Fastest MPH On Bike? (Page 4)

43.8 this past Saturday on the last day of RAGBRAI.  And I know it would have gone faster had I either 1) started out faster at the top and 2) not had to do a 90 degree left at the bottom.  Computer was still going up when I finally sat up, dropped the chute and started to mash the brakes (I waited till the last possible second). 

OOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo  what a rush!!!!!

36.8 on a flat.

45 on a hill.

Not my favorite thing going down hill.  It is funny, but 38.8 on a flat seems much slower then 36.8 going downhill.

We had a trail we used to ride a couple of times a month until I moved.  Once we hit the paved road at the end of the trail it became a race to the bottom of the mountain.  We would regularly do 50-60 on the steepest/straightest part of the road.  The speed limit was 35 so it was great screaming past the cars.  One thing I learned is that you don't sit in the saddle at that speed.  The slightest bump in the road could bounce you out of the seat with those balloon mountain bike tires. 

I think I've topped out at 41 mph, which is plenty. At that point, the wind, road vibrations, and threat of serious bodily injury if I make the slightest error are enough to keep me feathering the brakes. That said, I love (moderately) fast descents (in the 35 mph range).

I've hit 38 mph on a downhill on my mountain bike the disc brakes and fat tires allow a little more confidence. On my Tri bike I have hit 35 mph only in the horns, I have to second and third and fourth some of the others little tires and to me little brakes are a bit scary at this point at high speeds.  I'm sure my 15 mph road rash experience plays into this.

Who needs disc brakes?  Maybe on a long mountain descent that would otherwise overheat your rims or in the rain...  I can easily lock up the wheels on my low end Shimano dual-pivot brakes.  More practice braking and more practice cornering at speed will help out.

Disk brakes stay cleaner and work better then braking against the rims when you are riding through dirt and mud and water.  They're great for a mountain bike.  I can see that there isn't as much of a need for them on a road or tri bike.

Somewhere in the low to mid 40's for me, on a steep hill just outside of Pittsburgh.  My husband had the bike computer and topped out at 42.5 -- I don't have a computer, but I know I caught him by the bottom of the hill and he'd started out with about a quarter-mile lead on me