Originally Posted by bmclaughlin807
It's also easier on your knees!!! I have two torn ligaments, and some (don't know yet how much) damage to the menescus from an incident at work last year... they still haven't decided on whether they should operate on it, or not.
I know that when my cadence drops, and I start to mash, my knee will start to throb, but I can ride at a higher cadence all day and not feel anything from the knee.
It takes a bit to get used to, but I've increased my cadence by more than 20 rpm in less than 2 months. I used to ride everywhere at about 55-65 rpm... that's what I was used to, what I rode at in high school, and what I've done since. A month and a half into it, and my cadence is almost always above 75, and pretty regularly in the mid-90s. I feel fairly comfortable in the 100-110 range for a couple miles.
Just wait till you start to see less and less of a need for the big ring lol.
I avarage 110 for long distances and on a 11 mile ride just now i had a ararage of 105. One time just to see what i could do as a max i gave it all i had on a down hill in lowest gear and flipped my topeak cadence. Im asuming its got a max of 200. Last i dared look on that run i seen 192. I didnt hold that high cadence for very long maybe 30 secounds at most. That was at the end of last season trying right after i got my comp i coudl only muster maybe 120s for less time. Now im not even shocked to look at my max cadence and see 128 130 with avarage over all in low 100s
Once you get to a high avarage cadence its a whole other ball of wax. Like others have said its easyer on the knees because your not stressing the joints. Your avarage speed top speed etc all go up.