I can peddle my 40lb mountain bike to over 35 mph on a flat surface is that good?

Question

I'm 6'3 and 240 lbs, just bought this 26" Men's Roadmaster Mountain Sport SX All Terrain Bike: from wal-mart. I registered 38mph from stand still on flat road surface without standing pedal. The speedometer i used is a Bell FreeFit 15 Function Wireless Speedometer. I was just wondering if that was pretty good?

Answer 1

I'd say better than average. I ride a lot and can do about 53 mph on the flat on my MTB. So, keep on riding maybe you'll improve like I have.

My Bad. - I road yesterday and hit 55 MPH, I'll need more gear if I want to hit 60.

I'm getting some slick tires and plan to get clipless pedals that with my 65 tooth chainring I expect to hit about 65 maybe 70 mph. Stay tuned.

OK, I made a 65 tooth ring yesterday. This morning I hit 62 mph on my test ride. Pretty awesome don't you think? Once I get use to it, I'll go faster I'm sure.

Finally hit 65 mph today. I'll need more gear to go faster.

Answer 2

yea thats pretty good 4 sitting down most ppl got to stand to go that fast

Answer 3

you sure that computers working/calibrated right? and to the guy claiming 53 mph, your computer is off as well! get them recalibrated, then tell us about your efforts. also, instead of worrying about top speeds, work on getting your sustained cadence up. that will get your heart rate going.

Answer 4

Are you sure that's not kilometers per hour. That would be more believable.

Answer 5

I'm a little skeptical, but I suppose it is possible on that bike, briefly.

It would require that you spin at over 130 rpm in your top gear.    Doing it on that piece of junk without proper shoes or clips would be a little unnerving.  Especially since the bike is almost certainly too small for you.

Good?  I don't know know if a short sprint proves anything.

Note to cycle guy:  yeah, sure.   And where did you get the 60  tooth ring?

Answer 6

A chubby like you on a POS MTB no less? It's funny even imagining you trying it. It's likely you couldn't do that on a motorcycle.

Like someone mentioned - sounds like KPH not MPH to me.

Answer 7

YOU'RE JOSHIN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

You might want to check the wheel size calibration of that speedometer.  :-)

Answer 9

I agree with joeschmo, your tire size seems off on your computer.  That is very unlikely.  I'd be surprised if you were going much over 20.  Look through your owners manual and check your tire size on the chart to make sure you have the computer adjusted correctly.

Answer 10

Good? That's awesome! I can get my 25 lb. mtb going about 32 with a tailwind and i'm 13. I'd say going 35 is very good. just to make sure you really are going that fast, get your spedometer checked. To that guy who is going 53, you either tried to type 35 or you really need to check that gauge. Or, you might be going for the groundspeed record, but you need a very big gear to go that fast.

Answer 11

Not bad.  But the extra weight isn't really working against you as long as the surface is flat.  Try going uphill at speed with that rig, that's when the pain begins!  I speak from experience.  

Also, spiking a speed at 38 MPH is one thing, but maintaining speed for a longer  duration is a real test.  How many miles can you do in half hour or an hour of riding?  That's more of a gauge I would use.

I hope you enjoy your bike for a long time, but my experience with Wal-Mart bikes is that they'll start to have problems in less than a year, especially with any kind of significant use.  It's not even worth it to fix things as they break.  Might as well look around and get ideas for your next bike purchase,  because there's a definite expiration date on any Wal-Mart bike.