Originally Posted by
Sy Reene
That said, to what degree do riders either unwillingly or intentionally end up in lower cadence ranges, thereby increasing the muscle load. If intentionally, do riders make intentional training choices to eg. do their hills in a gear in which they can only get to 60rpm? How much of a ride should be in this "zone" vs. optimal efficiency RPMs?
I try to do big gear (53x11) intervals for 60 minutes once a week to work on power. Sometimes while sitting in on a group ride I'll put it in a large gear to do the same. The rest of the time I try to spin at 90-100 rpm since this is my natural cadence. I'll sometimes practice spinning at 110-120 to focus on an efficient pedal stroke. So it really depends on whether you're doing a training ride or doing a normal group or solo ride.