Using a 50x11 I need to be doing at least 40mph

[mercalia]

The old Dawes Galaxy touring bikes of C1999 used to come with a 52 I think, one look at that monster and made up my mind to get the 1-Down which with 26" wheels rather than 700c and and front max of 46 more my capabilities then and now.

Justifying a 52-53 ring with oh you can go downhill faster than 30mph is an empty argument as there are always traffic lights at the bottom

[The utility cyclist]

50x11 @ 90rpm is only 32.5mph I do 10% more than that on my way to Tesco and it's only 1.7 miles away.

52x12 is just as good and leaves you the 11 for 40mph cruising on a longer/faster downhill. I go on the A505 (from Luton to Hitchin) and mid 40s doesn't take much but I prefer pedalling than coasting.

You're Mark Cavendish and I claim the £5

Now you're just been ridiculous and insulting!
Just because you can't do those speeds doesn't mean that many others cannot, again are you, like foxyrider new to cycling?
You surely must be aware that people on bikes go above 30mph frequently, there's a short (500m ish) 7% slope on the way to Tesco from my house, it's the road that connected the villages and runs past the South side of the town.
it's actually the only easy/safe route from the estate to the high school and one my son used pretty much every school day from the age of 10 until 17. doing 15mph (on the flat section before approaching the slope) will see you hit 30mph with not much effort at all, personally I like pedalling hard down it and usually hit 37mph but there's a really rough bit as it flattens out, goes into shade, lane narrows and it's all over in about 15 seconds from top to bottom in any case.

As I said I'll max out on 48x11 but it's my flat bar day bike so it's one of the few times I'll get to use it, other bikes I prefer a bigger gear because I go faster, come down steeper/longer slopes and like pedalling down hills.

PS, Mark Cavendish does up to 70mph coming down a mountain so your comparison, sorry fatuous insult, is pathetically inaccurate.

[The utility cyclist]

Sadly Utility if you actually believe all those speeds you keep quoting I feel sorry for you - if you really believe the average ten year old can manage 30mph easily, how come most sixteen year olds struggle to beat 25mph over 10 miles? If a shopping bike is so fast why don't racers use them?

I went out today into the quite hilly Peak District - I hit 60kph/37mph once, on a long fast descent.(a 200m vertical height drop over about 2 miles) This is on a carbon race bike in 52x11 and giving it some. The Strava record on that bit of road equates to @ 45mph by a semi pro rider. If such high speed is so easy for the people of Guildford and district, seriously, why aren't you all top class pros?

Of course you could be a ringer trying to wind everyone up

Don't feel sorry for me, I feel sorry for you that you can't accept another persons viewpoint, others personal choices regarding cycling and that some people might be faster than you (as they are most definitely faster than I) and require different gearing!
We are talking about coming down hills and pedalling, we are not talking about time-trialling, you utterly missed or simply didn't bother to read what I said
I'm not a ringer, I'm very much an ordinary rider who when downward section come up I like pedalling on them and require a bigger gear than someone else, why is that so hard for you to accept. Instead of throwing a hissy fit/insults accept that people choose different gearing all the time to suit their needs. I merely pointed out that 50x11 doesn't require you to be doing "at least 40mph ".
How fast I cycle downhill is by no means extraordinary, not even close, by the age of 11 my son was hitting pretty much 30mph down the short slope to school, he didn't at first but as he gained confidence and understood what he needed to be aware of/do, what not to do it was a pretty much every day thing. If you look at kids coming down much steeper and longer roads you'll see that 30mph for a 10 year old isn't uncommon, not when they've been riding a lot by that age and on a good bike. Is it for all kids, nope, of course not. But you deriding what I've said when it's pretty clear you and others have hidden yourselves away from what others do as an every day occurence is a bloody poor show.

Just get over the fact people are different, people require different things and cycle differently, there's absolutely no need to start insulting people as you and reohn2 have done!

[reohn2]

50x11 @ 90rpm is only 32.5mph I do 10% more than that on my way to Tesco and it's only 1.7 miles away.

52x12 is just as good and leaves you the 11 for 40mph cruising on a longer/faster downhill. I go on the A505 (from Luton to Hitchin) and mid 40s doesn't take much but I prefer pedalling than coasting.

You're Mark Cavendish and I claim the £5

Now you're just been ridiculous and insulting!
Just because you can't do those speeds doesn't mean that many others cannot, again are you, like foxyrider new to cycling?
You surely must be aware that people on bikes go above 30mph frequently, there's a short (500m ish) 7% slope on the way to Tesco from my house, it's the road that connected the villages and runs past the South side of the town.
it's actually the only easy/safe route from the estate to the high school and one my son used pretty much every school day from the age of 10 until 17. doing 15mph (on the flat section before approaching the slope) will see you hit 30mph with not much effort at all, personally I like pedalling hard down it and usually hit 37mph but there's a really rough bit as it flattens out, goes into shade, lane narrows and it's all over in about 15 seconds from top to bottom in any case.

As I said I'll max out on 48x11 but it's my flat bar day bike so it's one of the few times I'll get to use it, other bikes I prefer a bigger gear because I go faster, come down steeper/longer slopes and like pedalling down hills.

PS, Mark Cavendish does up to 70mph coming down a mountain so your comparison, sorry fatuous insult, is pathetically inaccurate.

Tony
The post that I replied to read as if you rode everywhere at such speed,and that's why it got such a negative response,not only from me.
There's a pattern developing here which is the same one that got you banned from the forum under your previous handle as Tonyf33.Your posts are aggressive and pointed in regards to other members when uncalled for,and it's a pity because on some threads you make pretty good points which I and others reply to in the positive.
As for me insulting you,if you can't take a joke after posting such silliness,that's your problem.
In claiming I can't do those speeds,my only answer is to say to you grow up and let a bit of air out of your ego "cruising at 40mph" is something I do in the car not on the bike.
40mph on the bike isn't "cruising",it's fast,blaady fast,and if you don't think so you're living in a fantasy land.
I know what 50mph+ feels like on the bike as I've done it regularly and particularly on tandems(freewheeling off mountains of course) so pleeze stop the silliness,you're talking to someone with 50+ years cycling experience,which going off your pompous attitude is experience you seemingly don't possess.

I will continue to question seemingly outlandish and silly statements from you or anyone else on the forum as and when I see fit,if it breaks forum rules I'll accept the moderators descisions on the matter and offer an apology if I offend anyone unnecessarily.
You of course won't be offered an apology for this post.
EDITED for typos

[Tigerbiten]

I’ll take fewer sprockets with their attendant advantages and optimised gears over a narrower range.

This is where I'll differ.
As long as I can get the correct even steps between gears then my thinking is to maximize the range.
That's the reason I've ended up with 24 unique gears (out of 56) with roughly a 13.6% step between each gear.

Is this on your recumbent trike? If so, that’s a different kettle of fish because descending speeds may be higher and climbing speeds are lower, i.e. the range of common speeds is greater.

I've always lived where it's lumpy.
So I've always needed/wanted low gears for hill climbing and high gears for "fun" downhill runs.
So even when I could ride a bike, I saw no point in limiting my gear range.
It's even worse on the recumbent trike because I can/do make use of a bigger range.

40 mph on the bike isn't "cruising",it's fast,blaady fast,and if you don't think so you're living in a fantasy land.

It all depends on the road on how fast 40 mph feels.
On a straight ~8% down road with good tarmac, then at 40 mph I'm just starting to use my 179" top gear.
So I can relax and just cruise along and it doesn't feel that fast.
If it's narrow, twisty and/or rough, then I cannot relax because I'm either covering or on/off the brakes all the time and even 30 mph can feel fast.

[reohn2]

......

40 mph on the bike isn't "cruising",it's fast,blaady fast,and if you don't think so you're living in a fantasy land.

It all depends on the road on how fast 40 mph feels.
On a straight ~8% down road with good tarmac, then at 40 mph I'm just starting to use my 179" top gear.
So I can relax and just cruise along and it doesn't feel that fast.
If it's narrow, twisty and/or rough, then I cannot relax because I'm either covering or on/off the brakes all the time and even 30 mph can feel fast.

You're right about straight,smooth 8%'s but they're far and few between and usually limited to fast motor A or some B roads,but even then they have their hazards.
If not experienced already, you haven't lived until a Pheasant calmly walks out in front of you at any speed let alone 40mph ,or even hit a small insect such as a bumble bee on the cheek say,both of which aren't unheard of or outside my own experience, luckily I missed the Pheasant but it was close enough to cause a buttock clenched worriment,or course all this is without mentioning Mr MGIF moton .
Rough,twisty,chip n seal with potholes,deformed ironworks and concealed(by the chip n seal)unevenly tarmaced,backfilled,trenchworks are more likely on UK roads.
Relaxing the upper body when descending is recommended but relaxing the legs or attention of the road ahead is never a recommendation,particularly on rougher descents.Better to remember the Boy Scout motto "be prepared",and to always expect the unexpected.
A recumbent trike won't pitch you off/out as easily as a two wheeler might should you hit a pothole or something similar,but that's not to say it can't happen as I'm sure it can,given the right circumstances,and on a 'bent you're head/chest is nearer a pheasant's flight/impact level.