Originally Posted by
thump55
In regards to being passed by coasters:
Cresting speed will have a large impact on max speed on a straight line downhill (especially if it is shorter). If you are getting passed further down the hill by coasters, it could be that they were pushing faster than you over the crest and on the first 1/3 of the descent.
Hence, if you want to go faster than 40mph, with a compact crank, you pound over the top of the hill, hammer hard until you're in the low 40's, then tuck and coast. Pedaling hard to get up to speed makes a bigger difference, and gives a better return on effort, than trying to spin like a gerbil to raise your speed once you're already in the 40's.
FWIW, I've done 62mph downhill on a single bike, and 65 mph on a tandem.