sprint speeds?
 

whats the average or good sprinting speed? on a flat terrain

What category? After how long / hard of a ride / race? Is there a lead out? Is there a head wind, tail wind, or cross wind?

On a flat course with pretty much no wind, I can hit 34.

It depends on so many things. Coming off a wheel from 32mph or so, I can get up to 38mph. Solo, during my strongest sprint since I've had the PowerTap, in a 7mph crosswind, starting from 20mph, my 5-second power was 1491W (which is fairly good, 18.4W/kg), and my max speed was only 33.5 mph.

Elevation makes a big difference too. When I lived in Colorado, I could sprint to 40mph solo.

So, the real answer is that a good sprint speed is just faster than the guys you're sprinting against.

depends.

Whatever speed you can get to right now. Remember that number, train, then test again in similar circumstances. If it is lower than previously, shoot yourself; if faster, brag about it to someone who loves you.

That is what I do, and I'm still around.

How's the sick Powertap?

Being near sea level is my new excuse for everything.

end of thread

Assuming you're talking about my hint that it had stopped transmitting? I had loaned my 2nd harness to a friend so we could swap wheels on a ride sometime. So, I swapped wheels and everything worked on his harness. I got it home, and it all started working on my original harness, with no problems. Go figure.

I got my 2nd harness back in case it goes wonky again.

If you were joking that I killed it in the sprints... my PT just chuckles and says "is that all you got?" Pi$$es me off..

.5 MPH faster than 2nd place.

Yeah, I was. Glad to hear it's alive and kicking. I look forward to the race season when all these new Powertaps will provide great WKO files.

I'm taking mine out to the ATC ride tomorrow, hoping some of the local elites are out there to tear my legs off. Can't wait to see the power file :)

Still need to get WKO+, but budget responsibility rules at this point.

I read an article last year that gave a list of reasons why we cycle slower in winter...one of the tidbits offered was that cold air is denser, and therfore can account for up to a 20% decrease in speed. Ever since reading that, whenever my wife & I are riding and we feel like we're not at the top of our game, one of us invariably yells out "damn air density!"

I was reading an article about a race recap that Robbie McEwen won, and he said that he hit 46.6 (75 kph) in the sprint. I'd imagine that was flat out, since it was at the end of a race. If you can get to 47 mph, go be a pro sprinter.

edit: found the article: http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9392.0.html

uphill? that's kinda slow in most flatland cases.

Not namin any names, but there used to be a masters rider at Major Taylor "The Doctor" who was a meistro at this, would never beat you by more than a wheel (but rarely loose).

I would say mid 30's by yourself on flat ground is pretty good for mere mortals. Im on the comeback so not gonna tell you what I've gotten up to this fall :)

Best answer here. Whatever it takes.

You don't even have to have a higher top speed -- just a snappier acceleration at the beginning can hold off a powerhouse if you get some real estate on the jump.

about 43 mph

At a road race earlier this year I had a finish line sprint speed of 14mph. I beat the 4 guys I was with doing so.

Saying "depends" is an understatement.

I know the feeling. Still, visions of a 9:32pm finish of a M85+ race comes to mind.

A good sprinter can do over 70 km/h in the final 200 meters.

The finish was uphill with a nasty headwind coming over the crest. The course didn't look like much, but seemed to waste folks quite handily.

Yeah, I won a sprint at a similar speed. The wind was bad enough that I decided to sprint in the downwind gutter, and my drafter could not get around me in the wind. When he started covering me, my back half was drafting off his front half :roflmao:

guys with lots of snap usually have lots of power. I remember mario cipollini back in the late 90s in the early stages of the tour when he launched from five or six guys back and cut through to the front and win with ease. this is with guys going all out. it true that you need to be faster than the other guys, but you also need to be set up. big name sprinters have leadout guys that pace them into position and launch them. this keeps them as fresh as possible for that last 200 meters and that is how they can have anything left after 110 miles of racing.

back in the day, I was able to get to 42 on the flats with a leadout and high 30s on my own.

Ok, today I won a sprint at 23mph, and only 1008W. There were about 40 on this ride, but it had thinned to only 10 or so in the hunt for the big sprint. I had several bike lengths on the others.

How's that for "it depends" and "just faster than the rest?"