caloso

Truth. I've lost a sprint because I was in too big of a gear coming out of the final corner and got bogged down.

Korina

I once hit 17 mph for about two miles. I was chasing another cyclist who was just a little bit faster than me. I was like a slow, portly greyhound with a toy rabbit. If' I'd have caught her, I would have thanked her for the workout.

Does that count?

bruce19

What gearing and cadence?

devianb

37mph with wind, and 34mph without wind for about 3 seconds.

SHBR

No wind, don't think that exists anywhere outdoors.

45-50kph is typical for me if I want to catch a light or another rider etc.

Single speed, 46X16.

Sidewalk

I don't know what my flat ground max without wind is. Kinda curious now. I did 0-30 the other night when I was doing some sprints intervals and caught a red light. I know with my 50x11 I spin out at 40 mph at 115 rpm with a tail wind (segment only a hand full of locals hit). But I wish for lower gearing way more often than taller gearing, so I'm not going with a 52 just for that ultra rare occasion.

DrIsotope

This thread popped into my head during this morning's ride. I still don't know what my top sprint speed is, but I do know that for me, 25mph takes about 220W, while 30mph takes a bit over 500W. I did 30-ish for maybe 8 or 10 seconds.

I can generate 500W for about one minute, so I reckon I can solo ~30mph for about a minute, then collapse into a field. How fast I've gone for a few seconds? <shrug> My 15-second power is about 800W, but wind drag means I might get to... 35... ish?

bruce19

https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence

.....for informational purposes.

bruce19

The only place I ride that may be applicable is a .8 mi, relatively flat, Strava segment that I have done a hair under 25 mph this year at age 73.

BFisher 

I can hit 35 on my Ironman - 50/11 gearing - alone on a flat, straight with no wind. I'm 39, 160 lbs. Never tried to spin it out, don't know if I can.

jadocs

I have averaged 34.2 mph over .31 miles at 624 watts on a flat KOM. I topped out at 38 mph. I'm pretty sure I can hit 40 if I worked on it.

gringomojado

once the radar sign showed 28 mph with me trying to sprint on my old Trek 820.felt great until I noticed a car had snuck out of a side street behind me

Bluesfrog

Huh? On a Trek 520? At 68 years old? Be Well. BluesFrog

Rollfast

I just pedal. I'm not wanting to be HR Huffnpuff.

jamesdak 

Well looking at my few (very few, lol) KOM's on strava the fastest max was 37.4 back in 2017. 2018 was a bad year. I've hit 40 on my old Bontrager Node II computer but I don't remember the conditions. I ride alone and won't shoot for a KOM if I've got a tailwind. Needs to be calm or a tad of headwind or to me it's not an honest effort. None of it really matters other than just something to make me work harder. I don't think I've even seen 34 mph this year, I'm getting old....

canklecat

There isn't a single flat segment longer than 100 yards on my usual routes. Strava doesn't permit creating micro segments that qualify as sprints in terms of a typical crit, so I can only guesstimate my top speed at 32 mph for a few seconds. I'm not sure I've ever tried to completely max out my effort on a sprint on solo workouts, though. Usually those come when I'm on an easy ride and decide to try pushing a little harder, or during interval sessions.

I've set up a few private segments on undulating terrain where the rises and dips average out to 0%. Looks like my best speeds over a mile on reasonably flat terrain sheltered from wind are around 23 mph. My best on a 1/3rd mile segment was 30 mph. Fastest on a -1% downhill over 1.5 miles was 30 mph, peaking at 42 mph for 20 seconds.

Best over a 6 mile TT undulating segment with some steep punchy climbs was 25 mph. That was good for 2nd place on Strava for awhile but I've been bumped down to 8th. The KOM is 28 mph. That's on open prairie, lots of wind. It's never not windy there, usually crosswinds.

I rarely do max effort sprints. Mostly I work on climbs and sustained effort over 20-50 miles. My short distance max speed is okay. I have trouble with endurance. I'm not even fast among the serious cyclists in my age group. And my fastest times were a couple of years ago before injuries and illnesses. It's been a slow slog back into good fitness.

KraneXL

You can always retire to an e-bike and BOOM! You're 21 again.

aclinjury

38 to 40 is harder than you think, nobody hits 40 by himself on the road

nomadmax 

A 52x15 was my gear, I could wind it up quick for a gap. If it looked like more gear was needed I'd loosen the thumb screw (just slightly) on my Campy RD shifter and start in the 15. By the time I was running out of gear it would "auto shift" to the 13 cog.

jamesdak 

Really? Hmmmm....new goal......prove this wrong.

jamesdak 

BLASPHEMY!!!!

Loose Chain

I have not always had speedometers and GPS, especially in my younger and competitive times. I have seen 35 MPH but I could question that accuracy being it was an early Cateye and what if I did not have it exactly dialed in. I have done 40K in one hour during my serious triathlon years. My cruising speed are anywhere from my 12.6 avg. on a gravel ride today on a MB4 MTB to maybe 18 MPH on my road bikes like my souped up GT or Guerc SLX. But I am heading to 66 years on this planet also. There you go. A few weeks ago I ran the GT up to 26 MPH, I may have had a breeze, did not do a two-way average as I was just having fun doing a sprint and not dying as a result, always a good thing.

TKJava

I have a bike with a compact crankset (50/34) and a cassette with 11/28. A nice bike carbon fiber with full Ultegra and the frame is somewhat aero. On a flat road giving it all I have I can hit 32 for about 10 seconds then I"m spent. For me part of the limitation comes from the gearing in that I cannot ride at high cadence. In a spin class or on a spin bike that provides a cadence readout (my bike does not) my legs can only comfortably churn at roughly 110 RPM. If I back off the tension (spin bike) I don't go any faster its a limit on my legs and super high cadence hurts my back. I mention this because due to gearing your cadence limitation is a factor in how fast you can go so I'm at max RPM for me to hit that speed and hold it very long. The hold it part is of course a matter of cardio endurance not gearing or the bike (its an engine problem).

Lemond1985

I have to wonder whether those electric "bicycles" will someday have various power settings you can choose from, with the click of a menu. BOOM! "Greg Lemond, 1989 TDF, Final Time Trial". "Eddy Merckx, 1968", "Miguel Indurain, 1996", "Major Taylor 1899", "Fausto Coppi, 1940", etc., and it will put out the exact same wattage as they did. While you sit on your butt and do nothing.

aclinjury

I don't expect anyone in here to hit 40 mph by himself unassisted on the road, no freakin way.

Go to a local indoor veledrome, where the condition is as ideal as it'll get, if anyone is hitting 38 mph, they're gooood.
On the road, to hit 40 mph by yourself unassisted would require power north of 2000 watts.

But let's just see some examples of what it takes to hit speed close to 40 mph (64 kph):

2018 Men's 1 km trial - 59 kph, World record


2018 Men's team sprint: 62 kph (bronze medal)

Here's a vide of your typical club sprinter hitting 1300-1500w and hitting 33-35 mph
(there is no way these guys will ever get to 40 mph)

Local cat1 guys around here can hit 38 mph in a bunch sprint, but this includes major drafting.

Most Tour stage finishing sprint speed are under 40 mph.

If anyone can hit 40 on the road by himself without assistance, they're definitely a talent.

The only guys that can hit over 40 mph are world-class track match sprinters (these guys are freaks themselves, blessed with exceptional genetics).