TransitBiker

Yes, it was on a gentle hill, but wow that was fun.

Feel free to post your own zippy top speeds!

- Andy

spivonious

No hard data to back it up, but I routinely hit 40mph coming down a 5% grade hill on the way home from work. The upright position of my bike makes it pretty much impossible to break 25mph on flat ground, and getting to 25 is hard work!

ill.clyde

I think the most I ever hit was 35 mph.

cyccommute 

Be careful believing data from a GPS on a phone. I have several days from a tour in the Tennessee/Virginia/W. Virginia area that say I hit speeds of 55, 60 and even 64.8. The max on my bicycle computer never showed me going more than 50. That's still a stupid speed on a loaded touring bike but it's believable. 64.8 simple isn't.

I think the phone loses signal occasionally and just puts in the numbers between two points. I'm not saying that your speed isn't correct just that I've had lots of experiences with phones where it isn't.

TransitBiker

Look, i'm not "ohhh look at my GPS!". I'm not an idiot, i know how aGPS works. I was going damn fast down an empty road that normally i have to be cautious on due to no shoulder & heavy traffic. Further, if you have nothing kind to say, please keep future comments to yourself & stop dragging down threads i post, thank you.

I sometimes do not use the app, this time i was & it by chance was on a trip where i hit my fastest speed ever on that hill.

- Andy

cyccommute 

First, you are saying "ohhh look at my GPS!". That's the point of your post. I have no problem with that. Nor am I saying that you are an idiot. GPS...especially on a phone...doesn't work as well as it should. Other people who read your posts may not know that. It's an open forum where lots of people of lots of different skills come to read. Would you rather that someone (like me) post that they hit 65 mph on a bicycle when they probably didn't. The fastest I've ever been able to pedal a bike on a very steep downhill with a reliable computer is 55 mph. Hitting 65 mph takes a whole lot more effort and, personally, I've never been able to attain it.

Finally, unless I have done something to violate forum rules, I can post what I like. I didn't "drag down [your] thread". I didn't say that you didn't hit that speed nor did I disrespect you in any way. Heck, I didn't even take it off topic. It may be a thread you started but your ability to control it ends there.

But, if you want, "Good for you". Feel better now?

Booger1

40MPH..60MPH...don't matter......Concrete is hard at both speeds.....That's fast enough to make you start thinking about how well you take care of your bike....

Great Fun.....

I-Like-To-Bike

Do not have GPS or bike computer. My top speed happens to be as fast as I feel safe, have no idea what that speed is. About 55 years ago, when I was 12YO I learned that too much speed down a hill can lead to problems, i.e. 4 stitches in my arm. Haven't fallen off since due to not caring about doing zippy downhill speeds.

lostarchitect 

You are overreacting. He was just giving you additional information, not calling you a liar or being rude. Relax.

TransitBiker

The GPS function also tracks location on a path, and if there's an error the path will deviate from your real world route, this would be the only time it would give a false speed indication. the path is spot on with about a 2 foot variation the entire way.

I think i'm going to take a long break from posting here if this is how some reply to a fun sharing of information, over and over, and over again. Calling me ignorant with or without saying those specific words = i'm done. I graduated high school too long ago to deal with this nonsense.

- Andy

ThermionicScott 

My current max on the fixed-gear:



I've had both my "go-fast" and "rando" bikes up to 39 MPH, but don't have those bike computers with me.

cyccommute 

A deviation from the real world route is probably the least likely to cause a false speed indication. Interference with the signal or delay of the device getting the signal is more likely to cause a false speed indication.

Honestly, if I were going to call you ignorant, I would use words specific enough so that you wouldn't have to guess. The reason that I brought up the point in the first place is because I used my phone to track one of my tours and didn't find it all that accurate. Out of 20 days I used the phone (27 day tour and I forgot to start the phone a couple of days) in the area I was talking about, 8 of them have speeds that are unbelievable. That includes a 42 mph reading on an uphill! I'm pretty strong but I can guarantee that I can't do 42 mph uphill on a loaded touring bike. I can't do 42 mph uphill on a 20 lb racing bike. Even wired bicycle computers sometimes have bad speed readings. I have not said that you didn't hit the speed your computer said it did, only that you should be aware that GPS signals can be inaccurate.

lasauge 

Not exactly commuting related, but the fastest speed I've ever clocked on a bike computer was 57mph - I had a downslope wind pushing me down a long descent on a mostly straight, very smooth road on the grounds of the US Air Force Academy.

lostarchitect 

Yeah, if your skin is that thin you probably shouldn't post on the internet at all.

achoo

How does your velocity along your path affect the accuracy of each GPS-determined point ALONG THAT PATH?

If you can't answer that question, you can't make the claim, "this would be the only time it would give a false speed indication".

And I'd bet inaccuracy ALONG your path isn't the only way a false speed could be calculated.

achoo

No kidding. He's the one that dragged the thread down with his prickly overreaction to getting some additional information.

noglider 

I'm siding with @cyccommute here, which is a little unusual for me. The higher the reading, the skepticaler (to coin a word) you should be. I used to live in hilly Maplewood, NJ, and I consistently hit over 35 mph on some hills. I think I had a reading of 41 once or twice, and I kinda sorta believe it. I had a reading of 50 on Bainbridge Island, WA a couple of summers ago. I think it's possible I reached that speed, but I wouldn't bet any big money on it. I was going pretty bloody fast; the road was steep, smooth, long, and straight.

Back to the topic, no more such fun here in NYC. The hills are smaller here. Some think NYC is a flat city, and it's not true, but there are not many hills that are good for exceeding 30 mph.

Leebo

Bike computer reading, 46 mph. A really long steep paved downhill, on the mt bike with 2.5 " knobbies. Making a whole lot of noise.

J.C. Koto

33.7 MPH on a fixed-gear? Were your feet on the pedals? I'd probably be scared my foot would slip and the pedal would shred my leg

ThermionicScott 

My feet were firmly in the Power Grips, and the calculator says I must have been pedalling around 160RPM.

RPK79

39.6 isn't exactly an unbelievable speed. I'd be willing to trust the accuracy of that number. On the other hand 9.7 average is pretty slow...

noglider 

That's plausible.

scoatw

My personal high was 48 mph, between Bozeman and Ennis, Mt.

groovestew

When cycling in the Canadian Rockies a couple years ago, my GPS measured 72.1 km/h (44.8 mph) on a long descent. There were a few other points during the trip where the GPS measured over 60 km/h (37 mph). The buddies I was riding with had similar measurements on their GPSs, so I figure those numbers are fairly accurate.

wolfchild

You beat me by few MPH. My fastest speed on my fixed gear was 29.8 MPH. Done on a flat road with no wind and riding 68 gear inches. I could only hold that speed for less then a minute. The spinning was too fast.