Originally Posted by
itri
5.25 miles in 16.5 minutes and that's with two complete-momentary-traffic-related stops. That's about 19 mph. Not bad if I may say so myself, but there's definite room for improvement.
I was spinning pretty fast, IMO. Probably close to if not at 90 rpm. People really spin at 115 rpm? Gotta shape up, I guess.
19 mph is a little over 85 RPM. That's perfectly fine for a sustained cadence. The other poster is right in that 90 RPM is kinda the lower boundary for people who like to say they "spin", but not everyone does or needs to do that. 85 is plenty efficient.
It's kinda important that your 85 RPM is a baseline, though. You should have at least another 50% in reserve for descents and short bursts. If 85 was comfortable, then you're in good shape and if you want to move up in gearing you'll probably be fine.
If 85 felt like you were pushing it, though, then you should probably stick with your current gearing and continue to get comfortable with the spin.