JanMM

Close to 45mph - downhill, of course. I used to be able to trackstand at lights, but the best I can do on a 'bent is a very brief standstill, then off again. I'm good down to about 3-4 mph uphill on a good day.

cyclinfool

downhill max, about 2 summers ago, fresh pavement, 54mph downhill.
slowest - not sure but not able to do a track stand.

BikeArkansas

Fastest on a flat, no wind assist, 32 was my very best. Can hit 30 consistently.

Fastest on downhill is 50 MPH. Did that two different times. Still get chills thinking about it.

Slowest was on a fully loaded Surly LHT a few weeks ago. I know I got under 2 MPH on a short hill with 18% grade. Would have been faster walking, and easier.

lhbernhardt

Back in the early 90's, at the US Masters National Track Championships in Colorado Springs, I was in a match sprint with Butch Stinton. I was on his wheel for the last 200 meters, unable to come around. My computer had maxed at 66 kmh (41 mph).
Downhill, freewheeling, on a carbon fiber Trek with Spinergy wheels: just under 95 kmh (59 mph) down a steep hill near Vancouver, BC. On a tandem, about 85 kmh for several minutes down New Bluett Pass in the Washington Cascades.
Downhill on a fixed gear: 67.07 kmh (41.6 mph) in 42x16 down a hill in Victoria, BC last year.

Slow: track stand (but for how long?). A fixed gear gives you an unfair advantage in a track stand!

L.

tony2v

Thanks. I've seen two of my elite track friends behind a motor on the SD Velodrome holding 45mph for 3 laps!

oban_kobi

About 29mph flat ground, 48ish for downhill. Slowest, I don't know, less than 1 I suppose, waiting for someone to catch up. Not that I'm all that fast, he just takes wrong turns a lot.

stapfam

Try it downhill offroad and with no control over the steering or Brakes (Stoker on a Tandem.)

Although I class myself as a Roadie now and have been for 4 years-Downhill speed is dependant on You and the bike. I have no worry about the speed I go downhill but the bike does play a part in the top speed you can manage. Took a while to get the TCR to be able to feel "Safe" above 35mph downhill and until I did that bike was hairy.

But back to that Tandem. Uphill minimum speed is below what my Garmin can register. That is below 3mph up a rutted track at around 15% and balance on a "T" at that speed is difficult. Mind you the downhill speed and on the flat can be be exceptional. Max speed achieved downhill offroad is 53.8mph and apart from the stomach losing feeling in the dips- the bike felt completely safe (Thanks Stuart)

However one ride on the road with slicks and we went for it on the flat. 45mph was registered before I cried enough as I felt that if I kept up the 150 cadence for much longer my legs would come undone.

BlazingPedals

Heh! Reminds me of a 'few' years ago. It was a couple years before I got into recumbents. I was riding a last-day century on a tour. Hooked in behind a tandem who was just cooking; they were doing 24-26 on the flats and I tucked in and was hanging on for all I was worth. We hit the top of a small rise, and I stuck my head up to see where we were. Mistake! I caught a little wind with my big head, and that tandem dropped me like a stone in a pond. A good tandem team can go incredibly fast.

trek330

I hit 29MPH on a flat section once.Not for any sustained distance,Just hit the 29 gasping for breath hoping I hadn't died.I hit 43MPH on a downhill last fall on my Trek 330 with my new selfbuilt Mavic wheels.I'm riding less than a year and mostly watch everyone pass me on the road.56 years old now.

Mr. Beanz

Me, 56 on tandem, 46 on a single, 36 on an MTB in the dirt and 0 in a track stand

Wife 56 on the tandem, 35 on her single and............. 16 to zero in less than a second.


ouchie by mrbeanz1, on Flickr

rydabent

On my Stratus I have been up to 42, and down to 3 with full contol. I can go slower, but with a lot of wobbling and steering.

Shreck

First ride on the new bike yesterday, fastest 34 on slight uphill grade, slowest, unsure but passed two teens on a steep hill. I started to race downhill but backed off because of the number of pot holes. Next time I should look at least how fast I was going before I chicken out.

Easily keep 22-24 average. Had to ride fast yesterday, it as only 2c/35f with a cold wind blowing off the lake.

bjjoondo 

Slow is easy, I can just crawl along, now Fast, well, it's according to how much downslope I get off one of area's major hills, 50+ no problem, except for "watering eyes"! Ya know, I don't ever seem to "look" at the speedo, when I'm on the "flat" for some reason, have to check it out next ride.

daveF

on the flats about 48 behind a cement mixer. That was a huge draft behind those 6ft tires. Downhill I've been more conservative only reaching low 50's. Tried to go backwards on my fixed gear, but I don't have the balance for it. I'll have to work on that. It would be a great stunt stopped at a light with a training group.

buelito

our bike club-- years ago-- had a 'race'. A 'timed' 100 yards. Everyone had to keep the bike moving--track stands =elimination. The trick was to keep the wheels moving-- you could move the pedals back and forth, but the wheels had to keep moving. We had a 'judge' on every bike to assure the movement. I really don't remember the 'winning' time, but it was SLOW... Kind of fun-- and a lot easier with really low gears (i.e. mountain bikes).

train safe-

Agave

55 downhill [Lake Placid road race]

35 and maybe a bit more sprinting.

28+ long pulls on the flat

10-15 sec. track stand at stop signs.

Average speed is only relevant to the terrain you're riding. If I could ride east on I 80 in Nebraska I have one bad a$$ mph avg.!!! Not so much if I lived in Vansant VA.

Ranger Dan

Fast enough on a long downhill east of Yellowstone NP to pass 2 cars that I assume (no speedometer) were doing about 55 mph. And about 50 once drafting behind a car. Both were years ago -- I'm more conservative now that I'm older (or maybe I'm older because I became more conservative). Top speed last year was 47.9 mph on a short downhill out here on the plains.

Shreck

Updating since my last post, I have improved a bit since spring time when I first started riding.
My average is up from 24kmh to 28
Top speed 69kmh/43mph and was too shaky to go faster on a rough downhill, did not want to pass the car either sitting back from one of our fellow riders in front doing the same I suppose.

Sculptor7

22 mph on level ground with neutral conditions of wind and grade. 2 mph slow. 36 mph downhill the most so far. Would not hesitate to do 40 but probably no more at my age.

bigbadwullf

Found out I can ride 3-4mph for hours in Garret County Maryland

jdon

It does on a downhill bike and my best for that was 48. Surface was gravel and I didn't like the thought of a fall. A riding friend 20 years my junior went flying by me at that speed.

DnvrFox

I wuss out at about 38 mph downhill. I have a theory that those of us who started much later in life (like me at age 58) with "serious" bicycling just don't - with rare excecption - have the innate confidence in themselves, their bike and God to feel comfortable at higher speeds. Now a bunch of you will post and prove me wrong, but that is my theory and I am sticking to it.

Slow - likely just above zero - never have mastered a track stand, but pretty close to it.

jtaylor2

I agree with your theory, I'm 64 and get nervous at 30 mph on a bicycle. And I've ridden motorcycles for 40 years.

Bob Ross

My top speed to date is 52.5mph...though now that I know where I can hit that (descending Gate Hill Road in Harriman State Park) I may go back & try to top it.
Slowest is somewhere around 2mph, which I seem to do on an almost weekly basis when I get stuck behind pedestrians coming off the George Washington Bridge.

contango 

Fastest ever - 45mph (as a teenager on a road bike down a big hill), 38mph on my current bike (also down a big hill)

Slowest ever, after the first time I took both wheels and the chain off my bike to clean it I wanted to make sure everything was still OK once I reassembled it, so took it on a few local roads and tried everything from the granny gear to the top gear. I got the speed down to a recorded 0.7mph before I became unstable.