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Top speed of WC riders??

RMboy

Monkey
Dec 1, 2006
879
0
England the Great...
Hey people

Quick question for a uni project bit random, any idea what sort of speeds the WC racers clock on the fastest most open tracks, like Schaldming etc...?

Any help would be great:D
 

Total Heckler

Beer and Bike Enthusiast
Apr 28, 2005
8,171
189
Santa Cruz, CA
I think I remember the top guys hitting mph speeds in the 30's and 40's(?) on round 1 in South Africa.

I think you can check the official speeds/times on the UCI results.
 

cesar_rojo

Monkey
Feb 29, 2008
175
21
The fastest I can remember was Arai in Japan, top speed around 90-100km/h, it was after a long straight you had like ski jump in long landing that made you go even faster, crazy!

Also Kaprun was always really fast with few sections easy 60-70km/h, really open wide in the grass..
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
Judging by the massanutten races, it's gotta be faster than 35mph.. at least on flat sections
yea, ok.....BFRICH hit 68 mph on that speed gun.



He's fast but, I dunno
I was going to say 35 isnt exactly fast, I break fifty on one of our local rides almost everytime, and its no were near the steep of WC races.

My personal top speed at this particular local is 52.2 scary as hell, loved every minute of it.
 

Uruk-hai

Monkey
Oct 13, 2004
144
0
The 'Quah
I was going to say 35 isnt exactly fast, I break fifty on one of our local rides almost everytime, and its no were near the steep of WC races.

My personal top speed at this particular local is 52.2 scary as hell, loved every minute of it.
What do you use to keep track of your speed? Obviously a cycling computer but which one? I've always had trouble finding one that will fit the larger diameters of dh/fr forks.

The few times I have gotten one to work (briefly) on my dh bike it has been fun...kinda interesting to look at max speed, average, etc. Humbling, too.
 

boogenman

Turbo Monkey
Nov 3, 2004
4,290
973
BUFFALO
I have gone 45-50mph down dirt roads, scary as hell.

I would think that WC guys get going that fast on a regular basis on certain tracks.
 

yuroshek

Turbo Monkey
Jun 26, 2007
2,438
0
Arizona!
damn 52 mph on a DH course? i have a hard enough time hitting 45 on my road bike with 53t-12t.

but the max avg. is about 40mph which is about 64km.

its funny sometimes you feel like your doing 40-50 mph but your really only doing about half that!

but dont forget this is the internet. the last DH race i did my avg. was about 77.356km. so i mean my top out must have been near 100km. but im just guessing. :rolleyes:
 

Uruk-hai

Monkey
Oct 13, 2004
144
0
The 'Quah
damn 52 mph on a DH course? i have a hard enough time hitting 45 on my road bike with 53t-12t.

but the max avg. is about 40mph which is about 64km.

its funny sometimes you feel like your doing 40-50 mph but your really only doing about half that!

but dont forget this is the internet. the last DH race i did my avg. was about 77.356km. so i mean my top out must have been near 100km. but im just guessing. :rolleyes:
Same here. I've hit 47 mph on a mountain bike with slicks on the back side of a mountain pass. I never did equal that on my road bike...skinny tires didn't fill me with confidence. I've hit 35 mph on my mountain bike when I've measured it. Gotta work on pushing that higher.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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What do you use to keep track of your speed? Obviously a cycling computer but which one? I've always had trouble finding one that will fit the larger diameters of dh/fr forks.

The few times I have gotten one to work (briefly) on my dh bike it has been fun...kinda interesting to look at max speed, average, etc. Humbling, too.
Garmin in the camelpak, works great, no sensors needed, just turn it on and go. Any wheel based on mtn bikes just isnt accurate enough. Specially when you get that little kick off a just that can actually speed your wheels up as you come off. We realized that about five years ago riding my buddies little jump track in his back yard when the cateye said we were doing 40 plus there..... just wasnt possible


P.S> not all of them have to mount on the fork, alot will mount up on the back wheel.

Is this on a road bike?
Nope, on the Blindside coming down Mortons peak. Fun as hell, scary as hell





Top speed I have hit on the roadie, coming down the front side of Oak glen, 57.5, cat eye on the bars for that one. That was ****in scary.
 
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DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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damn 52 mph on a DH course? i have a hard enough time hitting 45 on my road bike with 53t-12t.

but the max avg. is about 40mph which is about 64km.

its funny sometimes you feel like your doing 40-50 mph but your really only doing about half that!

but dont forget this is the internet. the last DH race i did my avg. was about 77.356km. so i mean my top out must have been near 100km. but im just guessing. :rolleyes:
I would guess that you have hit the hi fourties at least somewere in your riding, you get to ride ALOT of different places, there has to have been a nice steep straight you just leaned down and blazed out.

Have to have been going that fast at some time, My top speed back in the xc days was 44 something on a KHS rage over at Cal state San bernardino
 
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bfrich

Monkey
May 30, 2007
393
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ct
yea, ok.....BFRICH hit 68 mph on that speed gun.



He's fast but, I dunno

Ha Ha VooDoo you had to bring that up.......You were chasing me that day, but I question the accuracy of said speed trap!

I have hit 49mph on my road bike on the big Downhill in the Lake Placid Ironman course.
 

Tracer Tong

Chimp
Mar 21, 2009
77
0
Brag time, I was once clocked at 44 mph doing a manual down the road on Mt. Ashland. Super scary, super fun. But a manual at that speed was way more controlled and mannered than a slow one, made me feel like a better rider.
 

davetrump

Turbo Monkey
Jul 29, 2003
1,270
0
Hey people

Quick question for a uni project bit random, any idea what sort of speeds the WC racers clock on the fastest most open tracks, like Schaldming etc...?

Any help would be great:D

schladming is not the fastest or most open track. it is very fast in spots but more importantly riders just carry speed throughout and it is controlled well by the corners, etc... average speeds for the winning men there are in the low to mid 20's dending on weather and the woods sections used.

MSA is in the mid 20's as well

one of the fastest believe it or not in Maribor, despite being in the woods the entire way. in the dry races of 2007 and 2008 Sam Hill averaged around 31 and 33mph respectively.

dont let this fool you... WC tracks are fast thoughout and superfast in some sections. but it only takes one quick section of woods or some tight corners to bring the averages down. the time it takes to slow down and accerlerate play the biggest factors.

maribor and schladmings average speeds are pretty much an accurate account of riders speed on the whole track

MSA and Fort Williams averages are skewed a bit since the majority of the track is way faster than the average but the last 45 seconds or so at the bottom of each flatten out and have some woods that bring the average speed down... so most of the track is ridden at a much higher rate.
 

nmpearson

Monkey
Dec 30, 2006
213
8
I did 52 on this open trail near me. What's crazy is my buddy on a bottlerocket(i was on a blindside), who isn't as good as me just pulled away from me and i saw him drift around a corner at the over 50 we were going. It's so scary. I've tried and never again hit 50 on that trail
 

gonefirefightin

free wieners
when ride SFO had the (corral hollow DH) race at carnegie they were capping 50+ before the G-out

I think I hit 42ish but the wind was in my face and the sun was in my eyes and the dust was slowing my hubs and my hands were slipping on the bars and the bugs were in my teeth and the gerlz were distracting me and the ............
 
Check out some race coverage on Freecaster; there's often a speed trap reading at one or two points during the race. 30-40 mph is common for the top men - sometimes even in technical sections. There are usually a couple areas at a lift-accessed resort where I can hit 40, but never on technical terrain. I guess that's the difference between World Cup riders and riders like me! Well, one of the differences.

I've done over 40 mph on a rocky trail on my cross-country bike, complete with a 2.1" Small Block 8 on the front and a slicker-than-your-average-semi-slick Maxxis Oriflamme on the rear. Much scarier than 40 on a downhill bike.

Downhill bikes will never touch road bike speeds, though. My highest speed on a road bike was over 70 mph and there's no way I'd do that on dirt.

I've also designed, built, and raced a few human-powered vehicles. We didn't exactly put the world record in jeopardy, but when you point a shelled lowracer downhill...wow.
 

Trekrules

Turbo Monkey
Apr 12, 2007
1,226
148
Downhill bikes will never touch road bike speeds, though. My highest speed on a road bike was over 70 mph and there's no way I'd do that on dirt
You can hit road bike speeds with a DH bike,find a nice steep ski slope in de summer that is long,let go of the brakes and pedal to the max.

A view years back Cedric Gracia hit during a snow DH race on the black diamond ski slope in Norway a speed of 120km/h and he was only 4 sec's slower than the winner of the ski downhill race.
 
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Oct 29, 2007
54
18
According to a Cateye, your average pinner can hit about 40mph before the first corner on Boulevard at Winter Park. Its pretty smoove though. There are some fireroad sections that I would love to clock the top speed on.
 

davetrump

Turbo Monkey
Jul 29, 2003
1,270
0
a lot of bs in this thread...but please keep it up for the humor
haha... yeah

considering the gearing on a dh bike spins out in the high 30's (38x11) these guys must be on some super steep trail that is in a vacuum to reduce wind resistance.
 

snowskilz

xblue attacked piggy won
May 15, 2004
612
0
rado
According to a Cateye, your average pinner can hit about 40mph before the first corner on Boulevard at Winter Park. Its pretty smoove though. There are some fireroad sections that I would love to clock the top speed on.

Multiple of us have tested this theory and it is true. Cateye, special ed and garmin all have confirmed.
 
You can hit road bike speeds with a DH bike,find a nice steep ski slope in de summer that is long,let go of the brakes and pedal to the max.

A view years back Cedric Gracia hit during a snow DH race on the black diamond ski slope in Norway a speed of 120km/h and he was only 4 sec's slower than the winner of the ski downhill race.
I was meaning speeds hit during normal riding, not making a project out of going crazy fast...and I stand by my statement about there being no way I'd do that on dirt!

I don't know why people have such a hard time believing people can hit 40 on a downhill bike. The gearing issue is irrelevant, since I don't feel much of a need to pedal at 40. If top riders can average 30 mph on a course, then it's not a stretch to think a decent rider can peak at 40. I can't speak for other people, but when I hit 40 on dirt - whether it's on my cross-country bike or my downhill bike - it's always on a section of trail that's wide-open, straight, fairly smooth, and not overly steep. If that sounds like a service access road, that's because it usually is!

For the record, I use a bike computer on my road and cross-country bikes, but not my downhill bike, so downhill speeds are estimates. I suspect they're pretty accurate, though, because I know I spin out my 40x11 gearing a little before 40, giving a reference point.
 

blue

boob hater
Jan 24, 2004
10,160
2
california
lol@people claiming 50mph+ on DH bikes.

oh, the intertoobs...you're lucky to hit 35 on a DH run, even wide open.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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....................

Downhill bikes will never touch road bike speeds............. .
I understand the gearing implication, but I dont pedal over 30. We have some nice steep run outs in the san bernardino national forrest area. You just have to nutt up, tuck up, and let go.

The gearing arguement would let some to belive that the world record for the fastest DH run is a hoax

lol@people claiming 50mph+ on DH bikes.

oh, the intertoobs...you're lucky to hit 35 on a DH run, even wide open.

Ill back it up, come ride with me so we can see just how big your balls are.














Either side of the gearing arguement, when i am 40 plus on the road bike.... I stop pedalling, over 30 on the DH, stop pedalling. Its alot of work to pedal at those speeds even with hi ass gears, and on top of that, you become unstable.

Remember we are talking top speeds, not average speeds.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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Honest to God statement, I would actually put money that most of you have hit mid to hi fourties without realizing it on the steep open's.

Maybe its the fear of knowing how fast yoru going tht keeps alot from checking it to find out.




If you want fast and extended on the road bike try either hiway 18 or 38 coming down from Big Bear, also Cajon pass coming down from teh Hi desert.

Those are some amazingly long and fast decents on the roadies. Pass the slower moving cars and trucks on those.
 
I understand the gearing implication, but I dont pedal over 30. We have some nice steep run outs in the san bernardino national forrest area. You just have to nutt up, tuck up, and let go.

The gearing arguement would let some to belive that the world record for the fastest DH run is a hoax

[...]

Either side of the gearing arguement, when i am 40 plus on the road bike.... I stop pedalling, over 30 on the DH, stop pedalling. Its alot of work to pedal at those speeds even with hi ass gears, and on top of that, you become unstable.

Remember we are talking top speeds, not average speeds.
I agree completely. If you reread my posts above, you'll see I wrote:

"The gearing issue is irrelevant, since I don't feel much of a need to pedal at 40."

The reason I say a DH bike will never touch a road bike's top speed (under normal conditions, so excluding ski jump runouts) has nothing to do with gearing. Believe me, I wasn't pedaling when I hit 70! I spin out at almost exactly the same speeds as you, so, as you said, it comes down to holding on and letting gravity do the work.

The reason no one is going to hit road bike speeds on a DH bike is because you'll never find a trail or access road that's as steep, long, and smooth as a paved mountain pass. There's also the rolling resistance of DH tires and the less aerodynamic clothing, but the ability to maintain control at that kind of speed is the real limiting factor keeping a DH bike from ever approaching 70 under normal conditions.
 
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DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
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I agree completely. If you read my posts above, you'll see I wrote:

"The gearing issue is irrelevant, since I don't feel much of a need to pedal at 40."

The reason I say a DH bike will never touch a road bike's top speed (under normal conditions, so excluding ski jump runouts) has nothing to do with gearing. Believe me, I wasn't pedaling when I hit 70! I spin out at almost exactly the same speeds as you, so, as you said, it comes down to holding on and letting gravity do the work.

The reason no one is going to hit road bike speeds on a DH bike is because you'll never find a trail or access road that's as steep, long, and smooth as a paved mountain pass. There's also the rolling resistance of DH tires and the less aerodynamic clothing, but the ability to maintain control at that kind of speed is the real limiting factor keeping a DH bike from ever approaching 70 under normal conditions.
Well, the gearing part wasnt meant as a responce to what you osted..... 70 is not a normal speed for roadies either, thats pretty effin fast.

50's and 60's are obtainable, like I posted, if someone wants to go ride were it happens... you can come ride with me. Well Maybe the 60's will be a tough hit, Youll hit fifty if your willing to let it go and roll with it, 60's on the roadie are still pretty tough to obtain as well.