Originally Posted by
Rosso Corsa
I would say you should try spinning in a lower gear. A higher cadence is is easier on the joints and muscles and really allows them to work longer. I think the tradeoff is that is relier on your aerobic system more, but it seems that your muscles are dead before your lungs are. I suppose that makes sense.
Try to maintain a cadence of at least 90, up to 120. It is easy to know if your cadence is 120 if you have a watch because your foot makes 2 full circles per second.
Also, focus on keeping your knees in line with your feet (this usually feels like your knees are pushing in) and having a smooth pedal stroke where you are spinning in 'perfect circles', and it feels like you are putting power down the whole time, not just in up/down pulses.
i am not sure how to say what gear i use normally ... i have a 3*9 setup .. i am almost always in the middle ring up front (32t i beleive) .. and on the 4th or 5th ring in the back (11t-34t iirc) ... but my cadence if i had to estimate it .. is around the 70 mark ... i can spin 90+ on a stationary .. but i do not normally last for more then a few min ...
it sounds like i do just need to hit the road more often so i can work on these things more ... the main riding i do right now .. is hard to keep a cadence up for more then a few min before i have to change directions or get to a downhill part .. or an uphill where i end up changing gearing .. or walking if i don't have enough speed built up ... and i don't want to blow myself out trying to power up it...