Fastest speeds

[Tubby G]

Just out of interest, what is the fastest speed you have descended on your eeb ?

Let's rule out tarmac, as that's easy, so trail, fireroads, bridleways etc - the fastest speeds usually require a long straight section to get to full potential

I know tyres, weight, geometry, surface, conditions, gradient etc will all make a difference, I'm just looking to always go faster and wondered what bikes / tyre combos are getting the fastest speeds

I'm struggling to get over 38mph, on a Haibike Allmtn 4 with DHF 2.6 / DHR 2.8 - really want to break that 40mph mark, but have I reached my limit ?

 

[Zimmerframe]

Faster than I went up.

 

[The Hodge]

40mph ..grassy downhill last descent off "The Street "in the Cheviots ..
Scary as fcuk ..lots of small drop offs ..?

 

[Zimmerframe]

I suppose you want a helpful answer ..

I try not to ride much on the road and don't normally go over 60/70 ish and that would be very rare as they're normally short transit sections and most car drivers here haven't worked out what the windows are for. Saying that, the deer are as bad - almost got t-boned yesterday on the road but fortunately saw it coming in my peripheral vision .

Off road :

DHR/DHF's (2.8's) I normally maxed in the low 70's (kph - we're civilised) . They seemed exponentially draggy at speeds, I kept pinch flatting so didn't run them long as it was getting expensive (crap riding/too low pressure). I suspect on steep enough trails and not too low air pressure, you'd have no problem getting 80-90.

DH22's (2.4's) Similar - low 70's, though these are considerably more draggy than DHR/DHF. But yes, Muppets can't go much faster than that on DH22's. Never tried them at higher pressures - which was a bit dumb looking back.

E-wilds (2.6/2.8) and Wild Enduro's (2.4's) - low 90's. Both seem relatively efficient on the drag front + I've had more time/distance on them so more opportunities to go faster. Difficult to say for 100% certainty as not ridden them back to back, but I'd guess the Wild Enduro's in 2.4 are less draggy than the E-wilds - logically, they should be !

I don't know about anyone else, but once you get above about 70kph my eyes seem to turn into insect magnets.

 

[Tubby G]

40mph ..grassy downhill last descent off "The Street "in the Cheviots ..
Scary as fcuk ..lots of small drop offs ..?

That sounds fun, I like scary

 

[Tubby G]

I suppose you want a helpful answer ..

I try not to ride much on the road and don't normally go over 60/70 ish and that would be very rare as they're normally short transit sections and most car drivers here haven't worked out what the windows are for. Saying that, the deer are as bad - almost got t-boned yesterday on the road but fortunately saw it coming in my peripheral vision .

Off road :

DHR/DHF's (2.8's) I normally maxed in the low 70's (kph - we're civilised) . They seemed exponentially draggy at speeds, I kept pinch flatting so didn't run them long as it was getting expensive (crap riding/too low pressure). I suspect on steep enough trails and not too low air pressure, you'd have no problem getting 80-90.

DH22's (2.4's) Similar - low 70's, though these are considerably more draggy than DHR/DHF. But yes, Muppets can't go much faster than that on DH22's. Never tried them at higher pressures - which was a bit dumb looking back.

E-wilds (2.6/2.8) and Wild Enduro's (2.4's) - low 90's. Both seem relatively efficient on the drag front + I've had more time/distance on them so more opportunities to go faster. Difficult to say for 100% certainty as not ridden them back to back, but I'd guess the Wild Enduro's in 2.4 are less draggy than the E-wilds - logically, they should be !

I don't know about anyone else, but once you get above about 70kph my eyes seem to turn into insect magnets.

I had to use Google to convert 70kph to mph - that’s quick, I’m jealous. My Lidl biking sunnies do a great job of splatting all the midgies onto the lens rather than my eyeballs

 

[steve_sordy]

My survival instinct and my fertile imagination both kick in at 30mph and that is when it's relatively smooth!
Therefore I don't believe that I have ever gone faster than 30mph. Certainly not on my emtb where it records how fast I've gone. I can't say for sure on my mtb because I was always too busy clinging on to spare a glance at the speedo!

 

[Mteam]

Max is usually about 30-35 mph according to strava.

 

[Tubby G]

Max is usually about 30-35 mph according to strava.

I find my Strava is usally around 3-4mph slower than what my Bosch display tells me during the ride

I hit a decent at 38mph according to Bosch, get all excited on the way home with my new superfast speed, upload to Strava and then hit rock bottom when Strava tells me 'max speed 34mph'

 

[EebStrider]

I got 42.7mph the day after I posted a photo on here of my screen showing 41mph!

 

[Zimmerframe]

and my fertile imagination

I had to look that up, I thought you meant you were distracted because you were too busy thinking about sex.

 

[Zimmerframe]

I find my Strava is usally around 3-4mph slower than what my Bosch display tells me during the ride

I guess your wheel size is slightly off from what it should be - which means your limiter will also be kicking in too early, though probably only 1-2mph early.

 

[Tubby G]

I guess your wheel size is slightly off from what it should be - which means your limiter will also be kicking in too early, though probably only 1-2mph early.

I like to think it’s Strava that’s off and not my Bosch sensors ?

I know the sensors are off as the motor is still whirring away at around 16.3 mph whereas it’s meant to cut off at 15.5 mph

 

[stiv674]

Well according to my Shimano display I hit 49.1 mph on a very long steep grassy descent! Not sure how accurate it was but it felt really fast, especially as there was a bump near the bottom... This was on the Marlborough downs.

Also hit 55 mph on tarmac on the same ride...

Crazy really, wearing shorts and t-shirt.

 

[Zimmerframe]

If you think the front guys get to about 110kph on snow and ice on the Megavalanche - that must just be absolutely terrifying !

I'd need shorts with tear offs - inside !

 

[stiv674]

If you think the front guys get to about 110kph on snow and ice on the Megavalanche - that must just be absolutely terrifying !

I'd need shorts with tear offs - inside !

You can get adult nappies apparently

 

[MrSimmo]

52mph/83kph down Butser Hill in the South Downs - grass?

 

[Tonybro]

This was on the Marlborough downs.

I got flagged down by a copper on foot coming into Marlborough on the A4. I was 12 at the time on my Carlton racing bike and hit the 30mph zone doing just over 40mph. Got a stern talking to! It broke my speedo too, I wasn't happy as it only went up to 40mph... This was about 1977!

On mountain bikes I've regularly been around 40mph on fire roads in Scotland, on the eeb I've done mid-30s around Rivington and Winter Hill trails - they can get pretty bumpy and gnarly, certainly not smooth...

 

[Gyre]

Too many new/inexperienced riders out there to be talking about speed without closed courses. So far this year I had one near-collision with one fool apexing a corner into me and another who was flying down so hot that once he saw me he locked it up and fishtailed wildly both left and right. For a moment I thought I was going to be clobbered by a spandex avalanche.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

42.1 mph is my current levo speed record.
That was on a narrow bridle way. Hard packed. Fairly steep.

Must go back and try harder ?

 

[Tubby G]

Over the weekend the Garmin recorded a peak 38mph on a regular stretch of gravel on a Trek hardtail.
Only 35 mph on the same stretch on the emtb
Funnily enough Strava calls the section "Death Grip Descent"

Still regularly above 45 mph on the road bike, occasionally 50 mph, but the imagination does limit me somewhat now.
I shudder when I recall how quickly we would drop from Blackstone Edge into Ripponden on the A58, 20 years ago.
Rim brakes and 23mm tyres, overtaking cars and praying sheep didn't wander into your path. . Pretty dumb actually.
(The descent was used on the TdF stage 2 in 2014, they cleared all the sheep)

I hit a sheep on the motorbike last summer on the road from Tan Hill to Reeth at 50mph. It just ran across the road straight into my bike out of nowhere. Luckily it just glanced the side of the bike and my foot. The sheep was ok, my foot swelled up and was painful to walk on for a week, The bike required new fairings

A couple of weeks later and the first ride after fitting the new fairings, I headbutted a pigeon at 70mph. Pigeon exploded. I was fine. Made a right mess of my helmet though

 

[Jimbo Vills]

I hit a sheep on the motorbike last summer on the road from Tan Hill to Reeth at 50mph. It just ran across the road straight into my bike out of nowhere. Luckily it just glanced the side of the bike and my foot. The sheep was ok, my foot swelled up and was painful to walk on for a week, The bike required new fairings

A couple of weeks later and the first ride after fitting the new fairings, I headbutted a pigeon at 70mph. Pigeon exploded. I was fine. Made a right mess of my helmet though

Few years back hit a badger one night on my bike at not so legal speeds ?

it wrecked my belly pan and fairings on my brand new fireblade.

had me out the seat and nearly off. Was lucky to be fair

 

[Tubby G]

Ooof, damn lucky

Stuff has a tendency to come in three’s

I would stay off the motorbike for a while

It was just after we were allowed to travel for the first time after lockdown. I put it down to all the animals getting used to having no traffic around on the Dales and reclaiming the land for themselves. There were quite a few reports of sheep running wild into vehicles at the time, especially up on Blakey Ridge too

 

[Tubby G]

Few years back hit a badger one night on my bike at not so legal speeds ?

it wrecked my belly pan and fairings on my brand new fireblade.

had me out the seat and nearly off. Was lucky to be fair

Very lucky. Wild animals and two wheels aren't a good mix

 

[RustyMTB]

Just flicked through my Strava for the year, I topped out at 35mph. Some of you guys are batshit loony.

 

[Jimbo Vills]

I had to use Google to convert 70kph to mph - that’s quick, I’m jealous. My Lidl biking sunnies do a great job of splatting all the midgies onto the lens rather than my eyeballs

Ever wondered why they quote 0-62mph times and not just 0-60mph?

It’s cos they 0-100kph in Europe etc mate ??

just times the kph x 0.62 and you got it ??

 

[Jimbo Vills]

I suppose you want a helpful answer ..

I try not to ride much on the road and don't normally go over 60/70 ish and that would be very rare as they're normally short transit sections and most car drivers here haven't worked out what the windows are for. Saying that, the deer are as bad - almost got t-boned yesterday on the road but fortunately saw it coming in my peripheral vision .

Off road :

DHR/DHF's (2.8's) I normally maxed in the low 70's (kph - we're civilised) . They seemed exponentially draggy at speeds, I kept pinch flatting so didn't run them long as it was getting expensive (crap riding/too low pressure). I suspect on steep enough trails and not too low air pressure, you'd have no problem getting 80-90.

DH22's (2.4's) Similar - low 70's, though these are considerably more draggy than DHR/DHF. But yes, Muppets can't go much faster than that on DH22's. Never tried them at higher pressures - which was a bit dumb looking back.

E-wilds (2.6/2.8) and Wild Enduro's (2.4's) - low 90's. Both seem relatively efficient on the drag front + I've had more time/distance on them so more opportunities to go faster. Difficult to say for 100% certainty as not ridden them back to back, but I'd guess the Wild Enduro's in 2.4 are less draggy than the E-wilds - logically, they should be !

I don't know about anyone else, but once you get above about 70kph my eyes seem to turn into insect magnets.

low 90’s!!
I need to put some air in my tyres and find some steeper hills ???

 

[steve_sordy]

I just think about what it would be like to be thrown onto a giant belt sander at the above speeds quoted and that keeps me below 30mph.

 

[Andycap]

Hit 37.4mph on a very loose and stoney fire road last weekend. It was very scary especially on the corners.

 

[Gyre]

I just think about what it would be like to be thrown onto a giant belt sander at the above speeds quoted and that keeps me below 30mph.

While my wife was out for a recent walk, a middle age eMTB newbie wiped out on one of the steepest streets in the area. He slid face first on the asphalt with no helmet until he hit a curb. Thankfully the paramedics were on scene by the time I arrived, so I didn’t need to get involved. It was nightmare fuel and I’m glad I didn’t witness more than a moment or two of the result.

Ironically, a few days later he was going up and down the hill on his eMTB again, heavily bandaged face and all. Unbelievably tough and lucky to not have any worse brain damage than he started with.