Originally Posted by
67walkon
On a side note, I live in South Florida, but was riding in the North Carolina mountains 2 weeks ago. A local hot shot told me he has hit 60+ mph going down mountains and that his downhill speed is limited only by his cadence. He told me he has hit 200 rpm on his trainer and is trying to get that high on the downhills. I find that hard to believe, but what do I, a mere flatlander, know? If I was any gear on flat land and got close to 200, I think I would be hitting 40 to 59 mph. It sounds impossible to me.
The cadence isn't impossible. With training people (I mean other people, not me - look at some of the sprinters on the track) hit very high cadences. It's BS to suggest that his speed was limited only by his cadence, though. It's not that easy to get above 60 mph and stay on the bike. On the flat, the air resistance would stop you accelerating long before you spun out, so the limiting factor would be power, not cadence.