Originally Posted by
Robert C
I had a bike with bio-pace rings for several years. It was one of the easiest riding bikes I ever had. I think that the reason that bio-pace became taboo is that it was different and it was tuned to specific cadences. Mine worked great at about 60 rpm. Which, for a person returning to cycling, as I was back in the late 80's, it was ideal.
Serious cyclists tend to want to maintain a higher cadence and the bio-pace was not ideal for that (unless tuned to a different cadence). Mostly I think it was just a case of being different. Cycling design is extremely conservative.
From Sheldon Brown's Biopace article:
Biopace Chainwheels
"The
Cadence Issue
The marketers of Biopace made a crucial error of judgment: too much information. In particular, they mentioned that the Biopace design was optimized for
cadences of about 90 rpm and slower. Many readers interpreted this as an indication that Biopace chainrings would somehow interfere with pedaling faster than that. This perception caused a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the Conventional Wisdom arose that Biopace was bad for high-performance cyclists for this reason. I [Sheldon] used to believe this myself, but I rode them anyway because I appreciated their other virtues. "
and:
"Among other bikes, I run Biopace on several of my
fixed-gear machines, where high cadences are quite common in descending hills. In practice I have found no less ability to spin fast with Biopace chainrings, and, if anything, they permit me to spin
faster without bouncing in the saddle.
Here's why: While your feet go around in circles, your legs basically go up and down in a reciprocating motion. With Biopace chainrings, your leg speed is faster in the middle of the stroke (when the cranks are horizontal) but slower at the top and bottom of the stroke (when the cranks are vertical.)
The slower motion at top and bottom means that your leg changes direction from upward to downward, or downward to upward motion at a slightly slower, more gentle speed. The increased leg speed near the middle of the stroke is the result of a more gradual acceleration/deceleration with the leg moving in the same direction. Bouncing in the saddle generally results from difficulty with changes in leg direction, not speed in the middle of the stroke. Thus, as Biopace makes it easier on your knees, it also can help you spin faster without bouncing!"
Cheers