CliffordK

The point is that the power to the wheel is the same for one rider to go 20 MPH whether he is cranking 60 RPM or 100 RPM.

If a person's average power is limited by the cardiovascular system, then one should ride as it is comfortable, rather than trying to emulate the mythical pros, who as rekmeyata pointed out, may not even be cycling at the super high cadences.

If the OP wishes to try higher gearing, then by all means try it out. It may or may not make him faster or more comfortable, but it also gives additional gearing selection for those moments such as gentle downslopes, good tailwinds, or when the rider just wishes to sprint for a bit. Or, perhaps one wishes to vary one's cadence, from standing and pounding on the pedals for a bit to sitting and spinning for a while.

gregf83 

But the OP will never be fast riding at 60 RPM. At some point you have to be comfortable with a higher cadence.

Retro Grouch 

Think of it this way: If you put a Ferrari transmission into a Yugo, do you think that it would go 150 MPH? Unless you have the power in your legs to overcome the air resistance of your torso, faster gear ratios aren't going to help.

rekmeyata

Watch out, you're about to become public enemy number one like me.

KD5NRH

Dude, just change it over to a 52:11 fixie. All those other gears and junk are just weighing you down.

Andrew R Stewart 

Funny how the truth brings out the worst in some. Andy

jgcycle

I got that bike 4 years ago and wanted to go faster, since its a little heavy going uphill and into the wind. I put on 28mm Vittoria tires and it made a big difference. Easier pedaling in the higher gears and going uphill, etc.
After a while I still wanted to go faster yet and ended up getting a road bike.

cny-bikeman

Riding a bike is one of the best things one can do for a bad knee (no torsional or impact stress) and I rode a bike within about 4 days of cartilage surgery with crutches strapped to my bike rack. The worst thing you can do with bad knees is to go for higher gearing, or even ride the 48-11 all the time on the flat, and it's not going to give you more speed either. I can tell you without question that you will derive no benefit from doing either and likely will cause harm.

To get faster you have to do two things - increase cardiovascular capacity (including delivery to muscles) and increase strength. You do the first with higher cadence, which pushes your heart into better shape, allows easier flow of blood to muscles while producing less lactic acid to interfere with function, and improves capillary function. You do the latter by using that increased cardio capacity to supply your muscles during interval training (bursts of high intensity alternated with "rest." Note that the second goal does not get accomplished without the first.

The pro racers who can ride at 90 rpm at high speed did not get there by riding below 90 rpm at lower speeds. I raced Cat 3/4 for a couple years, rode with cat 2 riders in training, and rode and watched a lot of criteriums. Those riders were mostly at 90+ rpm, and we all did a lot of spinning and interval training before getting faster.

I will note that it is common when first training to use higher cadence to become more tired at a given speed. That is normal, and just is indicating that you are accomplishing something. The other thing I would note is that your training will progress much quicker if you can manage rides longer than 15 or 20 minutes. It takes a while just to warm up and get a rhythm.

If after asking for advice here you decide to not consider the assembled knowledge as relevant to you then so be it. You may be the rare exception.

AlexCyclistRoch

Seriously, when was the last time anybody here saw an "entry-level hybrid" going anywhere near 35 mph, except while going down the steepest hill? In my younger days, I doubt I could keep up even 30 mph on the flats in a lightweight road bike!

fietsbob

Visit the recumbent world and buy a low racer.. the biggest impediment to speed is air resistance. you sitting on the saddle upright is most of the air resistance.

even better? a faired bike low and shaped like a Fish.. https://www.recumbents.com/wisil/Ford...mpest_2009.JPG

measured 200M , flying start , best broke 80 mpg At Battle Mountain NV, IHPVA Meet.. several years ago,

more recently , University mechanical engineering department projects are the top speed holders..

Redbullet

Am I supposed to believe that this post is real?
With 48x12 gear, a low cadence rider (read "a strong rider") would develop 40 km/h speed at 80 rpm. At average cadence of 90 rpm, that would mean 45 km/h. And could easily hit 50 km/h on short bursts of 100 rpm.

So, you are that strong that you never ride below 40-45 km/h on flats???
What kind of monster are you and how does it come that professional trainers did not find you until now?
Get a sponsor, buy a 1000 $ road bike with 53/39 x 11-25 and I guarantee that you will beat (read "humiliate") anybody in the world!

Most road bikes come with max. 50x11 or 52x11. But even the well trained amateurs do not use more than 52x13 (which is l48x12), apart from very rare step descents.

rydabent

Go down hill with the wind.

12strings

To the OP: If you don't know your cadence, perhaps you can tell us what speed you are going on flat ground when you are in the 48-11 combo?

GravelMN

Exactly my point. The 48 x 11 gearing is more than adequate for the bike and it is highly unlikely the cyclist would reap significant benefits from the time and expense of "upgrading" to higher gearing. I've got a Trek 720 that has been upgraded as a flat bar touring bike with a 3 x 9 drivetrain but my highest gear is 44 x 11. Only on steep descents do I ever spin out as the speed at 100 rpm is about 32 mph and at 120 rpm (the highest cadence I can sustain for any period) is about 38. The highest speed ever achieved on that bike was 42 mph on a long straight descent and that was scary as hell even though the bike felt quite stable, so I can't imagine needing a higher gear on a hybrid. Even on my road bike I very rarely get into my highest gear (52-11).

GravelMN

OK, am I misreading something here? Are you saying that you need more challenge because you are spinning out a 48 x 11 gear on the flats, with a bad knee, and there is still only one guy on the trail that you can keep up with? Where is this trail of elite (superhuman) riders?

NWTrek

There's a hill in my area, yes I have ridden up it, that goes from 200' above sea level to 321' above sea level (that's 121') over a distance of 0.2 miles
A hill where I used to live, and ride up all the time, goes from ~180' - 500' over 0.6 miles ... I've also gone 52 mph down it

Redbullet

Sorry, but this still remains either in superhuman area or trolling. You need high gear for going down the hills with 52 mph? You can only reach such speed on extreme hills and without pedalling. That speed requires a cadence of almost 170 rpm with 48/12 on a road bike and that is really superman or trolling rpm.
Even with the biggest gear 53/11 (rarely used by strong pros), you need almost 140 rpm to hit 52mph.

So... what was the point of this post?

cny-bikeman

I think it's great that you want the extra challenge of that extra 2 teeth (4%). I'm sure it will be worth the 1 mph that you will automatically get in the higher gear.

Seriously, this is very simple to resolve - if you can run that 48/11 gear at over 26 mph on the level for a mere 2 full minutes on that bike go ahead and get the 50 tooth - and then try to top your previous performance. I believe you are just wasting your time, money and knee. Incidentally, I was only a Cat 4 rider, but I could hold that pace for 10 miles in a 48/14. If you want to challenge yourself the way to do it is not higher gears but higher *average* speed (or lower times for a given circuit - up and back or circle).

AlexCyclistRoch

I think the original poster is hell-bent on blowing out his knees, and ending up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life...

Homebrew01

Perhaps OP's computer is reading Km, not Miles

AlexCyclistRoch

Well, let me nominate the OP to automatically be elevated to "hors catagorie" and entered into his nearest pro-level hill climb, which he will immediately win. This thread makes me think of a scene in PeeWee's big Adventure, where he blows off the entire TdF peleton in his single-speed beach cruiser......

Inpd

+1. I was at a pro event and was trackside. I was amazed to see they weren't churning away, rather their cadence was quite slow but they were probably on 53/12.

GravelMN

You don't need a bigger gear, you need a longer hill and aero bars.

But here is the part that still has me baffled.

NWTrek

Let me clear up the baffle then -
I used to ride everywhere I went, weather and distance didn't stop me (yes, I've ridden in the snow*) - what stopped me was I got a car.
Tore my ACL in '91 (Desert Storm), my last real ride was in 94 or 95 (from South Port Orchard to Silverdale) and had no issue
Last time on a bike, before now, was in '04. Just a ride around the neighborhood. A little hill to get back home and I couldn't get up it AND ... I couldn't get off the bike. I had to stand there for a while and then, stepping sideways through the frame, lay the bike down, then pick it up and walk up the hill.
So I've been looking for a non-competitive riding partner, someone that will slow me down.
Haven't found the partner but the issue of getting off the bike is gone. Now the issue is road bikes go right by me where it used to be me taking the lead


* One of my snow rides was Silverdale to Everett (via Seattle) with 80lbs of gear, it snowed while in Everett (dropping off 40lbs at my brothers place), then Everett to Sand Point Navy Station in the snow (snow cleared while there), and Sand Point back to Silverdale ... Silverdale is where the 300' rise in 0.6 miles is

NWTrek

There's another post where Redbullet will say I'm a monster/superhuman or trolling - 'Nobody caries 80lbs on a bike or rides that far on a sunny day. What kind of animal rides in snow?'


Deal with it, Redbullet