To add to these 01 Hugging the Saddle nose w inner thighs while floating slightly above it for added comfort and stability at high speeds 02 Looking quite down ahead of the road where I need to be instead of what is right in front of me, avoid target locking 03 For new routes I take quick glances at the upcoming turn on cycle comps to help better gauge weight and feet positions
65 kph downhill once was enough for me looking at the thin sliver of rubber protecting me from potentially a lot of pain! Wimp out now and feather my brakes a lot going downhill unless it’s a hill I’m very familiar with.
I got to 89km down a mountain in Japan on my Grail CF when I had a fully loaded tailfin on the back with about 15kg in it plus a frame bag full of stuff. I chickened out at that point as my rear wheel started coming off the ground over the bumps in the road. That was a great trip. I didnt check my brakes before I left for it but when I got back I had my bike serviced. The front disk pad was gone, perfectly and totally warn away, but no further. I was so lucky lol
my fastest ever was about 98 km / hr downhill in a race. i cannot imagine with a load omg. Hint: never carry coke in a bottle going downhill. mine was on the front bars (in the 70s) and haha you can imagine what happened!
Fastest speed I ever achieved was 56.4 mph. What a blast. That was 20 years ago though. I'm 61 yrs old now and don't know if I have the stones to ride that fast now.
I hear you. I try to hit a top speed to match my age each year. That's recently gone from difficult to maybe impossible! I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
i would have no problem doing that speed IF the road was straight with no intersections... no way with curves though. I did that speed in my teens with gentle curves. pucker factor
Don't forget to check road conditions and tires! I was coming down a mountain in February in my freshman year at the university and applied breaks for a turn and my rear tire skid because of salt they had down, so I let off, next thing I knew I was in the corner into the gravel in the shoulder sliding along the guardrail. Less than half a second later I was on my back tumbling down a slope over the guardrail. I climbed my way back up and some random lady in a Prius saw me climbing over the rail to the road and brought me down and got my bike too! I was more worried about bleeding all over her car and blanket she gave me (there was a deep gash in my hand and my entire right leg was skinned pretty much). From there we called an ambulance and I was stitched up. Lucky I was wearing my visibility vest that day it she may have never saw me
My best tips are ensure you’ve got a lot of life left in your brake pads and ensure your bolts are on tight. Doesn’t take 5 minutes to go around with a multi-tool and ensure everything is tight.
Also, to add, look ahead, constantly. Some cyclists have a habit of looking ahead at an object: a tree, a lamp post and be so target fixated on it that they almost turn around to look at it after they pass it. Look at the line you want to take instead.
Once while doing 35mph on a long straight downhill I clipped a rock that made my front tire undecided on its direction. Fortunately I was able to stay upright, but that definitely had a high pucker factor. I've hit 45mph on the downhill in a local triathlon, but fortunately it's on a reasonably gentle bend in a wide highway. Generally I keep it under 30 on most downhills because I'm not racing and the thrill isn't worth the risk to my health and family and it takes a long time to stop at a red light when going downhill and using rim brakes.
A few months ago was doing 70+Kmh coming down a slight downhill slope in the Calder Hwy here in Melbourne Australia, decided nah this is stupid, so much crap in what we call the stopping lane (it’s safe for us to ride in but yeah still takes a bit of guts) anyway I sat up and slowed down to about 55kmh anyway got off the highway and ten mins later 100m from home I was concentrating on these little kids running across the road in front of me, I didn’t see a small rock on the road clipped it, blew my front tyre out, I got unceremoniously dumped. That was at 15kph, that made me think if that happened in the highway 10mins earlier, I’d be probably dead or eating thru a tube, anyway it scared me shitless, I still go fast enough but not at stupid speeds anymore
I lut my bike to 42mph just for fun. I am not trying to do that anymore. I fell off the bike doi g 25mph and it costed me shoulder surgery and 3 months of no bike.
I remember last year, I was travelling about 35mph down hill and got a speed wobble absolutely terrifying I'm pleased I got it stopped even though I used all the road thank goodness there was no cars coming, for a split second I did think of jumping on to the grass then released I was getting under control again.
Speed wobbles are no joke… I’ve experienced several with the last on taking me into oncoming traffic… fortunately no cars were coming… I wish there was more attention paid to the causes of it…
I occasionally had speed wobble a couple of times when I was a kid but never experienced it on a full size road bike. I was under the impression that it is an indicator of something being not quite right, wheel not aligned in dropout, spoke tension, bearing play etc.
I bought a bike with thick carbon rim wheels to start doing triathlons but I started to do some climbing with them as well. The sidewind was really blowing the bike side to side on fast descends and I thought I was going to fall. I bought a normal wheel for the front and it’s now much better.
This happened to me on a descent a few years ago, I then watched this GCN vid and took the advice onboard. It’s even got Dan in it! ruclips.net/video/JVgjiB4Y6a0/видео.html
I went down a hill really fast once, it was just after I got some new forks custom make for my bike. I misjudged a corner went a little wide onto a grave courtyard and head on into a stone wall. Bending my new forks so that the front wheel overlapped with the down tube of the frame. In order for the front wheel to be able to point forwards I had use loads of leg power to bend the forks to the point where I could ride home. This was many years ago before mobile phones, so no phoning my mum for a lift.
Just a quick F.Y.I.. Front brake feathering in the U.K. is back brake feathering in North America, meaning, the brakes are reversed. If you're new to cycling, Manon (at 2:21) is feathering her front brake. But in North America, the right-side lever is the back brake (on almost all setups). Keep that in mind.
It may seem obvious but - don't get to close to traffic in front of you! I was once following traffic down Shooters Hill, doing about 35mph, keeping about the same distance as I would normally in a car. Then I suddenly realised that I have no confidence that I could stop if the car in fron suddenly hit the brakes hard. So I dropped right back, and I've never forgotten that since.
You should assess the conditions, the same road may not always be safe to go fast on. If the road is wet / slippy or there are gusting crosswinds. A gap in a hedge or a gateway can let a strong gust through that can destabilase you more if going fast.
in my humble opinion after 25 years of cycling, stay safe and feel comfortable with the bike ,when you feel that you are going to cross the red line apply the brakes gently it is much safer and you will enjoy the ride more, now Now I am 46 years old and I enjoy this beautiful sport much more than when I was 30....
The one critical skill missed out, is good observations. Start from the far distance, constantly scanning to nearer objects. Eyeballing every junction, driver etc.
When I first got into cycling a few years ago I was all about speed. Speed on the flats, speed on descents…50-60mph on long downhills was not uncommon. Then I had four things happen within a few weeks of each other and now I refuse to go any faster than 30mph: 1. A deer ran out in front of me while descending at 45mph. I missed it by inches. Best case I would have been hurt pretty bad, worst case I’d be dead. 2. Was involved in a group ride crash at 30mph when the leader’s tire blew and the falls cascaded down the line. This was on the berm of a busy road. Before I went down I saw a car swerve and miss my buddy’s head by a foot. 3. I was trying to get a KOM on a bike trail descent with a nice tailwind. I was doing around 30mph and as I came around a corner someone’s child ran out in front of me. I crashed and got hurt pretty bad, but more importantly, I almost killed someone’s child. 4. I had a tire blowout on a steep mountain descent. It threw me into the opposing lane of oncoming traffic. If there had been a car coming, I’d be dead. It just isn’t worth it. Unless you are a professional or semi-professional, and are racing or training for a race…what is the point? A Strava leaderboard? Strava could be hacked tomorrow and all of those precious records destroyed. Go out and enjoy the ride safely. Focus on getting stronger at ascents, and take a break on the descents. It just isn’t worth it.
eye protection too! I usually ride in casual shades, because I'm cool like that, but if I know I'm going to be going over 40mph or down long descents I brake out my "pro shades"
60-70 km/h... I tend to chicken out at around 40 🤣 As someone that's quite familiar with mechanical engineering, considering all the forces stressing the bike I can't help but have my mind drift to how far I'd fly before hitting the ground if something were to fail in a spectacular way around that speed.. 😅
@@esenel92 in most cases with a bike that's got you to the top of the hill okay, it will be the rider not the bike that lets you down. But I share your worry about what would happen if I came off.
Yes I have often said to riders you have got to get used to going fast. Now next step....40mph field Sprint!!...next level...not for the faint of heart
if you have rim brakes ignore that part about skidding when panic braking. panic breaking is when something unexpected happens and a person brakes without thought. pro's crash all the time from panic breaking with disc brakes so unless you figured out some way to bypass that mental automation then gl i suppose
Descending has to be the most exciting part of cycling. The best part of my rides are when I ride down mountain roads with lots of corners. It takes concentration, commitment and controlling the urge to yell "woo-hooooooo!" after turning a corner at full speed.
Another good tip especially when you want to go extremely fast, 80+kmh is to balance your wheels. I’m surprised more pros don’t do this. Probably half or more speed wobbles are caused by unbalanced wheels. The wheels on your car are balanced so why wouldn’t you do your bike if you want to go that fast
@@blakebullock9656 simply flip your bike over if you don’t have a wheel jig, now start on the front it’s easier, and you’ll find the heavy point falls to the bottom, mark the wheel at 180 degrees from this point as this is where you’ll add the weight, use Mac-tac and stick it here 1 gr at a time till you can turn the wheel 90 degrees and it doesn’t move, now weigh this and cut a golf club lead weight to match the Mac-tac and then place inside the rim at the original 180 degrees mark, reassemble now it’s done. For the rear you must remove the chain as this will get in the way.
Frequent cyclists generally have a healthy respect for what can go sideways due to past experiences. However, we have all met a few people that are new to road cycling on new speedy stead that see their first descent and suddenly decide they want to go fast. That thing under you is only around 10% of your body weight and you're about to put a whole lot of trust in it. 1. bike should be regularly maintained, your life is about to depend on all the bolts and clamps working, and all the wear and tear items not suddenly deciding that they're end-of-life. 2. if you don't trust your tyres going fast around a corner, don't trust them going straight and fast either. 3. if you're a seasoned cyclist on a group ride with a couple of noobs, be nice and impart your wisdom, then maybe slow the group down to 50km/h for the first ride or two so that the noobs don't feel compelled to keep up.
Everything happens faster, so you need to do everything faster. Case in point, shoulder checks need to be quicker, as the terrain that you saw before you turned your head may be under your wheels before you return to looking in front.
I usually won't go over 50 mph if I'm riding clinchers, but if I'm on tubs I'll let it roll because I know if I puncture I'll still have some control because I'll still have tire under me and not just the rim.
always keep an eye out for potholes, and take the whole side of the road when decending, dont let a car overtake you if you want to push 60-70 km/h as their winds can send you off into the ditch and can cause you to lose control also keep a good solid line, dont go too far off the line and make the corners harder for yourself, also dont panic!
Riding fast and you start to get confident and start to really enjoy going at speeds in excess of 50mph. Then you get a speed wobble and back to square one, only its hard to get as confident as you once were. Now when I go downhill in excess of 35 mph it's knee on top tube.
As someone who lives at a top of a hill within 5 min im doing 60km/h wich is amazing and always fun :). Unless its winter in the morning, thats a bit dangerous and can feel the cold in the bones
my local road is very straight, good climbs and stuff, but very little challenges on cornering and stuff, always enjoy when going something more extreme
open your dragon wings and unleash dragon fire. seriously, for cornering, try slowing down when entering the corner then speed up once you have a clear exit. don't do full stops unless needed.
3 of my favourite riding spots have lots of hills to have fun on. One of these is called Covey Hill not very far from Montréal. Very well known with local cyclists. I’ve hit 85kph going down. Caught up and passed motorcycles. At the bottom, the riders were like “ do you know what speed you hit?” Yup!!
Biggest for high speed is good maintenance practices as well. If something bad happens at lower speed big deal. Something neglected goes wrong at high speeds, catastrophic.
What are rules and boundaries for descending in a group? Especially on dodgy British roads it is pretty uncomortable sometimes. How fast is it reasonable to corner if you can't see what's on the other side? Stopping hard, staying the right side of the road and staying on the bike is a tricky combination.
If you can't see around a corner, then you need to slow down - be able to stop in the road available, and on your own side of the road. I do wonder if some cyclists forget what they've been taught as motorists/motorcyclists....
in my area there are some good steep (15 percent plus) hills that are short. i can blast down them at up to 77 km/hr. the key thing here are deer. they are all over the place. so in the early morning and evening i just avoid those hills. On our local Mount Washington (Vancouver Island, Canada) with a very long descent 15 km or so, with the steepest grades at the bottom (no i haven't managed to climb up it...too heavy), the other year a tourist lost control and crashed, needing to be airlifted out. Moral of the story, don't try to be a hero. Know your limits.
You folks are weak. I got an 11t rear cog just so I could pedal longer on descents (52x11). I try to hit 50+mph (not kmh). I frequently hit mid 40s on gravel. That's the fun of the thousands of feet of climbing. Not going to ride my brakes down a 1000ft 20% descent when I can realize pure joy.
I hate descending steep descents....terrifies me at speed... would rather climb! Plus I am not making my living from cycling so the risk of a serious work-or life threatening accident caused by descending too fast isn't worth it.
My Trekkingbike has never seen speeds greater than 50km/h but... my very first race bike is on its way to me... lets see how fast I can get on that thing ^^
Do you people really reach 60 km/h on flats? wow. On flats with 50-34 crank, I can go only as high as 34 km/hr, and only 38-40 km/hr with tailwind and ive been riding for a year. On descent I can reach 50-60
Change your position on the bike and train your cadence and you will see results. I have also a 50-34 crank and once i reached 51km/h in a slight uphill with a very strong tailwind and sprinting
I can just get to 60kph on the flats or slight rise in a sprint with my 50/34 setup, however I will be doing 120 rpm+ cadence and only for a short time, different on downhills where I've maxed out at 82 kph.
When riding fast, I always use my rear brake to make slight adjustments to my speed. This way, the rider behind me can see my rear caliper move. Riding in a group at 50 kph, on the flats, you must pay attention to every little thing.
Its a good idea in theory but I think you might be overestimating the observation skills of other people. Maybe its because I do few group rides, but I've never heard of that and I don't think I'd notice. Its not exactly a red brake light.
@@billkallas1762 I'd laugh a lot harder if the person in front of me asked me to constantly watch for a 2 millimeter movement of thier components. On rim brakes thats hard enough, on discs, that would be imperceptible. If just slowing down instead of stopping then just pausing the cadence a few moments will keep people moving faster without wasting watts, and its easier for others to notice.
Why not explain tire traction? A tire only has so much traction, if you are cornering at high speed and decide to break it is easy to go beyond traction limits and skid or have the bike slide out from under you. As you break on a descent your weight shifts to your front tire. If you are cornering your front tire is where traction is needed to turn the bike. Rear and front break feathering techniques are critical for safe high speed descents.
So 60 - 70kmh is high speed, what's 100kmh +? Because I hit 128kmh earlier (yes it wasn't legal but oh well). Any tips for cycling at hyperspeeds like these?
I had a turkey run out in front of me on a high speed decent once. Thankfully birds have excellent eyesight and turkeys can fly for short distances. Because I had no time to stop or slow down. I'd have killed that turkey if I had hit it and I wasn't going to come out the encounter unscathed either.
I had a very painful experience when my front wheel went flat going about 25mph about a year ago. Much slower than this video. Please be very knowledgeable and confident of your equipment to be going these speeds.
What are your top tips for riding FAST?!
Hey GCN
Watching gcn videos 😜
Riding downhill
Keep pedaling and hope your lungs can survive it.
Wear glasses.
To add to these
01 Hugging the Saddle nose w inner thighs while floating slightly above it for added comfort and stability at high speeds
02 Looking quite down ahead of the road where I need to be instead of what is right in front of me, avoid target locking
03 For new routes I take quick glances at the upcoming turn on cycle comps to help better gauge weight and feet positions
Nice one ikach!
@@gcn I would also mention pedal position in fast/tight turns (inner pedal up).
65 kph downhill once was enough for me looking at the thin sliver of rubber protecting me from potentially a lot of pain! Wimp out now and feather my brakes a lot going downhill unless it’s a hill I’m very familiar with.
That's the key though Rob - do what you find comfortable!
I got to 89km down a mountain in Japan on my Grail CF when I had a fully loaded tailfin on the back with about 15kg in it plus a frame bag full of stuff. I chickened out at that point as my rear wheel started coming off the ground over the bumps in the road. That was a great trip. I didnt check my brakes before I left for it but when I got back I had my bike serviced. The front disk pad was gone, perfectly and totally warn away, but no further. I was so lucky lol
OK, that's a new level of crazy! I'll do that on a clean bike, but with kit, nope nope nope.
my fastest ever was about 98 km / hr downhill in a race. i cannot imagine with a load omg. Hint: never carry coke in a bottle going downhill. mine was on the front bars (in the 70s) and haha you can imagine what happened!
@@secretagent86 LMAO. I'm guessing your brakes got real squeaky! Ask me how I know!
Fastest speed I ever achieved was 56.4 mph. What a blast. That was 20 years ago though. I'm 61 yrs old now and don't know if I have the stones to ride that fast now.
Stay safe
I hear you. I try to hit a top speed to match my age each year. That's recently gone from difficult to maybe impossible! I wouldn't recommend it for most people.
i would have no problem doing that speed IF the road was straight with no intersections... no way with curves though. I did that speed in my teens with gentle curves. pucker factor
@@renegadetenor Im more into distances according to my age. Im 41. I began last year 🤣
"No matter how experienced you are, things can happen" - case in point: Hinault, Dauphiné, 1977.
Spoiler alert!
Cod Death Screen Be Like
What happened
@@luvrai4505 this: ruclips.net/video/AYDo11b0rFo/видео.html
Don't forget to check road conditions and tires! I was coming down a mountain in February in my freshman year at the university and applied breaks for a turn and my rear tire skid because of salt they had down, so I let off, next thing I knew I was in the corner into the gravel in the shoulder sliding along the guardrail. Less than half a second later I was on my back tumbling down a slope over the guardrail. I climbed my way back up and some random lady in a Prius saw me climbing over the rail to the road and brought me down and got my bike too! I was more worried about bleeding all over her car and blanket she gave me (there was a deep gash in my hand and my entire right leg was skinned pretty much). From there we called an ambulance and I was stitched up. Lucky I was wearing my visibility vest that day it she may have never saw me
My best tips are ensure you’ve got a lot of life left in your brake pads and ensure your bolts are on tight. Doesn’t take 5 minutes to go around with a multi-tool and ensure everything is tight.
Great point Dylan. And a torque wrench to make sure nothing's too tight either!
Also, to add, look ahead, constantly. Some cyclists have a habit of looking ahead at an object: a tree, a lamp post and be so target fixated on it that they almost turn around to look at it after they pass it. Look at the line you want to take instead.
Once while doing 35mph on a long straight downhill I clipped a rock that made my front tire undecided on its direction. Fortunately I was able to stay upright, but that definitely had a high pucker factor. I've hit 45mph on the downhill in a local triathlon, but fortunately it's on a reasonably gentle bend in a wide highway. Generally I keep it under 30 on most downhills because I'm not racing and the thrill isn't worth the risk to my health and family and it takes a long time to stop at a red light when going downhill and using rim brakes.
A few months ago was doing 70+Kmh coming down a slight downhill slope in the Calder Hwy here in Melbourne Australia, decided nah this is stupid, so much crap in what we call the stopping lane (it’s safe for us to ride in but yeah still takes a bit of guts) anyway I sat up and slowed down to about 55kmh anyway got off the highway and ten mins later 100m from home I was concentrating on these little kids running across the road in front of me, I didn’t see a small rock on the road clipped it, blew my front tyre out, I got unceremoniously dumped. That was at 15kph, that made me think if that happened in the highway 10mins earlier, I’d be probably dead or eating thru a tube, anyway it scared me shitless, I still go fast enough but not at stupid speeds anymore
I lut my bike to 42mph just for fun. I am not trying to do that anymore. I fell off the bike doi g 25mph and it costed me shoulder surgery and 3 months of no bike.
I remember last year, I was travelling about 35mph down hill and got a speed wobble absolutely terrifying I'm pleased I got it stopped even though I used all the road thank goodness there was no cars coming, for a split second I did think of jumping on to the grass then released I was getting under control again.
Speed wobbles are no joke… I’ve experienced several with the last on taking me into oncoming traffic… fortunately no cars were coming… I wish there was more attention paid to the causes of it…
I occasionally had speed wobble a couple of times when I was a kid but never experienced it on a full size road bike. I was under the impression that it is an indicator of something being not quite right, wheel not aligned in dropout, spoke tension, bearing play etc.
I bought a bike with thick carbon rim wheels to start doing triathlons but I started to do some climbing with them as well. The sidewind was really blowing the bike side to side on fast descends and I thought I was going to fall. I bought a normal wheel for the front and it’s now much better.
This happened to me on a descent a few years ago, I then watched this GCN vid and took the advice onboard. It’s even got Dan in it! ruclips.net/video/JVgjiB4Y6a0/видео.html
I went down a hill really fast once, it was just after I got some new forks custom make for my bike.
I misjudged a corner went a little wide onto a grave courtyard and head on into a stone wall. Bending my new forks so that the front wheel overlapped with the down tube of the frame.
In order for the front wheel to be able to point forwards I had use loads of leg power to bend the forks to the point where I could ride home. This was many years ago before mobile phones, so no phoning my mum for a lift.
If u had carbon you wouldn't have been going nowhere
Incidents like this can give a big hit to your confidence too, but certainly gives some perspective on safety for your next big downhill!
Just a quick F.Y.I.. Front brake feathering in the U.K. is back brake feathering in North America, meaning, the brakes are reversed. If you're new to cycling, Manon (at 2:21) is feathering her front brake. But in North America, the right-side lever is the back brake (on almost all setups). Keep that in mind.
In Oz the rear brake is on the left too
It depends: they can be set up both ways. But yes, typical set up is as you've described.
Conor and Manon are such a great team, look forward to their videos. Always a good laugh!
It may seem obvious but - don't get to close to traffic in front of you!
I was once following traffic down Shooters Hill, doing about 35mph, keeping about the same distance as I would normally in a car.
Then I suddenly realised that I have no confidence that I could stop if the car in fron suddenly hit the brakes hard.
So I dropped right back, and I've never forgotten that since.
Yes: even following something as heavy as a cement truck can stop nearly on a dime!
You should assess the conditions, the same road may not always be safe to go fast on.
If the road is wet / slippy or there are gusting crosswinds. A gap in a hedge or a gateway can let a strong gust through that can destabilase you more if going fast.
Great point John!!
Have to be honest. Manon your awesome.
Love the video massive thumbs up
“Focus!” - yes m’am! 😁 Another top video from the Connor and Manon show 👏
in my humble opinion after 25 years of cycling, stay safe and feel comfortable with the bike ,when you feel that you are going to cross the red line apply the brakes gently it is much safer and you will enjoy the ride more, now Now I am 46 years old and I enjoy this beautiful sport much more than when I was 30....
The one critical skill missed out, is good observations. Start from the far distance, constantly scanning to nearer objects. Eyeballing every junction, driver etc.
When I first got into cycling a few years ago I was all about speed. Speed on the flats, speed on descents…50-60mph on long downhills was not uncommon. Then I had four things happen within a few weeks of each other and now I refuse to go any faster than 30mph:
1. A deer ran out in front of me while descending at 45mph. I missed it by inches. Best case I would have been hurt pretty bad, worst case I’d be dead.
2. Was involved in a group ride crash at 30mph when the leader’s tire blew and the falls cascaded down the line. This was on the berm of a busy road. Before I went down I saw a car swerve and miss my buddy’s head by a foot.
3. I was trying to get a KOM on a bike trail descent with a nice tailwind. I was doing around 30mph and as I came around a corner someone’s child ran out in front of me. I crashed and got hurt pretty bad, but more importantly, I almost killed someone’s child.
4. I had a tire blowout on a steep mountain descent. It threw me into the opposing lane of oncoming traffic. If there had been a car coming, I’d be dead.
It just isn’t worth it. Unless you are a professional or semi-professional, and are racing or training for a race…what is the point? A Strava leaderboard? Strava could be hacked tomorrow and all of those precious records destroyed. Go out and enjoy the ride safely. Focus on getting stronger at ascents, and take a break on the descents. It just isn’t worth it.
lol
Manon and Connor are a great team. Love the clip. Conor should have an “elite” water bottle on his bike as well👍
Was Connor there too? I must have missed him. Sorry Connor
eye protection too! I usually ride in casual shades, because I'm cool like that, but if I know I'm going to be going over 40mph or down long descents I brake out my "pro shades"
Haha - Manon said "Tailwind" everyone knows they don't exist!
Unless you had a bean burrito. Tailwinds do exist!
60-70 km/h... I tend to chicken out at around 40 🤣
As someone that's quite familiar with mechanical engineering, considering all the forces stressing the bike I can't help but have my mind drift to how far I'd fly before hitting the ground if something were to fail in a spectacular way around that speed.. 😅
It's not easy! But doing what you're comfortable with is the key to staying safe on the bike!
@@gcn Exactly, I ride a
@@esenel92 in most cases with a bike that's got you to the top of the hill okay, it will be the rider not the bike that lets you down. But I share your worry about what would happen if I came off.
The flying part would be ok…it’s when gravity takes over and you hit the deck that’s the worry
@@warrenthompson3896 just as falling off a cliff is relatively safe, but the ground is not
♥️♥️♥️ you Manon!!Your fans from 🇧🇳💪💪💪
Good timing, just got my new bike👍
Yes I have often said to riders you have got to get used to going fast. Now next step....40mph field Sprint!!...next level...not for the faint of heart
I need a long descent *without* hairpins every 100 meters or so to reach speeds in the 60-80 kph range. The major challenge is cornering IMHO. 😌
if you have rim brakes ignore that part about skidding when panic braking. panic breaking is when something unexpected happens and a person brakes without thought. pro's crash all the time from panic breaking with disc brakes so unless you figured out some way to bypass that mental automation then gl i suppose
Descending has to be the most exciting part of cycling. The best part of my rides are when I ride down mountain roads with lots of corners. It takes concentration, commitment and controlling the urge to yell "woo-hooooooo!" after turning a corner at full speed.
Another good tip especially when you want to go extremely fast, 80+kmh is to balance your wheels. I’m surprised more pros don’t do this. Probably half or more speed wobbles are caused by unbalanced wheels. The wheels on your car are balanced so why wouldn’t you do your bike if you want to go that fast
How do you balance your wheels?
@@blakebullock9656 simply flip your bike over if you don’t have a wheel jig, now start on the front it’s easier, and you’ll find the heavy point falls to the bottom, mark the wheel at 180 degrees from this point as this is where you’ll add the weight, use Mac-tac and stick it here 1 gr at a time till you can turn the wheel 90 degrees and it doesn’t move, now weigh this and cut a golf club lead weight to match the Mac-tac and then place inside the rim at the original 180 degrees mark, reassemble now it’s done. For the rear you must remove the chain as this will get in the way.
@@jasongirvan6729 top explanation mate
Awesome video
Thank you guys. But, but, but, that high speed was about straight roads downhill. I need to know how to ride fast on the flat! Any offers?
1:30 Nice nails, Conor! (funny montage 🤣)
Frequent cyclists generally have a healthy respect for what can go sideways due to past experiences. However, we have all met a few people that are new to road cycling on new speedy stead that see their first descent and suddenly decide they want to go fast. That thing under you is only around 10% of your body weight and you're about to put a whole lot of trust in it.
1. bike should be regularly maintained, your life is about to depend on all the bolts and clamps working, and all the wear and tear items not suddenly deciding that they're end-of-life.
2. if you don't trust your tyres going fast around a corner, don't trust them going straight and fast either.
3. if you're a seasoned cyclist on a group ride with a couple of noobs, be nice and impart your wisdom, then maybe slow the group down to 50km/h for the first ride or two so that the noobs don't feel compelled to keep up.
I see this with new e bikers.
Everything happens faster, so you need to do everything faster. Case in point, shoulder checks need to be quicker, as the terrain that you saw before you turned your head may be under your wheels before you return to looking in front.
Manon's laugh at 0:37 makes the whole video
I usually won't go over 50 mph if I'm riding clinchers, but if I'm on tubs I'll let it roll because I know if I puncture I'll still have some control because I'll still have tire under me and not just the rim.
Mannon is soooo Aero😍
always keep an eye out for potholes, and take the whole side of the road when decending, dont let a car overtake you if you want to push 60-70 km/h as their winds can send you off into the ditch and can cause you to lose control
also keep a good solid line, dont go too far off the line and make the corners harder for yourself, also dont panic!
I was taught to always feather the REAR brake unless going uphill. That way if you accidentally lock the wheel, you won't end up doing an endo.
I always try to use the rear brake most simply because of wear.
can do you a version of this on a proper endurance bike and one for gravel trails too please.
I cycle a TREK hybrid, ruddy wind coming at me is a bigger. Need to get a drop handlebar bike for next bike.
thanks manon
Fastest I’ve been was 97Km/h down a nice hill, the road flattened out nicely
Please make a race video or a collab with gmbn guys,mtb vs road bikes 😁
Relax and send it 😊👍🏻👍🏻
Great video, I would say where gloves for more grip and if the worst happens you have hands left.
Riding fast and you start to get confident and start to really enjoy going at speeds in excess of 50mph. Then you get a speed wobble and back to square one, only its hard to get as confident as you once were. Now when I go downhill in excess of 35 mph it's knee on top tube.
My bikes have never wobbled. I think it's a balance issue. Maybe too upright. Do you descend in the drops or hoods?
As someone who lives at a top of a hill within 5 min im doing 60km/h wich is amazing and always fun :). Unless its winter in the morning, thats a bit dangerous and can feel the cold in the bones
my local road is very straight, good climbs and stuff, but very little challenges on cornering and stuff, always enjoy when going something more extreme
open your dragon wings and unleash dragon fire.
seriously, for cornering, try slowing down when entering the corner then speed up once you have a clear exit. don't do full stops unless needed.
3 of my favourite riding spots have lots of hills to have fun on. One of these is called Covey Hill not very far from Montréal. Very well known with local cyclists. I’ve hit 85kph going down. Caught up and passed motorcycles. At the bottom, the riders were like “ do you know what speed you hit?” Yup!!
being blocked by a car downhill on your favorite descent :c
happened yesterday, damn
Biggest for high speed is good maintenance practices as well. If something bad happens at lower speed big deal. Something neglected goes wrong at high speeds, catastrophic.
Conner, what is your size bike and handlebars?
Great tips, honestly no matter how much I practice: I'm always pretty nervous beyond 35mph. Wonder if anyone else is like that too?
It sure feels different north of about 35 mph..
What are rules and boundaries for descending in a group? Especially on dodgy British roads it is pretty uncomortable sometimes. How fast is it reasonable to corner if you can't see what's on the other side? Stopping hard, staying the right side of the road and staying on the bike is a tricky combination.
Call out your position to riders around you, LOUDLY.
If you can't see around a corner, then you need to slow down - be able to stop in the road available, and on your own side of the road. I do wonder if some cyclists forget what they've been taught as motorists/motorcyclists....
in my area there are some good steep (15 percent plus) hills that are short. i can blast down them at up to 77 km/hr. the key thing here are deer. they are all over the place. so in the early morning and evening i just avoid those hills. On our local Mount Washington (Vancouver Island, Canada) with a very long descent 15 km or so, with the steepest grades at the bottom (no i haven't managed to climb up it...too heavy), the other year a tourist lost control and crashed, needing to be airlifted out. Moral of the story, don't try to be a hero. Know your limits.
Only Manon could make a flying fish believable
🤣
My maximum on the mtb is now 63 km ph and road bike 78.6 km ph
Riding in Portugal I see!
You folks are weak. I got an 11t rear cog just so I could pedal longer on descents (52x11). I try to hit 50+mph (not kmh). I frequently hit mid 40s on gravel. That's the fun of the thousands of feet of climbing. Not going to ride my brakes down a 1000ft 20% descent when I can realize pure joy.
where i can buy that cycling jerseys?
I'm not really fast but still gonna watch cuz it's gcn lol
It will help you to get faster!!
@@gcngonna apply all this to my ride tomorrow and also thanks, this channel has been a great help to my cycling life. Thank you so much.
@@widgets7921 Great to hear - glad you enjoy the content - it's why we make it!!
I hate descending steep descents....terrifies me at speed... would rather climb! Plus I am not making my living from cycling so the risk of a serious work-or life threatening accident caused by descending too fast isn't worth it.
Man if I wasn't for the speed I would not bother cycling at all. Hills are only tolerated because what goes up must come down.
I liked the tip for riding fast, slow down.. :D
Is that an Aeroad XL or XXL? Or something else?
I thought this video was going to be a supercut every time Ollie says "Aero"
Look well ahead. Get a good reading of the road well before you get there.
Great top tips peeps. What about the fecking traffic lights
According to Manon, make Brummm Brum breeerm noises 😄
My Trekkingbike has never seen speeds greater than 50km/h but... my very first race bike is on its way to me... lets see how fast I can get on that thing ^^
Do you people really reach 60 km/h on flats? wow. On flats with 50-34 crank, I can go only as high as 34 km/hr, and only 38-40 km/hr with tailwind and ive been riding for a year. On descent I can reach 50-60
Change your position on the bike and train your cadence and you will see results. I have also a 50-34 crank and once i reached 51km/h in a slight uphill with a very strong tailwind and sprinting
yeah you can with big tail wind straigh road and 53 crank
I can just get to 60kph on the flats or slight rise in a sprint with my 50/34 setup, however I will be doing 120 rpm+ cadence and only for a short time, different on downhills where I've maxed out at 82 kph.
When riding fast, I always use my rear brake to make slight adjustments to my speed. This way, the rider behind me can see my rear caliper move.
Riding in a group at 50 kph, on the flats, you must pay attention to every little thing.
Its a good idea in theory but I think you might be overestimating the observation skills of other people. Maybe its because I do few group rides, but I've never heard of that and I don't think I'd notice. Its not exactly a red brake light.
Just call "slowing" or something similar imo, i'm not watching the brake of the person in front of me in a fast ride.
@@imperialspy3457 You do that enough times and people will start laughing at you. That's worse than yelling "Car Back" every 45 seconds.
@@billkallas1762 I'd laugh a lot harder if the person in front of me asked me to constantly watch for a 2 millimeter movement of thier components. On rim brakes thats hard enough, on discs, that would be imperceptible. If just slowing down instead of stopping then just pausing the cadence a few moments will keep people moving faster without wasting watts, and its easier for others to notice.
@@billkallas1762 find a better group to ride with haha.
Why not explain tire traction? A tire only has so much traction, if you are cornering at high speed and decide to break it is easy to go beyond traction limits and skid or have the bike slide out from under you. As you break on a descent your weight shifts to your front tire. If you are cornering your front tire is where traction is needed to turn the bike. Rear and front break feathering techniques are critical for safe high speed descents.
My number one tip is "Don't Crash."
Ride behind Conor!
Tip one: learn when you're young and “invincible”. I was 12 or 13 when I got my first bike computer: guess how long it took us to hit 50, then 60kph 🤪
Past 65 kph aerotuck is your best mate
35mph? How many watt is the motor?
Get low over the front when when going through corners, the bike will feel more planted.
Be ready to make a ranking full stop.
Dont feather the front brake! Back break if using one, not as effective but wont flip you on your face.
I'm fast however it's over a .5 mile lap at 13mph
I hate when Elephants run out in front of me, it really ruins my day 😡😡😡
So 60 - 70kmh is high speed, what's 100kmh +? Because I hit 128kmh earlier (yes it wasn't legal but oh well). Any tips for cycling at hyperspeeds like these?
Same here, just even more focused.
Any Tips for the Algarve? Seems like you know the area quite well?!
Hi, yes we have a few routes we've uploaded to Komoot from our rides in the Algarve! You can check those out here: gcn.eu/KomootPortugal
@@gcn thanks!
I had a turkey run out in front of me on a high speed decent once. Thankfully birds have excellent eyesight and turkeys can fly for short distances. Because I had no time to stop or slow down. I'd have killed that turkey if I had hit it and I wasn't going to come out the encounter unscathed either.
Top Tip: Ride downhill😀
80 km/h is my top speed
World’s greatest collection of cliches.
But where is the supertuck?
If flying fish are jumping out at you STOP RIDING YOUR BIKE IMMEDIATELY!
Bring less weight on your bike. Today I rode 85km with the max speed of 56km. Still damn slow. 🤣
I had a very painful experience when my front wheel went flat going about 25mph about a year ago. Much slower than this video. Please be very knowledgeable and confident of your equipment to be going these speeds.
This is why I wonder why you guys take that Eurobike out...
Short answer; pedal faster
If you want to ride and be fast? Ride light weight rim brake bikes! 😆
MTB MOUNTAIN BIKE
why isnt : do a 1000+ watts while popping a wheely and screaming SEND IT !!!! in this list thats what pilgrim always does LUL
I have to watch out for debris and pot holes.