Track Cycling - Leg Speed

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View Full Version : Leg Speed


BabyCycling
11-08-07, 02:04 AM
What do you think the msot effective way of getting ur legspeed faster is? Any training tips?


Yoshi
11-08-07, 09:00 AM
I'd say rollers or motor pacing. Low gearing and hills might work, but you can easily get lazy while doing that and let the bike do the work.

bitingduck
11-08-07, 09:38 AM
yep, rollers and motorpacing are both really good (but you have to pick a gear that makes you spin!). Even doing big group rides in the little ring when everyone else is in the big can help a lot, too.


Plantmiester
11-08-07, 06:11 PM
Ride San Fransisco on a fixie!

But seriously, the best way is motor pacing. Nothing beats getting behind a bike in a small gear going fast.

Dubbayoo
11-09-07, 12:18 AM
yep, rollers and motorpacing are both really good (but you have to pick a gear that makes you spin!). Even doing big group rides in the little ring when everyone else is in the big can help a lot, too.
Every serious rider should have rollers. Motorpacing can be hard to arrange but I like the idea of spinning a small gear in a big group.

CafeRacer
11-09-07, 12:57 PM
The bunch of us that my coach trains religiously hit the hills. Not to climb. We use our training gears, in my case is an 88" Roll down and attck the last part of the slope. Then fly along the flat at speeds exceding that we race at. Its called over speeding.

What it does is simple. It makes your legs go way faster than they will in a race. Your training the nurological side of spin. In return you get a super smooth pedal stroke at lower cadences and your legs have the ability to keep accelerating.

Some people dont see how it works....but my coach has WC stripes :)

bitingduck
11-09-07, 02:18 PM
Every serious rider should have rollers. Motorpacing can be hard to arrange but I like the idea of spinning a small gear in a big group.

I'm spoiled. I get 2-3 opportunities/week to motorpace.

I used to get a chuckle in Minnesota on one of the big group rides at the end when guys would be whining "I really needed the 53x11 for that fast stretch" and I would have been in the 42 for the whole ride, with a 13x21 in back.

Dubbayoo
11-09-07, 02:49 PM
I hope to do a lot next year. I just bought a used Fuji Track Pro frame today. I just need a crank and some gearing choices then I'm ready to roll.

Yoshi
11-09-07, 03:05 PM
The bunch of us that my coach trains religiously hit the hills. Not to climb. We use our training gears, in my case is an 88" Roll down and attck the last part of the slope. Then fly along the flat at speeds exceding that we race at. Its called over speeding.

What it does is simple. It makes your legs go way faster than they will in a race. Your training the nurological side of spin. In return you get a super smooth pedal stroke at lower cadences and your legs have the ability to keep accelerating.

Some people dont see how it works....but my coach has WC stripes :)

The only problem I see with this method is that it's easy to let the bike do the work for you. If you're not concentrating on matching the speed of the pedals with your legs then you're really not doing much to improve your spin or your leg speed. Of course flying along a flat section afterwards helps (and is probably the "real" part of the training) but I think motorpacing or rollers would have the same effect.