[iliveonnitro]

I was looking on this forum http://forums.bicycling.com/thread.jspa?threadID=155426&tstart=0 and it came up that 40mph in a solo sprint is a "RARE breed," especially for amateur road racers.

Uh, are they serious? I did some sprints a couple weeks ago and I wanted to do a top speed run on flat ground for my first one just for shits and giggles. I hit 41mph, accoring to my Garmin Edge 305 - winds at that time were East with a max of 16mph, I was riding West-obviously there had to have been no headwind at the time of my sprint. I only held it for about 6 seconds before trailing back down to ~30mph.

So does that mean I should quit trying to become the next Lance and instead go into track racing? Racing in a circle is kinda boring to me though...

BTW, I got my road bike and seriously started riding (very limited schedule) about a month ago.

 

[greenasgrass]

From http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm : for a 160 lbs person

going at 41mph with a 16mph tailwind: 505watts
going at 41mph with no wind: 1204watts

I would think you're somewhere in between...

 

[shawndoggy]

That's what livin' on nitro will do to a G.

Yeah, dude, 41 mph is extremely fast on flat ground. Like Robbie/Tom/AleJet/Thor fast. With a tailwind more feasible, with a tailwind downhill, somewhat likely.

It'd be interesting to see the power numbers from that effort.

Are you frequently winning county line sprints on the club rides?

 

[Argentius]

yeah, I don't have the numbers on me, but REALLY going 40mph on totally flat ground with no wind help at all is very, very hard. If you can do it, you'll win nearly every amateur race you enter.

To make sure it's not calibration, subtle lack of road flatness, etc, the best way would be, as you said, a track. Even if you're not into the track racing scene, a couple of flying 200's would quickly tell you your real speed.

There's no way mine would be 40mph.

 

[howardpowered]

41 mph is VERY fast for any ameteur sprinter. The thread is correct.

Remember that EASTERLY winds blow WEST. I could probably hit 41mph w/ a 16mph tail wind.

 

[shawndoggy]

41mph with no wind: 1204watts

Either that's low, or I've got a headwind that follows me around. In a flat (i.e. crit) sprint, even with a phenomenal leadout, I've never seen more than 38 at 1300+ W. The difference between 38 and 41 is huge.

 

[iliveonnitro]

That's what livin' on nitro will do to a G.

Yeah, dude, 41 mph is extremely fast on flat ground. Like Robbie/Tom/AleJet/Thor fast. With a tailwind more feasible, with a tailwind downhill, somewhat likely.

It'd be interesting to see the power numbers from that effort.

Are you frequently winning county line sprints on the club rides?

I've never done a club ride. At one point on my last ride I tacked onto the end of a pelo of ~15-17 riders who all looked like they were fast (lean/muscular). There was a sprint uphill (4 or 5% grade, can't remember) just for kicks (allez allez allez!) and I don't remember seeing anyone next to me after about 10 seconds - then I proceeded to die from the effort i exerted so i took it slow for a long while.

I don't know anyone with a power meter, but I wouldn't mind meeting up with someone so I could try it. All I remember from this group of sprints i did was one time around 30mph a gust of wind blew from the front/side and it felt like a brick wall-and i was pulling up on the bars/pushing down on the pedals hard enough to get my front wheel up and have it slide over - scared me half to death.

I used to be a weight lifter and at my peak (i didnt know what protein powder or anything was) I was 145lbs and squatting 315lbs-i can still rep 225, so I know my power/force:weight ratio could probably pull it off. My theighs are unfortunately big

 

[CC09]

please don't take this the wrong way:

....im 120-125lbs and i can max squat 350. I rep 250. My legs aren't that, big either.i used to alpine ski race, and thats where im getting that info from (pre-season weight training)

there is no way i could do 40mph in a sprint. I could hit 40 going downhill drafting behind a few people with a tailwind. The fastest ive ever sprinted was like 30-32 for a few brief seconds, and i don't even think thats accurate.

 

[greenasgrass]

Either that's low, or I've got a headwind that follows me around. In a flat (i.e. crit) sprint, even with a phenomenal leadout, I've never seen more than 38 at 1300+ W. The difference between 38 and 41 is huge.

Don't forget that a sprint is a constant acceleration. If you could constantly hold 1300watts until you reach max speed, your top speed would be higher.

 

[Argentius]

Woah -- how tall are you?

I'm used to being one of the light guys on my team, but I'm carrying 6 kilos more than you!

 

[CC09]

argentius im assuming that was directed at me?

im around 5'8. not quite 5'9 but well over 5'7.

 

[footballcat]

fastest for me is 38 with no wind, at 205lbs, man i wish i could get some more weight off

 

[R.Rice]

I've gotten 38.5 ONCE on a flat smoothly paved road while doing sprint workouts.I can get over 35 pretty consistently.

However,41 is FAST.

 

[jaseone]

Err doesn't the Garmin Edge 305 use GPS to measure speed? Something tells me that doesn't yield the most accurate results in the world...

 

[iliveonnitro]

It's more accurate than just a wheel senor is. On top of that, it has a wheel sensor to record speed as a second measure.

It registers position and time and records the velocity - i would trust it more than any wheel sensor.

Speaking of which, I just lost my cadence magnet, anyone know if I can rig a regular powerful magnet to my crankarm instead of buying another garmin-specific one? Any recommendations?

 

[Angelracer]

I remember from watching older Giro/ TDF videos in the sprints, The Lion King (Mario Cipollini) himself reaches about 38--40 MPH which analiates everyone else in the competition.

 

[514Climber]

What gear were you in

when you hit 41?

Unless my math is off, were you in the neighborhood of 53-11 or 53-12?

http://www.hostelshoppe.com/tech_gearcalc.php

 

[filtersweep]

It's more accurate than just a wheel senor is. On top of that, it has a wheel sensor to record speed as a second measure.

It registers position and time and records the velocity - i would trust it more than any wheel sensor.

Why? How is that relevent? It must always be receiving conflicting information. Even my Polar and FlighDeck provide slightly different speed data due to their sampling rates. GPS simply is not accurate enough to measure speed to the level of 6 seconds duration. It is fine for measuring overall avg. speed, but take a look at the positioning error. Being off by a few hundred feet can have a huge overall impact on speed during very short time intervals.

 

[Number9]

when you hit 41?

Unless my math is off, were you in the neighborhood of 53-11 or 53-12?

http://www.hostelshoppe.com/tech_gearcalc.php

The gearing is irrelevant without the knowing the max attainable rpm in the gear. I can usually reach 35-38 mph on the velodrome with only a 48x16 gear. Later in the season I use only a slightly taller gear to go faster still.

 

[iliveonnitro]

Why? How is that relevent? It must always be receiving conflicting information. Even my Polar and FlighDeck provide slightly different speed data due to their sampling rates. GPS simply is not accurate enough to measure speed to the level of 6 seconds duration. It is fine for measuring overall avg. speed, but take a look at the positioning error. Being off by a few hundred feet can have a huge overall impact on speed during very short time intervals.

I had great reception on about 9 or 10, maybe more different satellites - it was accurate to +- 14-16ft that day - easily able to measure 41mph for 6 seconds accurately.

Gearing was at 50/11--stock gearing on a Felt F75. My max cadence was at 132rpm. That should give a theoretical top speed of 49mph, right? Factor in wind resistance and I guess 41 isn't far out of the equation?

Any ideas about replacing my now lost cadence magnet?