Personal best downhill speed

[John Tolhurst]

Since this is the Silvio brag board, I thought I'd brag about my Silvio hitting 46.37 mph yesterday. There is a short but steep hill on PCH from Pepperdine to basically downtown Malibu. I arched my back and head over the back rest to get into a more aerodynamic position.
I would like to hear from others what their top speed is. I'm interested in flat land speed as well.

 

[Rick Newton]

I wish I could type.

 

[kenhardwick]

Personal Best - Max of 33.7 mph

Went out to Lake Thunderbird recently to get some hill training.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/299599268

 

[Rick Newton]

Hill Training

I like the data and presentation of it. I must look into the Garmin 800. How do you like it Ken?

 

[Eric Winn]

OK, it isn't a Silvio but

OK, it isn't a Silvio but I've gotton the Quest up to 36.2 mph (58.3kph) or 35.7 mph (57.5kph) depending on how you measure it.

I use an iPhone 5 running Cyclemeter to track my ride data and upload to Ride With GPS. I really, really like Cyclemeter. I also have a Wahoo RFLKT so I can carry my iPhone in a jersey pocket with the screen locked which really extends battery life.

Here is my ride with 36.2 mph (GPS based):

http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1204013

Cyclemeter also has their own data presentation. Here is the same ride using the Cyclemeter online view (GPS and/or Speed sensor based). No login or account required:

http://cyclemeter.com/a410b492c9780ff7/Cycle-20130328-1851?r=e

-Eric

 

[Charles.Plager]

I've hit at least 42 mph on

I've hit at least 42 mph on my Sofrider and 40 (o.k. 39.3) MPH on my Cruzigami Mantis.

I've thought about gearing both bikes a bit higher so I can go a bit faster on those monster hills. Then I realize that I'm just nuts...

 

[Eric Winn]

Ahh the truth comes out. You

Ahh the truth comes out. You really do like hills - just in one direction...

 

[kenhardwick]

Garmin Edge 800

Rick, Really like my Garmin Edge 800. I have had for since Dec,2010. Has been very usefull and dependable. There is now a Garmin Edge 810 with some new features including "live tracking". There currently is a $100 rebate program for the 800 through May 31,2013. So, if you are ok with the older/more stable 800, now is the time to buy.

http://garmin.blogs.com/files/17747-edge-800-100-rebate_singlepage.pdf

 

[chrisblessing]

CruzinSpeed

I've had my conversion kit 20" to ~59.5 (MyMaps and cyclometer differed by .4 KPH). Loads of fun, but I won't make a habit of it.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Eric wrote:
Ahh the truth

Eric wrote:

Ahh the truth comes out. You really do like hills - just in one direction...

But, see, here's the problem with hills. They're just not fair. The really steep ones I average at least 25 mph going down and usually 6 mph going up. That means that I suffer for 4 times longer (or more) than I get to enjoy the fruits of my labor.

 

[John Tolhurst]

So a 10% increase in uphill

So a 10% increase in uphill speed is 4 times as valuable as a 10% increase in downhill speed?

How power consumption varies with speed is a vital to planning a good RAAM attempt.

 

[Charles.Plager]

John wrote:
So a 10% increase

John wrote:

So a 10% increase in uphill speed is 4 times as valuable as a 10% increase in downhill speed?

How power consumption varies with speed is a vital to planning a good RAAM attempt.

Yes, and yes. And for large hills, more than a factor of 4.

For any ride where you are trying to make a time, it isn't important how fast you are going, but rather how slow you are going. You should be spending your effort climbing and be relaxing on the downhills. Given that aerodynamic drag is proportional to speed^2, this is even more true (meaning 10% more effort at high speed will result in less of a change in total speed than 10% more effort at low speed).

One thing Dan Fallon pointed out, however: If your descents are long enough, however, you have to worry about your body cooling off because of lack of effort. So, the calculation one needs to do while riding isn't as simple as I suggested above.

I generally am not riding for time (although when I realized I would be close to having an average of 15 mph yesterday on my 11 mile ride, I gave it everything I had at the end and I made it!) and in my case, I'm just riding up those *#$*ing hills hoping to find they suck a bit less each time.

But to be fair, that wasn't the question that was asked here. The question was how stupid, errr.. I mean how fast have you been on descents? (O.k. Rick asked about flat land as well ).

Cheers,
Charles

 

[John Dorlon]

My best was 43 mph on a short

My best was 43 mph on a short rolling hill with a strong wind at my back. That was on a Silvio. I wouldn't mind doing it again, but don't care to go any faster. Well, maybe just a little faster.

 

[John Dorlon]

ugh - no edit button!  My

ugh - no edit button! My flat ground speed record on the Silvio is 30 mph. No help from the wind on that one.

 

[Rick Newton]

Speed on flat road & top downhill speed

I did once reach a flat land top speed of 33 mph on my Silvio. Downhill, although risky, was 46 mph (start of this string of posts,) and some might consider that not very smart. Yes, it is risky, but I've been at 143 mph on a motorcycle in Death Valley, have spent 1 hour at 100 mph on a motorcycle (no intersections of any kind,).....
It's not the speed that hurts you when you fall off of a bike, but the vertical fall onto the pavement. We are nice & low on our recumbents, so we haven't far to fall. At speed, what hurts you is if you hit your head during each revolution as you roll. Sometimes you don't hit your head. By now you are thinking that I am speaking from experience. I am, although the falling off was from motorcycles. Once at 30 mph (as a passenger - purposely place oil on curve,) once at 80 mph (high speed wobble,) and 65 mph (front tire blowout from pinched tube,) and again 65 mph (irregularity in road and momentary lapse of attention.) That last time was the only time I hit my helmeted head over and over as I was spinning in a horizontal position until my XS1100 and I came to a stop on the 405 near LAX. I was extremely lucky I wasn't run over.
So I still have a little thrill seeking desire within me, and I love to go fast. acceleration is even more thrilling. Now driving a Tesla, with constant acceleration..........!!!!!!!!

 

[Rick Newton]

GARMIN 800 VS. 810

THANKS KEN. I DID NOTICE THE REBATE. I WAS CONSIDERING THE 810 BUT MIGHT GO FOR THE SAVINGS INSTEAD. SO THE 810 IS LESS STABLE? I WILL HAVE TO DO FURTHER READING. (Sorry for the caps. I'm an architect and we annotate our drawings in capital letters.)

Thanks Chris, Eric, and JDORLON for posting those impressive speeds.
cplager - I always enjoy your posts.

John - So you are an architect too? Did you stop practicing to design the Cruzbike line, or do you do both?

 

[John Tolhurst]

Rick, 
I got frustrated with

Rick,
I got frustrated with the training regime for architecture students, but I did do a very healthy amount of analysis of Palladian buildings, I did an analysis of St Marks piazza in Venice (still unpublished and unreplicated AFAIK), I worked as a research assistant for architecture professors in Australia and the UK. I entered a student architecture competition and was exhibited in the Royal Academy of Art, London. And I did a lot of painting, transcriptions, life drawing for my degree in Visual Arts. I worked in Fitzroy Robinson Achitects in London for a couple of years before 1990. This is the skill base I apply to our R&D work here at Cruzbike. And Rick, I also had a few motorbikes and a few offs, but not a those speeds. More city traffic incidents and once ...... last bike was a CBR600F which was pretty toey for my 65kg frame.

Well, I guess 65 kph is the highest flat land speed I got on my Silvio, aided by a slight initial downhill and probably a nice easterly on the road into Fremantle if I'm honest.

 

[Rick Newton]

Architecture & speed

John,
Thanks for the reply. Sometimes I want to get into something else. Designing something to benefit society is always rewarding though. Your contribution is truely rewarding, and enjoyed my many people thoughout the globe. I truely enjoy my Silvio.

Nice top speed too, on only a slight downhill. I just looked at it in Google Earth - pretty "flat."

 

[marshall2389]

The first or second week I

The first or second week I got my Quest 1.0 I did a ride in Spokane, WA. Got going 52mph on a downhill and was shaking with adreneline, nerves, and fear by the end of it. I have since gotten up to 55mph on a downhill (also scary but totally awesome).

Best flat, no wind, unassisted, nondrafting sprint was up to 31mph. I haven't tried this very much. Just tried a few weeks back for that record. I never sprint. I generally try to get from point A to B as fast as possible and sprinting is just too draining. It ultimately makes travel time longer unless you save the sprint for the end. Maybe I'll sprint at the end of more rides. It was pretty exhilerating. It felt like I was using the full strength of every muscle in my legs and much of my body.

 

[kidneyboy]

 Best downhill speed was

Best downhill speed was 45mph. No aero tuck and I stopped pedalling at about 40. This was on some bigger rollers (relative to Wisconsin) close to where I live. Best unassisted was somewhere in the mid 30s. Pretty good for a transplant patient in his late 50s.