View Full Version : Speeding on a bicycle of the pedal variety.
Tim in Belgium
17-08-07, 07:46 PM
I was cycling the 11 miles to work today and down one long hill I clocked 70.1 km/h, approx 44 mph, a new PB, and could have done better but the cars in front slowed me down, as they were sticking to the 30 mph speed limit.
My question is can you get done for speeding on a push bike, when you are not required to have a speedo?
And if you do get done is it a fine or points or an ASBO?
El Saxo
17-08-07, 08:03 PM
I can't wait to hear the answer to that one!
On a similar note, me and a mate (when we were about 16) used to try and set off a GATSO on our pushbikes that's in a 30 zone at the bottom of a massive hill (Parbold Hill for those that know the area). My mate had a speedo on his pushbike & reckoned we managed 41. Anyone know if a GATSO can even be triggered by a pushbike? :lol:
Anyone know if a GATSO can even be triggered by a pushbike? :lol:
Dunno, I've always wanted to try, but I can't pedal fast enough :(
El Saxo
17-08-07, 08:17 PM
Dunno, I've always wanted to try, but I can't pedal fast enough :(
Find a BIG hill!! :lol:
Have been reading about this on a cycling forum recently - the offence is something like 'bicycling furiously', rather than speeding itself.
I cycled to work last week and hit 36.9 mph in a 30 limit - that was on my mountain bike, with off road gearing and chunky semi-slick xc tyres.
I have got a very nice hybrid on its way soon which will be a bit lighter, have 23mm 120psi tyres and a 53/12 gearing.
There is a camera on one section that I usually go past at around 30ish - with the new bike I will have to see if I can set it off ;)
Find a BIG hill!! :lol:
I think my pushbike would probably explode if I went fast enough to set one off! :mad:
Does anyone know if a fast RC car will set one off? Yes, I am lazy.
Bluepete
17-08-07, 08:52 PM
I would stop you, then shake you by the hand! Well done, try harder next time!!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1hat9rUEX98
I wonder if it got the car :compress:
Tim in Belgium
17-08-07, 09:25 PM
Sweet video, but luckily we've no speed cameras in North Yorkshire, but some helmet cam action may be required.
Moffatt666
17-08-07, 10:50 PM
I believe the offence is 'Wanton and Furious Cycling.'
As I understand it, if you've got a licence then you can get points for some traffic offences on a bicycle (drink riding??). Not sure about speeding though. If you haven't got a licence then you're scot free. Which doesn't seem fair.
Red ones
18-08-07, 07:06 AM
It is possible to have your cycle confiscated though.
(BTW if you are looking for top speed - it was 72 mph coming out of Bussage in Gloucestershire)
hoodlum
18-08-07, 10:55 AM
i overtook a moped on my road bike the other day. i wished I could have seen the poor punter's face, but I couldn't see for the tears streaming out of my eyes in the wind.....
(65.9km/h)
Yep you can get done for being drunk on a bicycle. There was some article a while back about a guy getting pulled for being over the limit on his skateboard...and no I'm not pulling your leg!
Can't get done by a speed camera - how would they i.d. you? - but can get done by traffic cop in a car. Doubt they'd bother, though.
In addition to the other stuff mentioned, you can also get done for being drunk in charge of a horse :D
When we were kids (about 15 years old), four of us went on a cycling holiday round Wales and all four of us overtook a Citroen 2CV going down a hill into Machynlleth. Unfortunately, one of us (not me!) couldn't slow down enough to make the bend at the bottom of the hill and went a-over-t over a garden wall. The 2CV driver stopped to see if he was okay and, when he saw that he was, left the scene with tears rolling down his face. As did the other three of us heartless bastids :lol:
Dicky Ticker
19-08-07, 06:04 AM
Don't know about English Law but a local from my village in Scotland was banned from riding a bike and had in confiscated for habitually exceeding the speed limit,so I suppose a similar law would exist in England. In theory the Highway Code applies to all road users,cyclists pedestrians alike,although you wouldn,t think so with the antics they get up to in the London area------------------Sorry cyclists and traffic light violations,plus riding[as against pushing] across pedestrian crossings is one of my pet hates
ivantate
19-08-07, 06:57 AM
I should think the speed rules apply to anything with wheels, although it would take a unusually aggro copper to ticket someone who has powered themselves to above the limit.
I got 43mph on my Orange 5 the other day on the road down a small hill in northern Italy. With 42/11 that involved some fairly furious cycling, anything faster would purely be 100% gravity. Knobblies and hairpins dont mix too good either!!
Ive had an indicated 52mph on my bike once upon a time going down a steep hill. Felt dangerous!
El Saxo
19-08-07, 05:15 PM
There was some article a while back about a guy getting pulled for being over the limit on his skateboard...and no I'm not pulling your leg!
This happened to a bloke I knew when I was at Uni in Swansea, so I know it to be true. :lol:
Tim in Belgium
19-08-07, 05:25 PM
I once enquired with the police/local council what skateboarders are classed as (mainly due to the fact that I was street luging at the time, basically a big metal skateboard) and was told that they are classed as pedestrians.
How accurate are bike speedos? Not the really expensive ones, just normal ones. I used to pedal like mad on flat land up to an eye watering 20mph when I was younger.
I would imagine theyre not bad if theyre set to the right rolling radius. At bike speeds, likely that the machine will be more accurate as higher speed usually results in a larger degree of error (think i'm right). I would regularly see 30+ on the flat on the racing bike and 44-45 not uncommon on a gradient. Mountain bike considerably slower though due to weight and contact patch.
philbut
20-08-07, 09:53 AM
Ive had an indicated 52mph on my bike once upon a time going down a steep hill. Felt dangerous!
...and rightly so. I had the same speed indicated on my touring bike, seconds before the panniers became loose and lodged itself firmly in my back wheel, on a rather steep hill in Scotland. Was wearing cycling shorts and a t shirt a t the time - some impressive skin loss on my left leg. This was 2 days into a 10 day john O groats to lands end ride. Bugger - still made it though.
philipMac
20-08-07, 03:39 PM
Clocking anything over 50 is impressive enough going.
I knew a lad in our club who got reefed for around 50 in a 35mph zone in Ireland a while back. The cops had a word with him alright. Nothing too severe was said, more just curiosity on their part.
They were also quite happy that their new speed gun was accurate and gave the same number as the computer on the bike.
grh1904
20-08-07, 03:51 PM
As per the posts by some of the other coppers on the site, I too would stop Tim, but only to shake his hand !!!!!!!!!
Just for a bit of a laugh I'm going to check the legal database when i get back to work to work at the end of the week after my rest days and see how many offences I can "KNOCK HIM OFF" for.:plod::plod::plod:
Wanton & Furious cycling is still on the statute books, as is drunk in charge of a pedal cycle.
I suppose to reach 50+mph (even down hill) would require someone to pedal FURIOUSLY, so consider yourself guitly of at least one offence Tim !!!!!.
philipMac
20-08-07, 04:16 PM
so, strictly speaking... you are a long way off pedaling when you are doing those speeds, its just gravity.
Its more Wanton and Furious clinging onto the bike for grim death.
The thing that gets interesting is that you are on tyres at >100psi and no suspension at all. This means on a lot of surfaces the bike is sort of skipping along from bump to bump, and not really in contact with the road very much.
It can feel like riding on ice in a way.
You have to make sure you angle your body to use it as a wing to push the bike down, rather than a wind to lift the bike up.
fizzwheel
20-08-07, 04:19 PM
I've had 58.2 mph out of mine, like Phillipmac says you're just freewheeling then.
Funny thought isnt it, I wont ride my motorbike on the road without my leathers on, even if just gonig across town at 30mph, but I'll go out and do that sort of speed in cycling shorts and a jersey on my pedal bike.
philipMac
20-08-07, 04:37 PM
I've had 58.2 mph out of mine, like Phillipmac says you're just freewheeling then.
Funny thought isnt it, I wont ride my motorbike on the road without my leathers on, even if just gonig across town at 30mph, but I'll go out and do that sort of speed in cycling shorts and a jersey on my pedal bike.
Right.
And at those speeds you have all the nimbleness and braking ability of the Exon Valdez.
You can make a push bike veeeeeeeerrry skinny when needs be though. Heh heh heh.
edit.... you got 58mph fizz????
Bloody hell. In the UK or what? I think you would be hard pressed finding a suitable road to do that in Ireland.
philipMac
20-08-07, 05:03 PM
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VFC-m_1CCwI
fizzwheel
20-08-07, 05:36 PM
Yep in the UK, theres some mahoosive hills around where I live. If I go across the border into Dorset its really really steep in places.
I'm still not sure where I did it, like you say to busy clinging on at that sort of speed :smt077 but when I look on the computer my max ever speed is recorded as that.
Red ones
21-08-07, 07:29 AM
In my early 20s, when I was still stupid and fanatical about cycling, high 60s was common on descents, I recorded 72mph on one occasion. I didn't doubt the speedo greatly either - it was measured too often and too accurately to be far out. I used to measure the rolling diameter of the wheel and then check the indicated speed again the pedalling cadence in top gear - this meant I could verify the indicated speed at around 30 - 35 mph.
I managed 49mph off road down Butser Hill near Petersfield. I was gutted because I never hit 50. I couldn't see an awful lot because of the vibrations and that was with a full suspension rig with 100mm of travel at both ends. Small sags in the ground were massive jumps at that speed. Got to the bottom of the hill and the bike was covered in sheep ****. Thank the lord for Crud Catchers. I was pedalling like a man possesed.
Bike...
... pedal...
... no. I'm still not getting it.
You're all mad. ;)
philipMac
21-08-07, 02:24 PM
In my early 20s, when I was still stupid and fanatical about cycling, high 60s was common on descents, I recorded 72mph on one occasion. I didn't doubt the speedo greatly either - it was measured too often and too accurately to be far out.
ha ha. No way. Sorry. Like, I know that some of the lads in the Tour can break 60mph on the very fast long descents. Coming off the Galibier Greg Lemond got 62mph one time in his epic battle with Hinault that year, and everyone was stunned and talk about it still.
Seriously. Unless you... i mean, unless you are going off a cliff, there is not way you are hitting 72mph on a push bike. It's just not happening mate. ;)
philipMac
21-08-07, 02:54 PM
here are some lads doing it right. Pretty clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iqwARP2BvQ&
http://youtube.com/watch?v=VFC-m_1CCwI
Awesome. :cool:
Red ones
09-09-07, 01:56 PM
ha ha. No way. Sorry. Like, I know that some of the lads in the Tour can break 60mph on the very fast long descents. Coming off the Galibier Greg Lemond got 62mph one time in his epic battle with Hinault that year, and everyone was stunned and talk about it still.
Seriously. Unless you... i mean, unless you are going off a cliff, there is not way you are hitting 72mph on a push bike. It's just not happening mate. ;)
The only reason that Le Tour riders etc get estimated speeds so low is because the speed is taken from the motorcycle with the camera man on it. The motorbike can't get round the corners fast enough and then cant keep up - thats why you very rarely see TV coverage of descents - the camera man just can't get close enough
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.