Cadence...

[monkeyevil]

Today on the commute/workout I tried to keep a proper cadence.

Like all newbs I tend to us higher gearing and a slower cadence. Keeping my cadence at 70-80 for my 4.5 mile rolling hill commute did a few things.

1. It lowered my average speed by 1 MPH. I was tired this morning, and I contribute maybe .5 MPH loss to that.
2. My legs burned like hell the whole trip.
3. My upper body felt more rested after the ride than it usually does.

Is this normal?

[UniversalFrost]

i actually keep around 80-85 for all conditions. consistency is the key.

[Richard_Rides]

Lance would often ride at 120 RPM. When I go over 100 my shoes fall off. I usually aim for around 80 on the flats or 90 when trying to spin up a small hill.

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/images/Lance.Armstrong.7.Fingers.jpg

[Mr. Beanz]

Keeping high cadence takes practice. There are trainer drills for increasing cadence. Intervals of one minute at while trying to keep 100 rpn. Takes time but one gets better at it!:D

I used to mash (low hard gears) till I learnt better. I did some drills. Soon I was out on the flats spinning at 95. That's on a 39 front chainring roadie maybe 21 mph. On the triple, I run the 42 at about 85. After I got the feel, I ditched the cadence cause it doesn't really mean a thing once you know how to spin. Maybe if you're training for a race, but not for a rec rider like me.

On a long climb, 21 miles with 5k of climbing, I might do a 70-75 cadence. That's what's comfy and works for me. I've tried 90 and the feel of spinning going nowhere uphill is what I get!:p

[Wogsterca]

Today on the commute/workout I tried to keep a proper cadence.

Like all newbs I tend to us higher gearing and a slower cadence. Keeping my cadence at 70-80 for my 4.5 mile rolling hill commute did a few things.

1. It lowered my average speed by 1 MPH. I was tired this morning, and I contribute maybe .5 MPH loss to that.
2. My legs burned like hell the whole trip.
3. My upper body felt more rested after the ride than it usually does.

Is this normal?

Lots of things can affect speed, hills and wind being the biggest ones, not being used to doing something, is another. What you should do, is try to maintain your 70-80 for a week, and see if it starts feeling better, if it does then maybe try to push a little, maybe 75-85, then when it starts getting good, push for 80-90, then 85-95, you can try for faster, maybe in a sprint, but 80-100 is the typical power band for most riders, so staying roughly in the middle of that range, is good enough. If you want to race, then you want faster still....

The key is that when you get a good cadence going, you will find you can shift into a higher gear, and keep at that rate, meaning you gain some speed.

[huffergoat]

Higher cadence shifts the effort onto your lungs/ breathing. Lower cadence shifts the effort onto your legs. Once you get spinning sorted out you can find the best compromise between the two and then as your fitness improves you can slowly increase your cadence. If you go hard at low cadence once your legs run out of juice you bonk. Your legs just shut down. When your lungs feel like they are about to explode you can ease off and recover then you can go hard some more. Stay out of the bonk zone.

[sstorkel]

I find that my typical cadence is around 90-95 rpm. On flat sections after a descent, I might get up to 110rpm. Too much faster and I start bouncing around on the saddle because my pedaling isn't smooth enough. As someone else mentioned, I feel like I can ride farther and faster with a higher cadence because it doesn't require as much leg strength.

[Missbumble]

Yoo Hooo...How do I measure Cadence? I have a bike computer - $20-$40 (Signma) I do not think it does rpm... It seems to do: Time, Elasped Time, Miles, MPH, and Cumulative miles...Do you thinkit does cadence...and should i shoot for something. Is there a difference men vs women (For cadence I mean...)

[Tom Stormcrowe]

You can either get a cadence computer or use music at or around 80-100 Beats/Minute and match your cadence to that, or you can mentally count 1, 1000, 2, 1000, 3, 1000 and turn 1 1/2 turns of the crank per X, 1000 and be around a 90 cadence. ;)

[Missbumble]

Thanks Tom - No music - I just read the music thread...and I get it. I have enough trouble without listening to my ipod... I could try counting though....

[xlacrosse]

When I started riding last year, my cadence was around 60.... then once I started riding a roadie I was constantly in the mid 80's . At this point im averaging 98-100

I just forced myself to spin more and at this point its second nature

[flip18436572]

Get a cadence computer rather cheap anymore. Learn to sping around 85-100 and it is easier. I still can't convince the wife, but oh well, that is how it goes.

[StanSeven]

Cadence is a purely personal thing once you experiment. The "ideal" cadence for tt's is 75-85 rpm but there's a wide varience among the pro's. On long distances, people with lots of large muscle mass tend to use slow cadence. People with lean muscle mass tend to resort to fast cadence.

If you see someone going 110 rpm, they usually have very thin legs. If you see someone at 75 rpm, they tend to have very developed legs.

[xlacrosse]

Cadence is a purely personal thing once you experiment. The "ideal" cadence for tt's is 75-85 rpm but there's a wide varience among the pro's. On long distances, people with lots of large muscle mass tend to use slow cadence. People with lean muscle mass tend to resort to fast cadence.

If you see someone going 110 rpm, they usually have very thin legs. If you see someone at 75 rpm, they tend to have very developed legs.

I gotta disagree w. you on that. My legs are massive and I avg over 95rpm on all my rides, the issue is that alot of riders w/ large legs tend to take advantage of the fact that they can spin a large gear. I did it for a long time, but in the long run your going to have alot of issues w/ distance riding and climbing.

[Bill Kapaun]

There are other factors that affect cadence. A major one may be crank length. Knee condition is another.
Just because someone else can spin like crazy doesn't mean you can.
As mentioned, it also takes practice.

Here's some personal experience with cadence and crank length-
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=361045

[Caincando1]

A cadence computer is a must.

For me if I'm going for speed I run 90-100 if I'm going for endurance for either long distance or Tri's I'm more like 80-90 rpm's.

[UniversalFrost]

Cadence is a purely personal thing once you experiment. The "ideal" cadence for tt's is 75-85 rpm but there's a wide varience among the pro's. On long distances, people with lots of large muscle mass tend to use slow cadence. People with lean muscle mass tend to resort to fast cadence.

If you see someone going 110 rpm, they usually have very thin legs. If you see someone at 75 rpm, they tend to have very developed legs.

I totally agree. I hike a lot and was a heavy runner and I lift a lot and my legs are massive and my cadence is lower than most all around. only time I switch to a higher cadence is speed on climbs (this also allows me to never get out of the seat on climbs).

Computers with cadence can be had cheap. I picked up last years model of a specialized computer (can't remeber which) for about half of the 2008 model and they looked almost identical with the exception of a slightly larger display on the 07 (which I liked the larger display anyway) Paid about 45 for it compared to the 90-100 for the 08 model.

JOE

[Bill Kapaun]

If you don't have a computer with cadence, you can calculate it backwaards with this link-
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Just pick a gear and a speed that feels good. Enter different cadence values until you find a match. With a bit of interpolation, you should be able to narrow it down in 2-3 tries. Once you know what a certain cadence feels like, you can get pretty close to that without a cadence computer.
Don't be as concerned about super high cadence numbers, as finding a good cadence that works for you. It is better to ride and enjoy, than get too involved in details.