Originally Posted by
RChung
I'm not sure "prioritizing" is the right word. I think they're jointly determined, depending on what the rider is facing, and what the rider wants to do. I do think some riders lean a little bit more toward modulating their power with cadence, others lean a little bit more toward torque, but everyone is adjusting both, all the time.
Yeah I think cadence and torque are both dynamic when the riding situation is dynamic. For example if I attack a short, steep climb I will ramp up both my torque and cadence simultaneously. I might go from 80 to 95+ rpm and then start shifting down gears to maintain that higher cadence. Or I might take a completely different approach and attack it out of the saddle in a higher gear and lower cadence.
Talking about a “preferred” cadence has more meaning for me with steady state power efforts. If I’m doing a 20 min sweet spot interval in ERG mode I will revert to my “preferred” cadence at that constant power. As I mentioned earlier, my “preferred” steady state cadence will tend to creep up at higher power levels. However, for steady state climbing I tend to prefer a slightly lower cadence than on the flat at the same power.