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high cadence

Old 07-04-07, 12:34 PM
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high cadence

This is a novice question I'm sure, but what should I do if I find myself "bouncing" on my saddle at high cadence? Thanks!
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Old 07-04-07, 12:38 PM
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change gear so your cadence is lower
(maybe lower your saddle if your rocking laterally too much)
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Old 07-04-07, 12:41 PM
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Practice practice practice.

A huge visualization technique that I use with a higher cadence is to think of bringing your knees up to your handlebars with each pedal stroke. This lets you use your abs to stabilize.
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Old 07-04-07, 12:41 PM
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Work on your stroke. You should be able to pedal smoothly in the lower gears at a high cadence.
If you are bouncing, practice pedaling smoothly with just one leg so you can get the feel of the correct ankle position as you spin
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Old 07-04-07, 12:56 PM
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Bouncing is bad. Try smoothly "pulling" up at the top of your stroke with your thighs instead of ramrodding down.
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Old 07-04-07, 01:02 PM
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does anyone know where I can find a more detailed training guide on my stroke? ie. pros and cons and what to pay attention to?
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Old 07-04-07, 01:05 PM
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buy rollers.
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Old 07-04-07, 01:08 PM
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For the love of all that is holy, please, determine what your "natural" cadence is instead of trying to push 110rpm. Anyone who has told you that a higher cadence will make you better, faster, etc. is almost certainly misinformed.

Almost everyone will fall into the 85-95rpm range. You're robbing yourself of power trying to pull off the high cadence.
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Old 07-04-07, 01:16 PM
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Originally Posted by eysnala
does anyone know where I can find a more detailed training guide on my stroke? ie. pros and cons and what to pay attention to?
Pedaling happens way too quickly to think about "what" you're supposed to do. Two awesome drills are to pedal downhill in a really low gear at as high a cadence as you can manage without bouncing. i.e., zero resistance on the pedals.

Or you can just do one-leg pedal drills. Take one foot off the pedals and just ride.
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Old 07-04-07, 01:18 PM
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I ride 100-110 all the time and enjoy it. you really just need to find what is right to you. I am not very strong so I need to have that fast of a cadence to ride fast.
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Old 07-04-07, 01:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Duke of Kent
For the love of all that is holy, please, determine what your "natural" cadence is instead of trying to push 110rpm. Anyone who has told you that a higher cadence will make you better, faster, etc. is almost certainly misinformed.

Almost everyone will fall into the 85-95rpm range. You're robbing yourself of power trying to pull off the high cadence.
+1 to this, don't make yourself look like a tool. You bought a bike with a lot of gears, use them!
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Old 07-04-07, 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Duke of Kent
For the love of all that is holy, please, determine what your "natural" cadence is instead of trying to push 110rpm. Anyone who has told you that a higher cadence will make you better, faster, etc. is almost certainly misinformed.

Almost everyone will fall into the 85-95rpm range. You're robbing yourself of power trying to pull off the high cadence.
Could you expand on this? I'd like to know why a high cadence would rob power, if you are good at it and can spin smoothly.
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Old 07-04-07, 02:56 PM
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I don't have the links on hand, but studies have shown that high of a cadence to be inefficient and that lower cadences provide more power. Lance Armstrong being an exception (not everyone gets a chance to rebuild their body post-cancer), damn near every professional cyclist will spin 90-95rpm. Why? Because it's not wasting any movement and produces the most power. Unless you have a rather inhuman aerobic system upon which to place the load of pushing 110rpm, you'll be better off at the "normal" range.
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Old 07-04-07, 03:07 PM
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I ask because on my ride today, I was spinning at 100-110 for a large portion when on the flats, and while I don't have a very smooth stroke yet (I'm a relative newbie), it felt pretty good.

This was my first ride with a computer, so I was interested to see what different cadences felt like.
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Old 07-04-07, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Jay Gloab
I ask because on my ride today, I was spinning at 100-110 for a large portion when on the flats, and while I don't have a very smooth stroke yet (I'm a relative newbie), it felt pretty good.

This was my first ride with a computer, so I was interested to see what different cadences felt like.
Money says you'd produce more power, or the same power for a longer time period, with a lower cadence. Just my two cents.
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Old 07-04-07, 03:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Duke of Kent
For the love of all that is holy, please, determine what your "natural" cadence is instead of trying to push 110rpm. Anyone who has told you that a higher cadence will make you better, faster, etc. is almost certainly misinformed.

Almost everyone will fall into the 85-95rpm range. You're robbing yourself of power trying to pull off the high cadence.
Man, I'm glad you said this in an open forum, b/c I'm tired of hearing high cadence preached about all over the place. I personally much prefer a lower cadence and using a bit more leg to maintian a pace. I can spin okay, but when I get up above the 100 range, I begin to bounce as well, and feel like there is not much point in pedaling that fast. Seems to me that it wastes more energy than if I actually have some amount of resistance in my pedals.
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Old 07-04-07, 03:32 PM
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around 110-120ish is sorta your body's resonant frequency (read it some place got no equations to back it up) so it might seem like you are bouncing more than what you might otherwise.. try either pushing higher or backing down..
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Old 07-04-07, 03:43 PM
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I just got my first computer with cadence, and while I always thought spinning at a high cadence just wasn't for me, actually seeing it made me sure. I seem to feel best around 80-90rpm...not that I am any sort of an expert or strong rider. High cadence being touted as the best thing in cycling since sliced bread always bothered me. If LA had finished 2nd in the TdF behind Ullrich all of those years we would have a bunch of big gear mashers saying that IT was the only way to ride .
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Old 07-04-07, 04:44 PM
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Originally Posted by botto
buy rollers.

Yes.
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Old 07-04-07, 05:32 PM
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/en...ubmed_RVDocSum

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Jun;39(6):991-5.

Effect of pedaling technique on mechanical effectiveness and efficiency in cyclists.
Korff T, Romer LM, Mayhew I, Martin JC.

Brunel University, Centre for Sports Medicine and Human Performance, Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK. thomas.korff@brunel.ac.uk

PURPOSE: To optimize endurance cycling performance, it is important to maximize efficiency. Power-measuring cranks and force-sensing pedals can be used to determine the mechanical effectiveness of cycling. From both a coaching and basic science perspective, it is of interest if a mechanically effective pedaling technique leads to greater efficiency. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of different pedaling techniques on mechanical effectiveness and gross efficiency during steady-state cycling. METHODS: Eight male cyclists exercised on a cycle ergometer at 90 rpm and 200 W using four different pedaling techniques: preferred pedaling; pedaling in circles; emphasizing the pull during the upstroke; and emphasizing the push during the downstroke. Each exercise bout lasted 6 min and was interspersed with 6 min of passive rest. We obtained mechanical effectiveness and gross efficiency using pedal-reaction forces and respiratory measures, respectively. RESULTS: When the participants were instructed to pull on the pedal during the upstroke, mechanical effectiveness was greater (index of force effectiveness=62.4+/-9.8%) and gross efficiency was lower (gross efficiency=19.0+/-0.7%) compared with the other pedaling conditions (index of force effectiveness=48.2+/-5.1% and gross efficiency=20.2+/-0.6%; means and standard deviations collapsed across preferred, circling, and pushing conditions). Mechanical effectiveness and gross efficiency during the circling and pushing conditions did not differ significantly from the preferred pedaling condition. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical effectiveness is not indicative of gross efficiency across pedaling techniques. These results thereby provide coaches and athletes with useful information for interpreting measures of mechanical effectiveness.
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