Road Cycling - Adjustment Help Needed

OK not a "road" bike but a Trek 520 touring bike, but figured the roadies might be the best for this question. And until spring it is my "road" bike.

Been out of riding for about 10 years, at that time my 520 was just fine and I never noticed any problems. Got a new Hybrid in July and have just over 800 miles on it so far. It was great for dropping some pounds and working on some lost conditioning, not to mention the "family" rides, but I "NEED" more speed!

Took my 520 out for a ride tonite, and it seems whenever I am really spinning and moving, I keep "bouncing" for lack of a better word out of the seat, especially at higher cadence, 85-100rpm. Spinning is comfortable, leg extension seems right on, handlebar reach seems comfy, and the speed and ride is just awesome compared to my hybrid. No aches, pains or discomforts after a couple EXCELLENT rides now.

Have SPD's so I pull a lot, not as much as I push of course, and this is the only change I have made to the bike since I recommisioned it.

Any clue as to why I keep coming up out of the seat? Is this normal at higher cadence or do I have an adjustment problem maybe with my seat? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

you need to work on you pedal stroke. try instead of a pistin like motion, try to pedal in a circle. act like you are scraping dog doo off out your shoe. also, you might be putting tto much weight on the saddle. try leaning down a bit more, so that your elbows are a bit more bent.

Are you coming out of the seat on bumps? That happens to me. If you are pedaling, that is unusual. What happens if you slow the cadence down to a point where you can pedal smoothly?

do not go up to 90-100 right away..

try to do it gradually. start from, say 65-70. Then work your way up. when you get to the point that you feel you are about to bounce, hold back a little and try making smooth pedal strokes.. Do it in steps.

Man I knew you guys would have some answers but not so fast. I consider my rotations to be pretty smooth and decent "circle" wise, and pull through the bottom but not all the way to the top. I have a pretty good "ankle" action too with my heal falling where it feels the best at the bottom of the circle. And YES when I slow my cadence, below 85 I'm just fine, I typically take my weight off the seat for bumps, and the trail I'm riding now is REALLY smooth asphalt.

Weight on the saddle MIGHT just be the ticket, I have a habit of riding the brake hoods more than the drops when I ride at night with the light on, and riding my hybrid is probably conditioning me to SIT in the seat. And you could also be right about the "piston" action (which used to be my hill climbing technique, stand-up and pump the hill, I have learned this time around that spinning the hill gives me much more endurance, and far less painful knees!!), it's just the thrill of the speed, and perhaps I am so high on the ride, I am forgetting my technique in favor of the "push" and the adrenaline rush I missed so much when not riding!

So I suspect you may be spot on about the bent elbows, and for that matter the "piston"!! I'll try it tomorrow in the daylight when I'm not so worried about over-riding my light and dodging the deer!!

Thanks guys, that gives me something to work on and I'll let you know how it goes, and man am I glad I found this place!!

Originally posted by dexmax
try to do it gradually. start from, say 65-70. Then work your way up. when you get to the point that you feel you are about to bounce, hold back a little and try making smooth pedal strokes.. Do it in steps.

dexmax, I think you have a point too, the cadence is not unsual to me though, I ride so much with my kids (read slow as molasses) that I choose the gears that let me spin even at slow speeds but that's on the other bike. If I'm not spinning I choose some tougher gears and work on strength. Your probably right though, I need to treat the bikes differently in how I ride, going to take the hybrid in for it's "adjustments" and ride the 520 for a week or so, the kids hate when I ride it though so I'll have to take it easy anyway!! Just something about that rush of speed that only another cyclist can identify with. Thank God you guys are around, and for those solo rides when I can let loose!!

I bounce when I spin too fast with too little resistance. Try shifting to a cog one size smaller and pedaling the same cadence. Don't strain your knees, though.

Just wanted to say thanks again!! Haven't had time to get the 520 out of the garage, but was riding the hybrid with the kdis. UNTIL TONITE! Rather than take a trail where the light is more critical, I did some road work where there were street lights.

Seems as though for the most part ALL of you were correct to one extent or another. Flexing the arms more had a lot to do with it and as Prosody said, taking it one gear harder for some more resistance also helped immensely. And although I brought my cadence down closer to 90, it resulted in more fluid movement, as well as a great increase in speed. In concentrating on the stroke, I found I wasn't as fluid at a high cadence as I had thought and been working on the past few hundred miles.

Prosody, you are absolutely right about the knees too. I had always had a problem with my knees in the past and it was always from pushing instead of spinning. It was always my way of climbing a hill too, climb out of the saddle and pump for all I was worth. BUT it was HELL on my knees, I swore when I got back into riding again, I was going to go slowly and develop some supporting muscles for my knees so I didn't have to deal with the problems of before. So far it's working, and slowing my cadence a bit, is the trick I needed most. ANYWAYS, managed a 1 hour ride at 20mph average which is pretty good for a guy my size.

AND on a side note, for the spinning advocates, I managed to pull a couple of hills that would have mentally defeated me a couple of weeks ago. Hills have always been more of a mental than a physical thing for me, and having a "spin" in my arsenal really tackeled both aspects. Typically the trails we ride are old rail lines so they have pretty mild grades, but this weekend, I pulled a couple of hills that amazed even myself, and better yet, I did it by spinning instead of pushing. What a RUSH!

Anyways, I've rambled enough, when all I really want to do was say THANKS again to all!! The "Roadies RULE" around here!!