Originally Posted by
mkadam68
Exactly my point. If one does not aim for a high cadence immediately, their slower cadence will then become habit. Ingrained habit. Very difficult to change. (For example, it took cancer to change Armstrong's cadence.)
Now, if someone is unfit, yeah, riding a faster cadence will be difficult at first, at least cardiovascularly. But, that is no different than someone struggling with the muscular demands of a slower cadence. Going uphill, for instance. How many Clydes walked up their first "real big" hill because they didn't have the strength for it? In the end, riders will get fitter and adapt to a fast cadence and they will then have a habit of such and not have to overcome it.
As a personal example, I look to my son. Started when he was 12yo. But I emphasized a nice, fast cadence for him. He couldn't keep up because when it came to crunch time, he couldn't drop it into a large gear and just push. But his muscles adapted over time. Now, as a 15yo, he's dropping me (no easy task), and only has trouble on the hills keeping up with the really skinny mountain goats. He has an incredibly smooth, fast pedaling style. Beautiful to watch. And I can tell, his musculature is still developing. Scary. In talking with his coach (a former track world champion), we did it the correct way. Cardiovascularly speaking, we're born with what we have, with only room for little improvement. Muscularly, however, we have lots of room for improvement. His advice? Strengthen the muscles slowly over time so as not to do damage to the structure.
As for Neil's friend & the trainer.... that makes no sense to me. And I consider myself a roadie.
In the end...
Riding w/good cadence > Riding w/poor cadence > not riding.
But why not aim for good form right at the start? Cause they can't ride for hours on end right away? Posh.
+1.....As my trainer post suggested, it takes time and practice and doesn't happen over night. I agree that the roadie's comment is not correct but riders do benefit from doing drills, indoor and outdoor. The trainer is a good method because it allows you to concentrate on things that need attention. More advanced riders may prefer to do them outside but then you run the risk of hitting a curb, other riders, maybe even a tree if you happen to be concentrating on the wrong thing at the wrong time.
...Meaning advanced experienced riders may have more skill when it comes to doing such things.
I myself have no problem doing them on the trainer. I can look at stopwatches, count revs in my head etc.
Again I disagree with the roadie's advice but do encourage trainer drills. Anyone that thinks the drills don't improve your ride, think again. There are plenty, One legged spin to smooth out your stroke. All out hard intervals. High rev intervals, TT efforts and I am sure there are more that benefit any rider.
Originally Posted by
Seattle Forrest
That's obviously false. And nobody in here is saying anybody has to ride at 90 rpm; we're saying there are benefits to doing so. I'm surprised that's creating so much controversy.
+1
