Notso_fastLane

Rolling resistance, aerodynamics, and power.

On my recumbent, which is a little more aero than a DF bike, I can sprint to about 30. It's been a long time since I've really tried sprinting. In my velomobile, I can sustain ~35 mph for several minutes, so a long sprint. It takes a long time to get there, though.

Rides4Beer

I was thinking of a sprint at the end of a ride/race. But we also have longer "sprint zones" on our group rides, but then you have the group effect. There's a flat 1.6 mile "sprint" segment, my PR there is 32.4mph avg. KOM for that segment is 34.7mph.

I don't get too caught up in chasing Strava segments tho. Still fairly new to this (~9 months), so I'm still learning, and just enjoying riding and going hard when I can, no hr, no power, just trying to hang on.

Wilmingtech

Out on my ride yesterday I thought about this post and figured I would just ramp up on one of the flattest sections of my ride and see what I could hit. We really don't have any "flat" sections of road here. This one strava segment is -0.7% for 2 miles.

@47 years I was able to sprint up to 31mph with a 10mph headwind on a Ridley Helium outfitted with Ultegra.



On this same 2 mile segment I can average 26mph. Typically on this 20 mile ride I will average between 18-19 mph an that includes about 1200-1400 feet of climbs.

So many variables though if you are not on a track or some closed course with zero wind. And of course without the use of a properly calibrated device to measure our top speed we may never know exactly what that is. It is nice to have the electronic tools of today to have some semblance of measurement.

SpinnerPC

Around 36-37 mph. (58-60 km/h) I'm 54 years old, 6'4", 210 lbs on a Giant Propel 55mm-deep wheelset. I only dream it won't drop by more than 1mph per year

Hermes

Protocol is key. I have attended road sprint clinics. We go to a road that has a hill that flattens out with street lighting poles on the side of the road. Generally, each pole is about 200 meters apart. The drill is started at the top of the hill and one uses the hill as a lead out. On the way down the hill, one gets into the sprint gear, in the drops and when on passes the first lighting pole one sprints to the second one and notes the terminal speed. Depending on road conditions, wind and flatness of the road, the terminal speed will vary. However, the training is to generate speed going into the start of the sprint, know where the starting and finishing point is and then sprint for 200 meters.

If there is not a hill to simulate the lead out, then it takes a lot of effort to come up to sprint speed at the start of the 200 meters

I am a 500 meter trackie so my finishing speed of the 500 meters is generally around 35.5 mph on the indoor track. However, my time is not a function of terminal speed but acceleration from the standing start.

caloso

I like that. I have had a coach who had me do a similar workout ("levee drop-offs") but instead of sprinting, to hold the target speed for 1 minute.

burnthesheep

My house is like that. We sit at the end of the cul-de-sac. Leaving the house, the street heads imperceptibly uphill following a little creek. Then, it turns right up a steep 100 foot escape out of the neighborhood.

Only problem is heading towards the house for that "leadout" I have a touch short of 200m to give it the gas. I have to consider "stopping time" before roaring into our driveway to a controlled stop.

I've seen about 35 +/- a few tenths there.

I still say it's all a grain of salt on the road. Very rarely is a ride both perfectly flat, and windless.

I've posted before that a fun one is our last 1km to the brewery from the group ride. A quick succession of right, left, right and then 200m. Usually folks are too squeemish to take those turns fast and burn matches hitting it more than once. Reminds me of how the UCI sets up a LOT of finishes these days. Slow the group up around some kind of turn or "road furniture" before the finish.

em_525

I've hit 42 before, but I had a slight tailwind. Regularly, I have absolutely no trouble hitting 37-38 if I choose to. It's lost on me why so many of you think hitting 40+ unassisted is so hard. I can think of at least 6 people in my general area that can get close to that, no problem.

gregf83 

I looked at the finishing speeds for the top 3 riders in a local Pro/1/2 crit. This was a race where they were all close at the end so their finishing speeds should have been within a kph or so of each other. What I found was speeds all over the map from 57 to 76kph. I think the reality was closer to 64-68kph but it's really impossible to tell. The rider with an SRM 8 had the worst data of all with dropouts and mismatched speed and cadence numbers.

Lemond1985

Helmet can video (with wattage display and speed) of Justin Williams winning the 2018 nationals criterium. I saw him hit 37 mph, don't know how flat it was though. Check out the last 30 seconds of the race @ 8 minutes:

bruce19

"The world record for the flying 200m sprint on the velodrome is 9.65 seconds, which I calculate to average over 46 mph. That's with no leadout, but obviously a rolling start, including a drop off the banking to build up speed"

bruce19

Why aren't you racing? You're obviously world class.

em_525

Obviously you're being sarcastic but none of those numbers are world class or worthy of racing. The point stands. There are many, people who can easily hit those numbers.

bruce19

"It was second place Gaviria though – who beat Sagan to third – that put out the best stats, averaging 1,130w with a maximum of 1,380w as he hit 63.2kmh compared to Colbrelli’s 63kmh." That's approx. 39.5 mph.

em_525

I'm not sure why you quoted me twice to say the same thing.

em_525

I can see where this is going. Again, there is nothing amazing about any of those numbers I listed. Cherry picking a singular quote does nothing to disprove that. I have no idea why you feel those types of numbers are incredible. I'd understand your point if other people or myself were saying absurd numbers like 45+.

jamesdak 

Well, totally windy out today but I played some anyway. Only hit 30.9 mph on about a +1 grade with stupid winds in my face. Never really got going and to be honest my legs were still flat from 130 mile ride Saturday. More proof I"m getting old. Still, I'm going to see 36 mph at least sometime this week if I get some calm conditions. I just know it. 40 mph is just one good day away, LOL!

em_525

Make it happen!

guachi

Screen shot or it didn't happen. No drafting, no tailwind, level ground.

em_525

This is getting a bit absurd. 42 with a tailwind and 37-38 regularly is absolutely nothing special. I don't know you, nor you, me. So, you have absolutely no idea what I've done and haven't done and I'm not about to post a screenshot of something because I have nothing to prove to you or anyone else. Have a nice night.

gregf83 

2018 Stage 4 TDF. 1.3% uphill finish with a headwind. Not quite flat.

DrIsotope

For a fairly "tour sized" rider, 5'8" and 145lbs:

42mph on flat ground with a 10mph tailwind, ~840W
37mph on flat ground in still air, ~960W

According to the CDC, am "average American male" is 5'9" and weighs 198lbs.

42mph on flat ground with a 10mph tailwind, ~940W
37mph on flat ground in still air, ~1,077W

I stand 6'2" tall and currently am right around 208lbs, plus or minus.

42mph on flat ground with a 10mph tailwind, ~975W
37mph on flat ground in still air, ~1,115W


My best recorded 5 second power for 2019 is a dead flat 800W, So I am absolutely unspecial. Decidedly so. At the same time, I take most of the claims being presented in this thread with the requisite grains of salt.
It's demonstrably easy to pop onto an internet forum and say "I went this fast and I don't have to prove it."

em_525

It's an internet forum where very few people actually know one another. So sure, I think it's natural to take some things with a grain of salt.

At the same time - I'm not referring to you - this tendency on social media to not only question other people constantly, but also be a smart*** about it, gets old very fast. It's just as easy to get on the internet and "call someone out" simply because they either want to troll, are misinformed, can't do it them self, or have never seen it done.

As you clearly provided above, nothing I personally claimed is outlandish or even close to be being that special, period.

I'd understand if others or me had claimed absurd numbers like 45+ with no tailwind.

Furthermore, nothing I stated for me is meant to be construed as sustained speed, just the max I hit.

Finally, some of these posts acting as if professional riders can barely touch 40 on their own is ridiculous. Most sprinters can easily hit mid 40s on their own, with no issue.

Overall, I'm just pretty perplexed by some of these reactions because I really haven't seen anyone claim anything that's really all that incredible, unless I've missed something.

*Appreciate the post.

gregf83 

Justin's the one who won our local crit a couple years ago with erratic speeds. He did complete the final lap with an average speed of 60kph including some tight corners. https://www.strava.com/activities/1076316079/overview


Final lap of crit


Final lap of crit

DrIsotope

To this point, this thread has been an interesting intersection of plausibility vs. probability. Most of the numbers have been plausible, but I'm not so sure they're probable. Just a smidge of downhill, a bit of favorable wind, or a bus going by at just the right moment and you can toss those power numbers right out the window.

A local ~0.97 mile straight segment has the KOM at 38.8mph, and 2nd place is 35.1mph. The KOM-holder readily admits he got "uncomfortably close" to the back bumper of a logistics truck to make that number. Second place had a tailwind. Oh, the segment is about a .7 percent downgrade. So 37 or 38 for a second, plausible and probable. For any amount of time longer than a moment? Ehhhhh....