SCochiller

I'm wondering if the preference for spinning vs. mashing has some physiological basis. An alternative hypothesis is that it's set in the first few times we ride.

Thoughts?

Carloswithac

I was a masher when I started riding, but slowly turned into a spinner. I think it's just innate.

topflightpro

I think that when many people start riding they tend to turn a slower cadence, but as they become more accustomed to riding, they develop a faster cadence.

My guess is that since many people start out by riding "single speed" bikes, like BMX bike I had as a kid, they develop a slower cadence. It takes some practice to break that habit.

ddeadserious

I came from riding fixed gear and am fairly overweight. Although my legs are in great shape, my lungs are not as happy about spinning, so I find myself often in a higher gear than I probably ought to be. I suppose I'd be more a "masher", but I'm working on spinning. Honestly I have the physiology of a track cyclist, but not enough time or gas to go to the local velodrome and ride.

Ghost Ryder

I think it goes back to our childhood, most of us started out on BMX, & MTB's.
We really only learn to theory/foundation of cycling in the early years, it takes time to learn new techniques when we always go back to what we know.
It natural for us to want to push harder to go faster whether it be in the proper gears or not. I also think muscle memory has something to do with it too.
I'm a masher by nature, but am transforming into a spinner, & my knees thank me for it.

Ghost Ryder

I was riding fixed before turning to road too.
Riding Fixed gives you no choice, you pretty much spin as fast as you want to go. Steep descents are another story...
Riding SS gives you the chance to spin until you hit a hill. You can cheat by coasting on descents.

gregf83 

Generally, cadence increases with power output. As new riders get more miles in their legs and increase their fitness their power and cadence go up.

Definitely not set in the first few rides.

StanSeven

fast twitch vs slow twitch fiber makeup has a large part

https://www.cyclesportcoaching.com/Fi...Training10.pdf

Ghost Ryder

I still tend to mash even though my very experienced riding buddies remind me spin more.
Coming from compact gearing on my CX, trainer makes using a standard on my new roadie a bit harder to remember to spin @ a high cadence.
I'm still learning the rope, & figuring out to best ratio for me on my current setup.

I see your in the same town/area as me, you ride often?
I'm still looking for an easy group to ride with. Any suggestions? (PM me)

garciawork

Weird, most seem to start out as mashers. I have always had the problem of too high of a cadence (110+). Switching to longer crank arms slowed me down a bit, but my average with stoplights and street crossing included is still 99ish, usually spinning around 110 unless the hill is pretty steep.

iLuveketchup

I just started not too long ago and I would consider myself a masher (for now). At this stage of my fitness, my lungs (breath) run out before my legs give out. So spinning up a hill is much much harder than mashing it. And it often leaves me spent to finish the ride.

I am working on keeping a higher cadence. It's getting better, but not there yet.

Velo Vol 

The fatter you are, the more you spin.

StanSeven

The skinnier your legs are, the more you spin.

So that means a fat person with toothpick legs uses 130 cadence

Doohickie

My sense is that it is weight-related. It seems that heavier people tend to mash while lighter people seem to spin. It makes sense, at least to me: The more massive you are, the harder it is to change the direction of that mass due to change of momentum. That would make longer, slower strokes preferable to slower, faster strokes. The extra strain on the knees is probably not as noticeable since they are used to supporting a larger mass while walking.


p.s.: I mash quite a bit.

chasm54

This. There is no mystery. Slow cadences, around 60rpm, are actually the most efficient in terms of consuming the least amount of oxygen for a given power output. So new riders, especially those who are unfit, tend to default to those low cadences becasue that imposes the least stress on their cardiovascular system. They don't really notice that this means that their legs get fatigued faster.

As they get fitter and more proficient, the energy cost of spinning faster becomes less significant, and they become (consciously or unconsciously) aware that they can put down more power, for longer, if they maintain a higher cadence. So the stronger, more experienced rider tends to migrate gradually towards higher and higher cadences until they get to their "natural" ceiling in the 90-100 range.

There are exceptions, but this is the common progression.

echotraveler

Isnt mashing, when you only pedal on the dOwn stroke?

Since mashing isnt efficient, people tend to move a harder gear @ lower candence to compensate...

On the other hand circular pedaling is efficien, letting you go faster on easier gears and making 80 to 90 cadence easy.... ZEN cycling


Spinning can be achived while maching.... Its just exhausting

MikeyBoyAz

The fatter you are... the better you roll

I started a masher ~60 cadence. I have long legs so I don't typically spin over 100 and my 'mash' at about 80 cadence now.

ultraman6970

IMO it depends, have seen spinners by nature, have seen smashers by nature aswell. Have seen made sprinters, have seen made smashers too.

The idea is to find a balance and thats the hard part, many mentioned early age development and the problem here is that many kids and dads just go with the whole gear on and their kids do the same at really early ages and that will affect them in their development or future development as riders if they want to do the sport seriously.

Between a smasher and a spinner, the spinner will be more efficient because if more speed is needed he can just add one more gear or just accelerate w/o any problem. A smasher can't do any of those two, specially because they are always going with the whole gears already engaged from mile zero.

There are genetics involved but in general is cycling education too, if nobody tell the guy whats the best or who to imitate is clear that the logic will be "as smaller the cog more fast i will ride, and i will get more muscles too," the clueless newbie smasher logic, and after 4 years the guys cant ride over 55 rpms because their heart and legs got used to it, the results...

gregf83 

Mashing or spinning, you get most of your power on the downstroke. When people talk about circular pedalling they are talking about unweighting the pedal on the upstroke. There isn't much force available on the upstroke unless you are sprinting out of the saddle. Even then, most of the power comes from the downstroke.

Like Chasm said above higher cadence spinning is actually slightly less efficient than lower cadence. Competitive cyclists care about maximum power, not maximum efficiency. Nobody gives prizes for high efficiency. Higher cadence pedalling also has the benefit of being able to react faster to surges. If you're only time trialling then you might get away with a lower cadence although Cancellera who puts out as much power as anyone in a one hour TT pedals around 110 RPM.

surgeonstone

Have always been a spinner, recently went fixed gear where I am mashing more for some of my rides, found I increased my average speed 1.5 mph. I am going to start routinely adding fixed gear rides to my routine. At the end of two weeks I felt a lot stronger.

chasm54

And almost all hour records since WW2 have been set at cadences around 100 or slightly higher. Which makes sense. The longer the TT the more one would want to spare one's legs to maintain a high output to the end.

pallen

yes. When you start out, you generally don't ride long rides, so mashing gets you down the road and keeps the huffing and puffing to a minimum. It feel right. If you are heavy, even more so, for all the reasons mentioned. As you lose weight and gain aerobic fitness and power, you can go longer with higher cadence.

I'm still learning this myself. I have to consciously think about shifting to lower gears and spinning more. It has really changed how destroyed (or not) I am at the end of a century.

echotraveler

Circular pedaling( "zen" pedaling) is smooth all around, its true tje down stroke has power. Butt you can train to not only unweight the backstroke. You can pull, i
The mental concentration needed is the "zen" part...

revchuck 

IMO, spinning is something you have to train yourself to do. Said training isn't difficult, it just takes time to get used to a cadence of 90+ rpm. I average about 90 rpm or a hair higher, and am comfortable at 110 and 80.

I didn't give cadence a thought until I started reading about training. I've never read anything that advocated a cadence of <90 rpm.

jack002

I used to mash, then I read about cadience now I spin. I dont think anyone would ever spin without planning to or trying to. I've heard it said that most people who start out riding have about a 73 rpm cadience because that's what speed your legs move at when you walk. I keep about 92 or so on the flats and get up to 120-130 in short bursts and down to 80 sometimes. Its a matter of how much cardio you use as opposed to muscle.