Is this a record, or stupidity ?

[Kim]

49.6mph on the Streetmachine down Rose Hill.  Had to brake for the chutney-coated bend.  I've yet to get a clear run at a more appropriate descent.

[Wobbly John]

48 MPH on the A494, riding from Llanbedr to Telford, on an MTB with knobblie tyres. Would have been quicker but there were 'loose chipping' signs on the bendy bit at the top, and I was holding on the brakes until the road straightened and I could see it was safe.

Respect to the OP for 51 on a Guv'. 

[Bledlow]

I've managed 93.2km down from Cross Foxes on the BCM a couple of years ago, the only time I have managed 90+
Had 89 a few times on the Bacchetta and trike dropping down from Christmas common, all ok until you come to the corner half way down.

Rich

Is that Britwell Hill, near Christmas common? Great hill but I lose my bottle at about 40mph.. I prefer the pain of going up rather than the scaryness of the down!!

I've topped 50mph a few times down there. Steep & straight, with an excellent run out & good visibility, but not as smooth as I'd really like at that speed. Great view from the top, though.

The road a bit further north (turn right then immediately left off the B480 just south of the turn off on the left for Britwell Hill), down into Watlington, is smoother, but has a bend on the steepest bit, where the arrow is on the map. Fits Rich's description. I've never topped 80k down there.

The B480 down into Watlington ain't bad. Gentle bends, decent surface. A nice forty-something mph hill. But going down through Bledlow Ridge, from the top of Chinnor Hill, is very good indeed. Good surface, & the bend with the arrow is gentle enough to take at 50mph or so. Though I must admit that meeting a car overtaking a load of sportive riders coming up the hill when I was going down was pretty bloody scary.

IIRC Fuzzy once posted a picture of his bike speedo showing a maximum speed in excess of 50 mph & admitted it had been in High Wycombe, on Daws Hill - which I think has a 40mph limit. Naughty cop! 

None of the above were on these low-slung things.

[matthew]

My personal best is 81kph descending north off the Kirkstone pass, I backed off a bit when I exited a left hand bend on the wrong side of the road and very glad that the oncoming traffic was further down the road. I then caught up with cars and had to slow down anyway.

[Kim]

None of the above were on these low-slung things.

I don't think low-slung things make much difference to this sort of thing in the real world, other than their superior braking performance giving a bit more margin for error on a given descent.  As this thread shows, under most conditions avoidance of splatty death is a more limiting factor than aerodynamic drag, so touring 'bents with their higher tolerance for crap road surfaces are likely to compare favourably to speedier machines.

[mmmmartin]

Annoyingly I've yet to trigger the speed camera

Me too. Adrian of this parish advises two bald blokes on steel framed upwrongs. Alas I have fulfflled all the criteria but been alone so not tripped it. I suspect it is busted.

[Tigerbiten]

None of the above were on these low-slung things.

I don't think low-slung things make much difference to this sort of thing in the real world, other than their superior braking performance giving a bit more margin for error on a given descent.  As this thread shows, under most conditions avoidance of splatty death is a more limiting factor than aerodynamic drag, so touring 'bents with their higher tolerance for crap road surfaces are likely to compare favourably to speedier machines.

I find its normally cars that are the limiting factor once your above 40 mph, but then again I tend to go for on decents as it FUN.
I hate it when cars overtake you at the top of a good hill just as your getting close to 30 mph and then put the brakes on.

Closest I've got to splatty death was down Cheddar Gorge.
One corner was taken at ~37 mph on two wheels.
The inside wheel was about an inch of the deck with me just feathering the brakes to keep the speed constant.
If I braked harder, the wheel lifted more .......... 

[Kim]

Bloody cars, paying road tax and getting in the way all the time.   

[Efrogwr]

After one memorable descent (the Monmouth side of the Forest of Dean) the car that had followed me down the hill drew alongside at a junction. There was a flock of excited kids hanging out of the windows; "You were doing forty! Dad didn't dare pass!" To his credit, Dad laughed it off, because he thougt it a reasonably safe speed to drive down the hill.

[Quint]

None of the above were on these low-slung things.

I don't think low-slung things make much difference to this sort of thing in the real world, other than their superior braking performance giving a bit more margin for error on a given descent.  As this thread shows, under most conditions avoidance of splatty death is a more limiting factor than aerodynamic drag, so touring 'bents with their higher tolerance for crap road surfaces are likely to compare favourably to speedier machines.

      Agree, however the true limiting factor is how much bottle one has on a given day, also the need when kernacked to get up tother side   

[matthew]

Bloody cars, paying road tax and getting in the way all the time.   

The previous year when I descended north from Kirkstone Pass I was overtaken at the top by a landrover towing a trailer of rowing boats.

Needless to say I overtook them on the descent when I got a clear bit of road and straightlined a left, right, right left set of kinks

[swscotland bentrider]

Bloody cars, paying road tax and getting in the way all the time.   

I think it is Vehicle Tax not road tax. And for the last decade it has been a tax related to vehicle emissions. My trike makes no emissions therefore no tax. Its rider on the other hand ......!!!

[xpc316e]

I reached 46.5 mph on my trike whilst on holdiay in France a few years back.  I had planned a little route that meant climbing gently for ages, going down a steep hill, and then riding alongside a lake back to the campsite.  I didn't know how steep the hill was and set off from the top with a desire to reach 50 mph.  I bottled out when the trike became airborne over some bumps; it remained remarkably stable to be fair.  I then had to brake hard for a sharp bend half way down, which spoiled a record attempt on the second stretch.  I must say that it seemed fairly hairy at that speed. 51 mph on a Pashley Guvernor earns my respect.

[docsquid]

Pretty pathetic from me then. 47mph on my Mercian. But I was drafting. I'm just too much of a lightweight to get up much speed downhill despite pedalling like mad. Without being able to draft, I'd not have made much over 40.

[rogerzilla]

We've had a few "top speed" threads before, but for the record I've had a Thorn Nomad (unladen, I'm not that daft) up to 57.1mph down Snap Hill - and the computer was very accurately calibrated beforehand.  I've also done 56mph on tri-bars, on the Princetown-Tavistock road.  That one is supposed to be good for 70mph+ but I caught up with motorised traffic.

Jaded has a Snap Hill video - the wind wasn't favourable and we only managed low 50s on this day:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/gebgoidxHjA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/gebgoidxHjA&rel=1</a>

Note Crumbling Nick's "OK, I give up" fixie descending style.

[meddyg]

What flavour Garmin is that that records temperature as well?
Christmas is coming....

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I got up to 94.2kph (59mph) down the Cairnwell Pass this year on day 1 of Mille Alba. I probably could've hit 100kph, but I couldn't see a thing because my glasses were all fogged up from the climb, so I thought it was wiser to brake a bit. The road wasn't too good either.
I hit 50mph/80kph on multiple occasions, this year on both the BCM and K&SW.
FYI: above 65kph I stop pedalling, because I'll be on a cadence over 140rpm.

Cairnwell on Mille Alba is probably my fastest but magnet wasn't quite aligned and so above 40mph measured speed dropped to zero.  The next day, on a much gentler descent (in the 4% category) in the Southern Uplands reached 52.0mph which is highest definitely measured propelled by a 30mph+ tailwind.  Approached cattle grid at this speed with some consternation but got a good sight line and cross offending article at 30mph 

[Feanor]

What flavour Garmin is that that records temperature as well?
Christmas is coming....

Well, my Edge 800 certainly does, but I can't say about any others.

[zigzag]

cairnwell pass descent was my fastest speed on a bike as well, 54mph. road surface wasn't good enough to let the bike go without braking.

[cycleman]

just mid 40's for but that was towing the trailer full of camping kit 

[nobby]

just mid 40's for but that was towing the trailer full of camping kit 

And me.  Much too fast Down Birdlip - I thought the trailer was going to overtake me 
Won't happen again because I've sold the Trice and wouldn't trust the brakes on anything else I've got.

[hatler]

46mph on an MTB with knobblies - and my boy on a trailer bike - on the descent into Brighton.

[Tigerbiten]

just mid 40's for but that was towing the trailer full of camping kit 

And me.  Much too fast Down Birdlip - I thought the trailer was going to overtake me 
Won't happen again because I've sold the Trice and wouldn't trust the brakes on anything else I've got.

I regularly hit the mid 40's with my trailer, it only takes around a 10% hill to do that type of speed.
It's one of the reasons I had hydraulic brakes fitted to the new trike, better stopping power.
Then again +90% of my cycling is done with the trailer attached to the trike so I'm used to it.
Also the only time I've been overtaken by the trailer was when trying to jack-knife it on black ice, even then it took 4 attempts before I finally did it ......... 

[matthew]

46mph on an MTB with knobblies - and my boy on a trailer bike pedalling for all he was worth and Dad coasting - on the descent into Brighton.

FTFY - IIRC

[hatler]

46mph on an MTB with knobblies - and my boy on a trailer bike pedalling for all he was worth and Dad coasting - on the descent into Brighton.

FTFY - IIRC

I also recall him screaming at the top of his voice "FASTER FASTER".