What's the fastest you've ever been...
Discussion
Pothole said:
I passed some fellow charity challengers on a long downhill in Turkey...they said they were doing 48kmh and I reckon I was doing about 10 more. Fat blokes have more surface area!
EFA.I'm willing to bet your additional aero drag out-weighs any benefit realised by being a bit lardier than said fellows (assuming you're big enough to have a noticeably increased front profile). I'd have thought the condition of your bike, your position on the bike (i.e. how sat up you are) or your gearing would be the main reason you were dropping like a bowling ball
kenb
her said:
her said:Pothole said:
I passed some fellow charity challengers on a long downhill in Turkey...they said they were doing 48kmh and I reckon I was doing about 10 more. Fat blokes have more surface area!
EFA.I'm willing to bet your additional aero drag out-weighs any benefit realised by being a bit lardier than said fellows (assuming you're big enough to have a noticeably increased front profile). I'd have thought the condition of your bike, your position on the bike (i.e. how sat up you are) or your gearing would be the main reason you were dropping like a bowling ball
Edited by Pothole on Sunday 18th April 21:01
53mph on a road bike down Telegraph Hill where the A3
80 joins the A38 near Exeter in Devon.
I managed 45mph on a moutain bike when I was a kid.
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Re the discussion about weight vs surface area for descending: I think a big fella can get almost as low, and reduce the frontal area to not much more than a skinny lad.
However, if he weighs twice as much, the potential energy difference between at the top of the hill and at the bottom is double. I'm not saying he would go down twice as fast, as wind resistance is squared as speed goes up, and frictional losses will increase too, but the difference is very noticeable.
Dropping down the hill near Biggins Hill Airport, I came past the skinny lads in our group so fast they thought a car had gone past. When comparing numbers at the bottom, they were all impressed to have broken the 40mph mark. I was pretty happy to have (just) cracked 50mph.
The advantage of dropping like a bowling ball does not make up for climbing like an arthritic tortoise though. Something I'm working on.
80 joins the A38 near Exeter in Devon.
I managed 45mph on a moutain bike when I was a kid.
---
Re the discussion about weight vs surface area for descending: I think a big fella can get almost as low, and reduce the frontal area to not much more than a skinny lad.
However, if he weighs twice as much, the potential energy difference between at the top of the hill and at the bottom is double. I'm not saying he would go down twice as fast, as wind resistance is squared as speed goes up, and frictional losses will increase too, but the difference is very noticeable.
Dropping down the hill near Biggins Hill Airport, I came past the skinny lads in our group so fast they thought a car had gone past. When comparing numbers at the bottom, they were all impressed to have broken the 40mph mark. I was pretty happy to have (just) cracked 50mph.
The advantage of dropping like a bowling ball does not make up for climbing like an arthritic tortoise though. Something I'm working on.
49.9 as recorded on a bike computer down a bloody big hill near stroud. almost killed myself doing it though, couldnt slow down enough for the left/right bend at the bottom, tried the rear brake but it locked up and was weaving around so had to let go, went through a hedge at the bottom of the hill and into someones garden. was picking thorns out of me for weeks afterwards....
louiebaby said:
pablo said:
49.9
Gutted for you mate... Next time, fill up your water bottles before the drop, it'll make the difference you need!had another a massive fall on another hill, grassy with clumps of tall grass. one of these clumbs was hiding a divot, apparently i did three rotations, the bike did four, i landed on my head, cracked the helmet in half and was unconcious for a good half hour or so. woke up to see an ambulance arriving.... i'm a little more cautious these days, i dont think i will bounce amymore...
That said, it probably explains why my best on a hard tail MTB is 34.2 MPH.
okgo said:
yes, its times like that I don't trust two little blocks of rubber and a cable.
mine was done on a Specialized MTB with discs, had to drop down to about 15mph to get around the sharp chicane at the bottom...I knew it was there but was waiting for 49mph to turn to 50mph on the GPS (Garmin GPSmap 60cs) 
the discs went blue and the pads were smoking (they bloody stunk)
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