Fifty Plus (50+) - Cadence Moderation

Do you guys moderate cadence totally by changing gears? I often find myself spinning faster than I want, but really have a difficult time for some reason simply pedaling easier. Hope this makes sense!:(

Some riders get in to a gear and stay in it. Even back in my MTB days- I used all the gears and changed between them frequently. Only problem I find is getting the right ring on the crankset for the forthcoming terrain. Running a Compact- this is important so Hills coming up and small ring. Once up to speed on the flat and it is The large ring. Then it is up and down the rings to keep the cadence right.

But cadence of 100 and a speed of 30mph and I must be going downhill and in the highest gear. Any faster and I will coast.

My cadence tends to be in the same range regardless of how fast or slow I'm going.

I ll try to clarify my question. Let's say today I was going down a nice stretch of road very comfortably at 80 rpm . Two minutes later I realize some minor disconfort, look down and see that I have worked up to 95 rpm. I guess my challenge is to stay around the original 80 rpm in this example. Would I do this by paying closer attention to the computer and change gears or what. I seem to have a hard time slowing down my cadence once it's built up.
Hope this makes sense!

I ll try to clarify my question. Let's say today I was going down a nice stretch of road very comfortably at 80 rpm . Two minutes later I realize some minor disconfort, look down and see that I have worked up to 95 rpm. I guess my challenge is to stay around the original 80 rpm in this example. Would I do this by paying closer attention to the computer and change gears or what. I seem to have a hard time slowing down my cadence once it's built up.
Hope this makes sense!

It is something you definitely learn and train yourself to do over time. If I have not cycled in a little while, I find I have to spin faster than what feels natural. It does require monitoring the meter a little more than you normally might do. Interestingly, I can tell within a rpm or two what my cadence is without looking at the meter-just developed a feel for it over time. For me, I'm trying to push/pull on the pedals using the same effort and a cadence of 85-90 so when the terrain changes (or wind) I have to adjust the gears to keep the cadence within that range.

I try to keep my cadence at around 80 to 85 rpm during my morning rides.... here on the gulf coast it is about as flat as it gets, (the only hills are the bridges) so 99% of the time I am on the big chain ring, but depending on the head wind, I will use several gears to keep my cadence in the 80 range more or less. (isn't that what multiple gears are for) :lol:

Why try to slow your cadence? Just shift into a higher gear and let your tendency to spin faster make you go faster. You'll eventually hit your limit and not be able to spin faster.

Cadence is what you want it to be so if you are comfortable at 80- that is fine. Only thing is that a higher cadence does make it easier- providing you feel comfortable doing it.

I have cadence on the Garmin and it is set up but I rarely check it on a ride. I pedal at a cadence that feels comfortable- hence my frequent changes of gear to keep it right. It does run at 90 to 95- but slips to 80 when slopes get in the way- and still feels comfortable. And when the real hills are there it will be lower. Mainly because I have run out of gears and I cannot get to 90 on a 15% gradient.

When riding solo, I shift gears to keep my cadence close to 95. Riding with my wife, I have to work on keeping my cadence from increasing as I'm often having to slow my pace to stay behind her.

I ll try to clarify my question. Let's say today I was going down a nice stretch of road very comfortably at 80 rpm . Two minutes later I realize some minor disconfort, look down and see that I have worked up to 95 rpm. I guess my challenge is to stay around the original 80 rpm in this example. Would I do this by paying closer attention to the computer and change gears or what. I seem to have a hard time slowing down my cadence once it's built up.
Hope this makes sense!

It's a little like driving a stick shift, if your standard tranny car has a tachometer then you have a red line on it, there probably isn't a minimum mark. Your bicycle "engine" also has a red line, although above this you can't damage anything, but your going to put in a lot more energy for little gain. So, your power band, the range that is usually the best performance for the least energy is between 80 and 95RPM. The rule is then simple, if your pedalling along and find your RPM starting to drop below 80 then you shift to an easier gear. If you find yourself at the 95RPM mark, then shift to a harder (higher) gear.

What I do, is I consider the bicycle has 2 or 3 gear ranges, if you have a double, you have low range for uphill and high range for downhill, flats are usually high on the low range or low on the high range. If you have a triple crank, you have low range for the uphill, middle range for the flats and high range for the downhill.

What some riders do, is this, you intentionally pedal just a little above your highest comfortable RPM for a short period of time, if your comfortable highest is 90, maybe you intentionally push to 95 for 2 minutes, then back down to 80 for 2 minutes, then back to the 95 again for 2 minutes. Before long you will find it's not hard to keep at that 95 RPM for much longer then 2 minutes, you can now try for 100 RPM. Your stretching your power band. I don't look at speed anymore, I keep and eye on the cadence, and I find for me, I can pretty much stay in the 80-95 range.

I've had my cadence at 90 or 95, but I'm really getting more comfortable at a 100 or 105. Slow or fast riding, I shift and try and keep it the same. Some days I'll be riding along and really not paying attention to what I'm doing and then, just for the heck of it, I'll start counting and I'm at 100 or a little over.

I've been fascinated in the last few years when I get to watch a bike race on TV and they're showing the stats for any number of riders they're monitoring during the race. In last years TdF the typical cadence for those they monitored, when tucked into the peloton was between 83 and 90. It didn't really jump up above 90 until the peloton started to chase a break-away group. But then I saw one or two other riders in the Tour of California who were at about 95 - 100 when tucked into the peloton. All of this lead me to believe that cadence is a relatively personal thing with the generalized principle that spinning is better than mashing. Hence I try to keep my cadence above a certain level. Beyond that I pay attention to what my body is telling me. When I feel discomfort, I change gears to change cadence (often for me this is the result of pushing too big a gear and needing to spin more.) There have been times when I've been spinning above 110 for prolonged periods of time, but it's never caused discomfort. Several summers ago, spinning at the 110+ range would cause discomfort in that my hips would be rocking too much. This, however, was a sign that my seat was just a bit too high, and lowering it ever so slightly allowed me to spin more smoothly. What is the nature of your discomfort?

Here is what I put in the Spinning vs pushing thread - it fits here too:

"Many of us have a cadence on the flats of 80 to 90 and research shows this is what the pros (except for Lance) do. It also shows that for sustained climbs the cadence drops to between 60 and 70. Articles also suggest that you are most efficient in the ranges you feel most comfortable, we are not all built the same.

Lucia, A. et al (2001) Preferred pedalling cadence in professional cycling. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 33(8): 1361-1366.
Korff et al (2007) Effect of pedalling technique on mechanical effectiveness and efficiency in cyclists. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 39(6) 991-995.

My comfort zone is in that 80-90 region, I usually only exceed that when I need to sprint with power, when climbing a small roller or closing a gap in a pace line."