Hummeth

33

mingsta

No idea, something above 30 but definitely below 40. I sprint so infrequently that if I tried it, I'd probably give myself a hernia. Thats if I didn't knee my drops fall off first.

ratebeer

Although this makes me feel better, Tom Boonen has said that an 80 kays (80 km/h) finish to a long race is all in a day's work. That's close to 50 mph. Two hundred meters is around an 1/8th of a mile. My guess is that Boonen is talking about a top speed over a very short distance, such as a 400 meter sprint that culminates in only 50 yards of near 50mph speeds.

HWS

33 MPH once last year racing a car out of a light.


It about killed me.

rubic

I hit an honest 39 on the flats once. This was about 15 years ago. Ah, memories.

jschen

I've never tried an all out sprint on flat ground. I've hit 27 MPH on seemingly flat ground with no significant wind or vehicles to draft when trying to chase someone down at a group ride to communicate a message from the trailing group. I suspect I could hit about 30 MPH, and that would be about it for me.

FROryder

65kph in the city, sprinting from a dead stop to the next light. Pulled over by the ladies in blue for exceeding the speed limit which was 50kph, got off with a verbal warning. They seemed somewhat surprised that someone on a bike could hit that type of speed.
Of course this all happened 15 years ago when I was still at my racing weight and had testosterone to spare.

AlanS

Yeah, lots of bogus claims here, considering 30 MPH on a flat surface corresponds to something like 600 W.

frischtr

Most sprinters max out at nearly (or above) 2000 watts... Not extremely hard to hit 40 mph...

Cypress

40mph on a flat here in Bozeman is roughly 1050-1100 watts, which I (and many others on this forum) have no problem hitting.

waterrockets 

It takes about 1150W for an avarage sized male cyclist to go 40mph at sea level. Most everyone here can produce that for a short time. Those who can get a bike to 40mph can do it for 15s or so...

Going up to world record pace of 46mph requires 1730W, which is just freaking amazing considering they can do more than just spike it. That 600W difference is HUGE between BF goofballs like us and the elite sprinters.

Check the numbers here: https://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm


EDIT: I just checked with my weight and height and for me to have hit 40 in Colorado (@ 5280ft),only takes 1080W. Interestingly, my current max of 38mph in Austin comes out to about the same wattage requirements... so I don't feel bad about my max going down 2mph since the "good old days"

AlanS

Are we talking about short bursts (seconds) or steady-state(minutes)?

ridethecliche

That's kind of awesome.
Just saying...

Bantam

I hit 33.5mph maxed out in the middle chainring during a group ride earlier. I was in a line, but it was only a 4 man line. I hit 31mph alone on my way to the ride.

Nachoman

I broke the speed of light once. But I was going downhill.

Quijibo187

they'd hit that in the sprint (seconds), definitely not sustained.


Max so far this year : 29.5
Max from last year : 32

it is one thing I'm gonna work on more. seeing those 40+ posts scare me (yes Cypress, you scsare me)

rlodewell

This is all very encouraging. I had this idea that nearly everyone on here but me could hit 40 mph with no trouble. Obviously, that's not entirely true. I don't race, and I ride by myself so all I have to compare myself against is what I read, and what I read is mostly stuff about the top pros. Given that I'm 52 and a lard ass, there is no comparison between good riders and me.

That said, I've hit 32 mph on a very slight uphill which works out to around 1200 watts. The frustrating thing from a cycling perspective is, if I lose 100 pounds my speed would only increase 3 mph.

All of this assumes my computer is working right. One of my Astrale 8s did record me going 76mph up a steep hill. I don't much believe that was right.

smoke

not sure. but the power meter was showing 21 jigawatts

jrennie

I think you are using the word most a little liberally there. While some can manage a 2000w sprint, there are not many but 1100-1300 watts is in the grasp of many trained riders.

z415

Almost 300km/s...
...
...
I mean almost 30mph, I think its 29.7 according the Max Speed on my cyclometer. I kinda doubt it though; the fastest I've ever seen on it while riding is a little over 26. Pretty good since I've only been biking as long as I joined bikeforums. And to think I used to do a measly 17.

yogi13

I tend to max out in the low 30s on the flats/in drops/on saddle, no drafting/tailwind. I can sustain that for about a quarter mile. I'm also about 25 years and 25 lbs past my prime.

BHBiker

on real flat ones.....37. something. thats as honest as can be!

DannoXYZ 

This is instantaneous max-watts. For how long depends upon the particular sprinter, but typically never more than 10-15 seconds. But that's all that's needed for 45mph+ sprints as they will have been hiding 3-4th in a leadout train that gradually picks up the pace to 35mph+ in the final mile or two of a race.

ratebeer

That's what the anemometer and GPS are for? I suppose you can do the same thing with an iBike...

I think if my thin talentless legs can burst close to 35, there must be some well-trained, gifted superman that can do 50mph.

BHBiker

Wow