times if the wind holds at over 5 mph.

workscollective

Dialed it up today...but oh yeah, then I remembered that I can't sprint worth crap. Got up to 32 on a nice flat section. Give me a damned hill to climb, forget this sprinting stuff...

Ludicrous Speed...no go...

EatMyDust

30mph, but not for long

oilman_15106

They had one of those radar speed signs set up in the neighborhood and hit 27 according to the flashing lights. Sad, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn last night.

Godwin

Wow, I didn't think I was a very fast rider. I hit about 28 (45k/h) every day on my commute on my 25lb bike oldie, and every once and a while up to about 37 (60k/h). I'm contantly slowed down by traffic and lights every few blocks however since I live in the city. I can't wait to get out on the highway on my litespeed and see what it can do on some of the long decents we have around here, weeee!

DigitalRJH

Wow, thanks for the tip, I never knew what that button was for, I always assumed it would shoot me along at 100MPH so I was scared to push it.

When I'm hitting downhills at 50MPH, then the max speed is going to override my sprint on a flat, that is what I was referring to.....

TheKillerPenguin

The last time I checked, 37ish. That was last spring so I wasn't in nearly as good shape, but I'm even more of a climber now so I may not have as much fast twitch muscle going on.

I did a sprint on friday where I was spinning out my 12T, but it was slightly downhill for the first part of it. So who knows.

littledjahn

The calculator is probably missing this, too: dropping 100 pounds is probably going to reduce your frontal area by a noticeable margin (you will probably be able to find a more effective tuck, too) which will make a much bigger difference than hauling the weight across a flat road.

FROryder

I was a crit racer, and as implausible as it sounds to non-racers, the pack would routinely hit 65kph or better during prime laps and sprints.
Cheers

wfrogge

40ish MPH+

mlwarriner

about 25, give or take. not bad for a fat out of shape guy on his first real road bike...

Tappets

depends how i dial in my cyclocomputer wheel size measurement. hehe ;-)
seriously, have hit 30 for a touch, but it doesn't last long. i'm not fast and that's ok.

redfooj

dont know, my Cateye display stops at 3 digits

CdCf

Going 27-28 mph on flat ground happens on about every other day I commute. Did ~29 mph Saturday, when I had to chase down the "head" of the beginner group I was a designated leader for, as they were speeding away. This on a 48/14 26" SS, where running out of RPM is a problem at those speeds.

Later this week, when I've finished building my real road bike, I'll see what I can do with the substantially higher (33%) top gear (52/12, 700C). I have done sprints to around 32 mph (10 seconds or so) in the past, and I'm in my best shape so far right now.

waterrockets 

I was looking at Cateye product details last week, and they touted the 185mph max speed for use on motorcycles. I guess a trip computer on a moto would be cool... never even thought about it before.