Totally!

I came to big-boy bicycling (or girl, depending on your gender) in the early 80's, when I entered college, found myself in a pool of bicycling enthusiasts who road bike-shop-nice 10 speeds, and I saw them, and wanted to be part of it. That was an era of "spinning" in that anyone who really new anything about bicycling, which I did because I read old issues of "Bicycling!" magazine that my friends, and the local bicycle shop, had lying around. Everything told you that real bicyclists spun... and I wanted to pose as, or be as much like, a real bicyclist as I possibly could be, so I spun too. I don't remember what the exact advise was, but I'm sure something like 100+ rpm was a nirvana level type achievement, and something I should aspire to always obtain. When I returned to bicycling, in my forties, after a good decade or two away from things, I just picked up where I was before... spinning. But, somewhere along the bike path, I forgot to concentrate on how I was doing things, and fell into a zen state of total indifference. Now, I slip into some zone of rpm that I'm comfortable with maintaining for the journey, much like a long distance runner learns to run within a zone that allows them to output effort without ever exhausting themselves. I really always did my bicycle riding this way, coming from a history of running in high school and beyond, where I try to hit a level of output that I feel I can maintain for an extended period of time, and the rpm's are a secondary to this. I still spin higher, and in a lower gear, than my sometimes outing partner. Now, being in my fifties, I still feel that this method still works well for me... it requires my heart and legs to maintain some extended elevated output (good for long term physical life longevity) and doesn't ask my legs and back to find some super elevated level of short burst output (bad, for this now worn out human specimen).

Yep, that's pretty much how I do it.

I try to coast a lot, too. Usually when I'm going downhill.

I was a spinner. 90 rpm like clockwork on flat terrain, faster on downhills, maybe a little slower on climbs, around 80 rpm.

Was.

But spinning is more aerobically demanding and I was getting gassed more and more easily. Didn't matter how hard I trained, I was getting gassed. I thought it was just asthma but nothing helped much -- albuterol, other decongestants like ephedrine.

Turns out my thyroid is so swollen, especially on one side, it had shoved my trachea sideways more than an inch and constricted it nearly shut. Asthma occasionally made it worse, but the main problem is a crushed pipe.

So until surgery corrects that problem I'm modifying my pedaling technique (I'm being checked for cancer this month, but I'm betting it's a benign tumor and a flare up of an old autoimmune disorder).

For the past month I've been working on the indoor trainer on mashing bigger gears around 70-80 rpm while seated, and even bigger gears standing for longer periods, up to 2-5 minutes, at 50-60 rpm.

Very different technique for me. But for now it suits my aerobic restrictions. When I've tried it on familiar 20-30 mile routes my times are the same and I feel about the same at the end of the ride. So it's just different, not better or worse.

Pushing bigger gears may better suit the bike anyway. It's an '89 steel road bike, 14 speed, 52/39 chainring, 13-24 freewheel. Doing the Eddy Merckx rock 'n' roll, plenty of body English to help the legs, seems natural with some practice.

The more resistance there is the more i shift my feet forward on the pedals to push from the heel. The less resistance there is the more i shift my feet back on the pedals to spin from the toe.

I cycle as an alternative to driving/using public transport and therefore i stick mostly to classic 3 speeds. This technique suits me well for cycling with luggage in hilly terrain here in Switzerland.

I try to spin. Have been a masher from my youth out of ignorance. I find my cadence is dependent on my condition. I did about 4k last year with a cadence that was in the 80 to 100 range with 110 spurts. Felt really good. Today is a different story. I really have to concentrate to keep the cadence up. My lleft knee will go out on me in pain sometimes. I just pedal through it without much force, which is hard on a steep climb. It will recover within a 1/4 mile and it is find again. That is always a reminder to try to keep the cadence up.

My new comp has a cadence function, which I wanted to work on smoothing out my pedaling, erratic since I was a teenager. Finding I am spending a lot of time at 60-85 RPM, and I don't ever want to drop below that. My intent is, as I get into better shape and the chardonnay gut fades, to bring up my average cadence. Trying for a smooth push on the downstroke, and am only pulling up for brief periods to get me to the top of a grade or over a humpbacked trail bridge without an additional shift.

(OT, just finished my best-ever morning ride, 18.0 miles in 58:55, avg 18.3mpg, I just wish I had remembered to fill my water bottle!)

Had to google that, wasn't sure what language that was. Red? If so, cool.

I guess I pedal in circles?

Back when i got seriously into cycling, there was still lingering talk of 'ankling', which I tried to do for a couple rides, not really knowing what I was doing. This was around the time I got my first toe clips and straps. Those made the hills - I've always lived in hilly places - much easier. I quickly learned to pull up when climbing. A couple years later when I got my first cleats, I learned to modify this by pedaling all around the circle, more or less. I was advised that the whole ankling thing was kind of BS, and that I should just ride a lot of miles to get good form. Also, I was told that riding rollers would help my spin, and riding a fix in winter would help both my pedaling form, and my strength and power. I'd say that's still good advice. I certainly worked for me then.

Yes, I ride clipless nowadays, which is functionally the same as cleat shoes with clips and straps. I have on occasion had city bikes that had only flat pedals. I still remember how to ride them...

I still pull up when climbing, if I want, both in and out of the saddle. I can kind of turn it on and off to some extent depending on which muscles are tired. Other than that I don't really think about pedaling. I used to think I was slightly on the big gear pusher side of the spectrum, but compared to most others out there, I realize I'm really more of a spinner. I do like a smooth cadence that doesn't bog down. Even if pushing a slightly big gear on a climb, I think this is important.

It should probably be remembered that vintage racing bikes usually had a 42x21 for a low gear. Usually climbing was some combination of out of the saddle and in the saddle. If you wanted to 'spin climb' in seated position, you were advised to get a freewheel with a 24t low.

Spin climbing at 110 rpm or something like some modern pros do was basically not an option.

This is a great question and an interesting thread. It's something I've been thinking about quite a bit since training with a power meter. My pedaling strategy: Focus on fluidity.
~Don't dwell on the cadence (generally average 90rpm on nearly every ride--sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower on climbs.) But work in one or two high-cadence drills per week (e.g. 3 x 110 rpm @ 1m)
~Work minor muscle groups in the gym (for example, the hip-flexors really help the flat-spot at the top of the pedal stroke [10:00 to 2:00.])
~Plenty of time on the rollers. One of the things I focus on rollers workouts (I have the Krietler resistance fan) is Watts-vs-HR. Example, average HR for a session is 150bpm, and my average power is 260W or better. But I don't think about it during the workout, and focus only on maintaining fluidity, especially when a hard effort tends to make my legs want to pedal in squares.

Been doing this for years and felt a little gratified when watching Froome et al on the rollers at the finish line after a stage. I know they're not "cooling down", but actually undoing the damage to their fluidity by the effort. Going full-bore tends to make your fluidity a little junky, and I find it's beneficial to spend a little time immediately after a hard effort to polish your fluidity. Also chuckled when watching that clip of Sagan doing splits and other gymnast's movements in the gym--the dude has no "minor" muscle groups and as a result, has a very fluid, supple spin that makes it look easy.

I was stupid when young. Used to believe the way to get stronger and faster was to simply go hard and long constantly. Build the motor by beating on it, without putting any thought into it. Of course I couldn't figure out why my sickly Dutch and Belgian teammates were so much faster and stronger, despite resting so much and even drinking beer.(!) There's a reason why a 600cc inline-four sport motorcycle will vastly outperform a 1300+cc Harley Davidson V-twin, and that reason is efficiency.

But of course everyone has a different version of what works for them, and it's been interesting to read what you guys have learned.

I definitely want to read all of this thread, though it may be of no use to me

For better or worse, I sprint quite a lot of the time, until I hit a light or get tired. Not super hard sprinting but I love to accelerate quickly, shift down a few times while standing up. Lately I've been honing in shifting while accelerating so I don't shift under a lot of load, I do a thing where I kind of balance my pedal stroke for a second while I shift and then keep pushing hard. Lately I've gotten a bit stronger so I tend to take my hands off my bars once I get to a certain speed and cadence, don't really need to be going that fast on the street I live on lol.

I have FINALLY been learning to pace myself in SF with some of the longer climbs on my commute out past Daly City, but I'm also just getting to point where I know the better routes to take and just don't have to worry about it all that much. I mean last month I pushed myself to the top of the mile long hill on Bayshore while I was still recovering from a nasty headcold, had to stop at the top for a while and thought I was gonna vomit for sure. I used to ride like 10 miles to work on an empty stomach too. Those days are mostly over, I take care of myself and have gotten strong enough that the hills don't make me feel like death is near if I'm careful.

Not sure if I've managed to come off as braggy at all, but I don't intend to. I'm sure most of ya'll are stronger riders than me. I just like to ride hard, have fun going fast pushing my limits and getting stronger. I'd love to train hard to be one of the pros but as long as that seems fairly out of reach I'm not worried about doing stuff efficiently or training the right way as long as I don't hurt myself. I just love the sport and love to have fun doing it

I've always been a masher. When I was young, rides were never long distances. I was light, a fast runner and it was always a race.

When I got to High School, I developed endurance, but when you weigh under 120, can leg press 540, and run pretty much all day, riding around in anything less than 52-14 just felt unnecessarily slow - even up a lot of hills. Wish I could still have all those attributes now, but my legs are still relatively strong, I tend to compete against myself and the clock (although often with depressing results), so I'm still a masher for the most part.

Here's my pedaling strategy - I usually ride fixed gear (90% of the time?) and you pedal as fast or as hard as you have to.
When I do my hills ride on the vintage geared bikes, I shift when it gets really hard, then stand up when you run out of gears. Sometimes you get to go really fast, which you can't do on a fixed gear.
Pretty simple.

Pedaling...such an easy thing yet so much to it. Saddle height, foot placement, foot alignment, knee alignment, etc. And something I havent seen mentioned yet...ankling. Theres fore and aft positiining on the saddle, pushing, spinning, on and on.

When I ride I keep all those variables in mind and use all the muscles to achieve the "souplesse" that I have developed over 45 years.

When I was 15 yrs old John VandeVelde rode with our bike club. On my very first club ride he said I pedaled nicely. What a great compliment from a then pro rider. Really motivated me to strive forward in competitive cycling.

At this point in my life I am trying to compensate for a curvature in my spine that has plagued me for years. But knowing I have it I have changed my pedaling technique and the results are astounding. I would say I am stronger now than I was 40 years ago. Stronger but not faster.

Since i don't have as much time as i used to i change the gear i would normally use. For instance if i normally ride a climb in the 38/25 now i deliberately ride the 38/28 and maintain the same speed or a 52/17 becomes a 52/19.
I have always been a spinner and in the drops uphill or downhill and use flat pedals even on fast group rides and have no problems keeping up.
I think shoes should be supple not stiff so your feet find their best position for the riding you are doing at the time uphill , downhill and flat are different.
Pulling up on the pedal seems wrong i think it's better to lift your leg up out of the way which for me keeps things smoother.
These are just my opinions and they work for me

I went out with the Truvative mtb pedals this morning. Flat pedals with small spikes for grip. I found that by practicing ankling as I was finishing up the bottom of the stroke, I could get a bit up up pull on the back end. Ultimately, I went with ankling all the way around, as it's much more intuitive that way. The only disadvantage I see with these pedals is the inability to pull one up into starting position after putting a foot down. No biggie.

It's very hilly (sometimes mountains) where I live and ride, so I personally vary my pedaling a lot on any given ride. I try to stick with this approach for road and gravel/dirt.
- 80-90 rpm flat and downhill
- 70-80 rpm on the climbs
- Focus on engaging the hamstrings and remain steady in pedal effort on climbs
- Focus on consistent, smooth circles on the flats and down (and the lower grade, long climbs)

Hmm, the question was how do you pedal and why? Okay, that's two questions.

Second question first. I pedal because if I don't the bike doesn't move, which secondarily leads to me falling over.

I tend to spin, am most comfortable around 100 to 110rpm, can ride okay between 90 and 120rpm. There is a particular level of effort I can maintain. If my gear is too high I can't maintain it. If my gear is too low I find my pedaling effort causes a subtle acceleration until I'm spinning too fast. Hence I end up shifting to find that magic equilibrium point.

I don't know that my pedaling is especially efficient. I try to think about it every so often but mostly I get distracted by the road surface and the terrain and the environment. I should try harder, maybe.

Some people spin like poetry in motion, no matter the climb, flat, etc.

I am more like words tumbling over each other.

A caveman on a bike.

You know I have to admit I judge people on their pedaling. I can instantly spot someone - often an ex or current racer - with many thousands of miles in their legs, and I think a lot of experience riders can. It's really obvious.