Originally Posted by
RChung
"Detrimental" depends on what you're trying to maximize. The simplest case is if you're trying to maximize power: in that case, most of us attain max power in the neighborhood of half of maximum cadence (and half of max torque). There's a reason for that: max pedal force and max pedal speed are nearly linearly (negatively) related.
Just for clarification, are you talking about peak sprinting power (e.g. 3-sec duration) or maximum sustained power (e.g. 1 hour duration)? The latter makes more sense relative to my own cadence and torque limits. My cadence limit without bouncing like crazy is approx 160 rpm (achieved for a few seconds only during low power cadence drills) and my 1-hour best power is achieved at a cadence of around 85 rpm. So that ties up very well with your statement above. However, my peak sprint power is attained at 100-110 rpm (I'm not much of a sprinter btw). So considerably closer to my max cadence. Could I possibly spin at 220 rpm? I suppose maybe I could if I trained myself, but 160 rpm is certainly my current limit without losing control.