Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
Irrespective of your preferred cadence, installing higher gears will not increase your speed, unless you physically cannot pedal fast enough in your current setup. Gearing only affects the amount of pressure you put on the pedals, not the power you transmit to the wheels. It is an incorrect assumption that riding in a higher gear one will be able to pedal at the same rate and therefore go faster. If that were true why would you ever be in a lower gear?
I'm an engineer, so I understand the logic of what you are trying to say.
Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
On rails to trails conditions, such as a crushed limestone path, that is unlikely to happen unless you pedal extremely slowly. In the 42/11 gear at only 60 rpm you are going almost 18 mph, which is quite fast for those conditions. 70 rpm is still not very fast pedaling and would get you 21 mph.
Here's the thing. The combination of growing up in the foot hills of the Appalachine mountains, and having a relatively low athletic (i.e. cardiac) ability has created the situation where is it easier for me to apply power at low cadance. To me, a comfortable cadence is something on the order of 30 to 45 rpm. The result is that on a paved path, I'm getting a top speed of about 12mph at my comfortable cadence level yet feel like I still have power researve that I can push HARDer (just not faster).
Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
Thanks for the info
Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
p.s. It's pedaler not peddler, unless you're talking about there rate at which you sell stuff.
Once again - I'm an Engineer I'm good with numbers, not words and certainly not spelling.
