oldbobcat

The whipping action of kicking in competitive swimming, when practiced over years, can lead to loosening of the joint and hyperextension. I believe this can be more damaging for long-legged individuals because of the leverage involved (ratio of length of force arm to length of resistance arm). Long-legged athletes are better suited for cycling anyway. They have to work too hard just to maintain horizontal body position in the water.

I don't think recreational swimmers need to worry, though.

oldbobcat

A cruising cadence of 80-90 rpm is a fine target for recreational riders. Riders wanting to push their limits should work on cadence, though, before raising their gear ratios. When I messed up my knees I was riding more in the 55-70 rpm range. Not smart, but we were just undergraduates with just a Whole Earth Catalog Eugene Sloan for guidance back then.

There's a guy who goes on our group rides, who paid good money to a trainer who has him on a regimen of big gears, low cadence, and a peculiarly high and forward saddle position. Her (the trainer's) assertion is that the power numbers favor this kind of setup, and from what I've read I believe she's right. But whenever the road goes uphill or a gust of wind hits us in the face, her client can't produce the torque to power through, so he downshifts and falls behind.

CB HI

There are some anti-cycling government types here. They had decided to ban CADENCE on some of the roads I ride. I just ignore the following road signs, as it seems impossible to cycle with "NO CADENCE"

lhbernhardt

From my 30+ years of racing experience, I would have to add that one of the major reasons coaches start off by getting aspiring young riders to spin is to develop their nervous system. An untrained rider will amble along at about 60 rpm's in too big a gear. If he needs to go fast, he can't, because he's used to cranking at 60 rpm's. If you train your nervous system to spin a small gear (42x16) at 90-100 rpm's, then when you put on the race gear (53x16), you unconsciously gravitate to spinning it as well at 90-100 rpm's in the pack, and it's dead easy.

I've been riding fixed gears during the winter while I was racing, and now I ride the fixed gear all the time. Most guys can't drop me. They can be cranking along in a big gear at over 40 kmh, and I'm spinning the 42x16 at about 110 rpm's and it's easy. The flexibility of using the smaller gear gives you better "snap," so if a gap opens up, it's no big effort to shut it down. On the descents, I get totally "spun out" at about 59 kmh on the fixie, when I can't "float" the pedals anymore.

I think that the spin should come first, not the technique. The technique will come because you are spinning. My first track coach always advised "churning" the pedals. The most beautiful cyclists to watch are the trackies, whose solid position comes from having to spin a 90" gear at race speeds. The ugliest riders are mountain bikers, with bobbing upper bodies, even where the road is perfectly smooth. A good spin takes care of that ugly bobbing.

L.

cyclinfool

Have to agree with Stapfam. On short hills I can blast up and over with a high cadence, some times as high as 110 but that is not sustainable, on the long steep hills my best speed is hit at a cadence of 70, any more and I'll get too winded, any less and I am lugging. On VERY steep hong hills it is just pure survival. Here is where the cadence meter helps, if I get discouraged and let my cadence drop the meter tells me so and I try to pick up the pace, usually I am in my lowest gear so that means working harder if I can. If I can't get the cadence back to 70 then I just go back and low in the saddle and grind up the hill.

Donegal

I have been riding for over 10 years now and am a 53 year old rider. I ride with much younger and more conditioned companions.

I am totally engrossed in the cadence argument. I have spent 3 years working on managing my cadence to average 90-95. I used a Virtual Reality trainer that tracks cadence, heart rate and wattage. I also ride rollers throughout the winter. I rode slower, had less power and started to not enjoy my riding. My riding companions probably got tired of waiting on me. I was allways totally blown out after 1.5-2 hours.

When I first started riding, my nickname was the "tractor'. If I got out in the wind pulling on the flats or rollers, I could bust it in the big gear and tear the legs off my friends. I went back to basics, and I ignore the numbers. Using my trainer, I started monitoring wattage vs. heart rate. My power wattage is between 80-85rpm and I do better shifting up at around 90. I may slip down to around 75 when climbing.

After 3-4 months at the lower cadences, my speed is increasing again and my climbing is improved 10-fold. I will continue to listen to my body and believe that as my fitness improves, I will continue to get faster.

I believe that we are all different. Remember that Jan Ullrich climbed at around 74 rpm and was criticized heavily for it, but was still one of the 2 best riders in the world. 110 works for Lance, not everyone else. I have large heavy legs, and it takes too much aerobic capacity to spin beyond my comfort zone and negatively affects my performance. I also have good leg strength and have no problem pushing big gears. I ride to my heart rate and cadence, speed is function of conditioning and terrain.

All said, cadence will be argued for the next 100 years. Find what works for you.

Hermes

Allen and Coggan in Racing and Training with a power meter discuss cadence at length as well as quadrant analysis (circle of the pedal stroke). They discuss self directed cadence and training at cadence 10% above self directed cadence. It is impossible and probably not useful to try to discuss this level of detail in this medium. Needless to say, the power meter does not lie and reveals the truth.

I found that I can produce more power at lower cadence but MAY suffer later from fatigue. There is a balance between using force of muscular contraction and cardio.

I did an 18 mile time trial on Sunday. I targeted 85 to 90 cadence for the race biased toward 90. When the cadence would begin to drop due to whatever, I sucked it up and kept pushing mindful of smooth pedal stroke and no mashing and no shifting. The problem is if i would have shifted when the cadence dropped, I would momentarily lose power and mentally may not spin up enough to make up for the losses. With about 5 kilometers to go, I shifted into a bigger gear and pushed 80 rpm and used all my strength. The forces in my knees and legs were significant but I wanted max power. I beat my last year's time by ~4 minutes and came in 20th out of 30 in the M35+ 4/5 with several competitors finishing around my time. BTW, my knees and back were fine the next day. YMMV.

At the track, a wide range of cadence and neuromuscular capability is valued due to having a fixed gear bike. Training and racing at the track has helped my pedal stroke, power, neuromuscular capability and top end cadence.

billydonn

I agree with the agreement with the disagreement!