the pope

Set tonight down a steep pitch where I have to get up to speed and back down pretty quickly because the road hits a four-way intersection about a two-thirds of a mile from the top and a hundred yards before that an entry drive into a trailer park so look out for the tweakers in F-150s and on the left of that a freakin' Safeway and McDonald's entry so lookout for the mini-vans so I mean you have to commit and spin your a$$ off then get off the throttle fast. I'm fifty yards down and thinking this must look pretty cool then another fifty yards down I'm thinking this must look pretty hilarious. What could be the max cadence a human can endure before his knees dislocate, tear away from the shins and beat him to death?

42.5 mph on a stock 48/16. I don't know if that's any good but it made my day.

friegh

phew thats phast

Thats the gear ratio I use, havn't hit that speed, but then again I've not taken it down any hills of significant size either.

drolldurham

i've got a nice downhill at the very end of my ride home (after a few nice uphills). i can pick up a pretty high cadence there, especially since it starts at an intersection (racing cars is fun) and there's nothing to watch out for at the bottom. a lot of the time my legs are already tired, so it's like "legs... tired.... can't stop spinning.... owww" but i guess it's good for me.

sloppy robot

whats the math for that

Kiecker

Here's a great little program you can use for exploring different set ups with varying wheel diameter, chain stay length, crank length, etc to figure out gear ratio, gear inches, gain ratio, and differerent speeds for different cadences. It's also helpful for determining if you can build a SS without using a chain tensioner.

https://www.teambigtime.com/software/ssConvert.htm

Assuming 700c wheels and 48/16 gear ratio it shows that at 60 rpm the bike is moving 14.76 mph. Since there is a direct relationship beteween rpm and wheel speed it's goes to show that at 42.5 mph the cadence is 172.8 rpms.

Yes the program does not take into account the different tire sizes or flex from the tires and wheels but for all practical purposes the above program is really good. There are other out there, but I prefer this one.

the pope

A morning after haiku:

Old face in mirror.
So, flew too close to the sun.
Left knee on ice now.

Kennetht638

Using Sheldon Brown's gear ratio calculator and some simple math, assuming you have 23c tires, you were spinning 181 RPM. The best I've done is 35.0 mph, which comes out to 165 RPM on my 46x17. And I thought that was insane!

Mr. Shadow

https://www.machinehead-software.co.u...alculator.html

Sprinter have hit over 280 rpms. I've hit 37 mph on a 44/16t down hill and 35 mph on a 52/16t on a flat sprint.

ostro

holding your legs out to the side doesnt count!

the pope

280?!

inconceivable.

48x16

48x16. 37.5mph

habitus

i go slow.

napalmandroses

i dont know what my RPM was but on a dead flat sprint at 39x16 i got up to 32mph

on my touring bike tho...not fixed so it doesnt matter i got up to 46 somewhere in maine

Shiznaz

when I ran 48x15 I got up to 62 km/h but my legs were spinning at an unsustainable rate and I'm glad I had a brake

Serbaside

I went past one of those speed counters used for cars and it said 22mph, thats probably the best for me.

ETQC

I do have an extra speed-o-meter lying around, that I thought about putting on my fixie, but then I realized that, really, it's the rpm that counts and the feeling. I know damn well I'm faster then I've ever been, and I know damn well I will be faster someday, but right now, I just part the air at a given speed, which I counldn't care less about.

Cynikal 

I was going to put a comp on my fixie just to see how fast I was going. Then I realized there was no brake cable to run it down and it would flop around on its own.

Serbaside

I have the same feelings, when I'm riding for fun it would be nice to actually have a number, but for normal commuting I wouldn't need it, just seems like a extra toy.

Mr. Shadow

Not me...I'm tapped out at 180 rpms on the trainer and 150ish on the road.

Mr. Shadow

https://www.cyclingforums.com/t98179-max-rpms.html

fatbat

I love thost things. If the road is empty enough that they register a bike, then it's an absolute requirement that you sprint past them.

fatbat

darkmother

I think I'm going to throw a front wheel cycle computer on my fixie, and calibrate it for RPM. May have to use 2 magnets.