Cyclebum

What's the fastest you're ridden your bent down a hill?

Me, 36 mph. I'm new to bents and that was on a short hill and bumpy road.

dcrowell

45 mph. I hit 47.5 on my DF.

BlazingPedals

I've done 53 mph with several of my 'bents. Oddly, I've only done 51 with my NoCom, though. I've been clocked at 39 on flat ground with my Baron.

Recumbomatic

44 mph on a short section of very steep hill with a blind curve - scary! The previous record was 43mph on a 600ft hill with barely any traffic, smooth pavement and a gently sweeping curve to the bottom. That was pleasant and uneventful. When the wind noise goes from a roar to a whistle, you know you're going fast.

MtBiker77

I did 36mph on my Expedition down a decent hill, but it was too short to get additional speed. On flat ground, 28mph I think. On a DF, MUCH faster.

Notso_fastLane

I've only had my bent for a couple months now, and according to my computer, I've hit 44.7 mph and the commute home from work (a Cat5 climb in the other direction). Unfortunately, there's a stoplight at the bottom of that hill, so the last time I was attempting to break that record, I had to abort about halfway down the hill.

Tractortom

47.5 mph on my Catrike Trail coming down off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina, feathering the inside brake on each curve as we headed down into town on the first day of the Cycle North Carolina ride a few years ago. We started in Blowing Rock and rode up the Parkway a ways, and then the ride down to the next town had a 12 mile downhill run full of curves. Of course, some old fellow on an expensive road bike went off the side and crashed on the way down. He had plenty of company, so I didn't stop, and two miles further down the hill I saw the ambulance headed up to get him. Sweet ride that one. By the way, the Catrike was very stable and fun at that speed.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

Northwestrider

A bit over 50 mph down a very steep, short hill. If it were a longer hill, I'd think 60+ would be possible. Though I'm not sure it would be wise to do

Jeff Wills

When I was riding my Lightning, I saw 55mph on my speedo on Highway 101 south of Buellton, near Lompoc. And still accelerating.

This was long ago, though.

JanMM

Mid-40's. My goal is 50 but only if the road is in great shape and visibility is unlimited.

mchell

73 km per hour on our fully loaded Rans Screamer going down a hill in Prince Edward Island. Fun. But we had to walk the bike up the other side. It isn't a flat island! Mike

gnome

81kmh on my old RANS Rocket. With loaded panniers. Fastest on any of my current bents is 77kph.

Dudelsack 

36 MPH down a short hill. There's a long run-out kind of hill about 6 miles from here that I might go to and let it rip. The problems is that there are nasty hills to climb in either direction.

Notso_fastLane

It's interesting the difference in feel between speed on a bicycle, either upright or bent, compared to something more designed for it, like a motorcycle. I regularly exceed 150 mph on my motorcycle, and with a modern bike, it doesn't even really begin to 'feel' fast until I'm well into triple digit speeds (over about 160 kph).

There's some mountain roads down in Oregon with some long straights that I'd like to try on the bent this summer.

scrapser

At many small airports you will often find a sign that reads, "There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots." Seems to apply here I think.

Cyclebum

I've done my best to prove that on a bicycle, and in an airplane. Nearly succeeded once on the bicycle. In my DF days, on the drops, downhill. Dog. You get the picture.

A CG'er on a lwb with underseat stearing claims 52 mph on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

k7baixo

48 mph - I'm ok if I never see that kind of speed again too.

rnorris

38mph on a 9% grade about 1/4 mile long on my Gold Rush- as displayed by one of those speed monitoring signs (if they're accurate, which I imagine they are). Doesn't sound like much, but I have a difficult time reaching high downhill speeds due to being gravity challenged. Really haven't ridden anywhere rural enough to allow my speed to max out either.

Sayre Kulp 

56 + change is as fast as I've gotten up to on an HC climb going the other way 'round. The machine was stable enough, but the road was kinda crummy and I was terrified of what would happen if a tire suddenly decided to fail.