Originally Posted by
Saltydawg
How fast can the average person pedal on flat ground with no wind? Say a mountain bike with 26" tires. How fast could the average person expect to pedal, going as fast as they can, on flat ground, with no wind?
I have no concept of what 30 MPH (or any speed, for that matter) actually looks like on a bike. I wonder how fast I can actually pedal?
Well, there are other factors to consider over "average + mountain bike", but usually most people won't hit that speed.
30MPH on a mountain bike is a big sprint. It also depends on the "average persons" mountain bike, and their tires. Rigids deliver more power than hardtails, which deliver more power than full suspension. Balloons/slicks/hardpack tires deliver more than knobbies. Many other factors can be involved including gearing, clothing and so on. In the end though, 30mph is much beyond the comfortable limit of speed on an average mountain bike without any assisting factors involved.
In contrast, a rider on a faired recumbent may use up less than half that energy in order to reach the same speed, which under favourable conditions would fall within the sustainable limits of an athletic cyclist.
Under the same exertion levels:
My Fuji 2 rides slower than my rigid mountainbike, which rides slower than my Peugeot PX-10, which rides slower than the Bacchetta Strada I tried out in the store the other day. Zoom zoom. Bloody uncomfortable bike though, for a recumbent.