Originally Posted by
Eric F
In my experience, there is a definite tipping-point where the decreased frequency no longer compensates for the increased force, for aerobic demand. I completely agree that this varies from person to person. It also varies with training.
I found a "brute force" kind of fitness from riding a singlespeed where my endurance for pushing low-rpms improved. I took a break from riding the SS for a while, and my only MTB rides were on my geared bike. My aerobic fitness was improving (based on
PR times on a climb I do regularly), but when I got back on my SS, I couldn't maintain pushing the big gear the way I had before, and my climb time was slower than the last time I had ridden the SS, even though I was in better aerobic condition.
This is also going to vary with age, I would think.
I had some lung damage a couple years ago that has definitely taken a little bit out of my aerobic abilities. I'm consciously mixing up my cadences a little more to try to "retrain" around the newly imposed limitation, but if anything, it's even more clear that high torque/low cadence is my optimal strategy.
Where I really want to lower the torque, though, is in the heat.