90 RPM? -- is that for everyone?
06-13-06, 01:27 AM
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Originally Posted by godspiral
you can also match it to music. look up a metronome on the internet. 120bpm is 60 rpm. Basket-case by green day would be a decent song to come close to 90 rpm...
HiYo: to convert horsepower to watts... 0.1hp = 75W.. adjusting +/-10W = 0.013hp
DataJunkie: by bobbing, I wasn't referring to the bike going side to side, just my knees flying up and down.
I guess the reason I don't get the point of 90 rpm is that it does make me go "anerobic" (get that term mixed up-- mean heavy breathing), without really going faster. I don't have knee pains, although I can barely go up 1 flight of stairs. Will high RPMs save your legs for the hills?
The other advantage to maintaining 60 rpm, is that you can quickly crank it up to make a light or to pass and go into traffic lanes.
Hopefully, someone experienced can come on and agree with me that it can work for some people.
HiYo: to convert horsepower to watts... 0.1hp = 75W.. adjusting +/-10W = 0.013hp
DataJunkie: by bobbing, I wasn't referring to the bike going side to side, just my knees flying up and down.
I guess the reason I don't get the point of 90 rpm is that it does make me go "anerobic" (get that term mixed up-- mean heavy breathing), without really going faster. I don't have knee pains, although I can barely go up 1 flight of stairs. Will high RPMs save your legs for the hills?
The other advantage to maintaining 60 rpm, is that you can quickly crank it up to make a light or to pass and go into traffic lanes.
Hopefully, someone experienced can come on and agree with me that it can work for some people.
Then I read on forums like these that I should be spinning. So I learnt to do that. However, I found that my average speed decreased (over a period of 6 months) and that I got less of a workout. I still spin up hills.
My view: do what works for you. What works for me is pushing at 70-80 rpm for the most part, and spinning up hills. I have a big engine at low rpm. Pushing will raise the heartrate for me more productively than spinning, and I find I can also accelerate quicker simply by increasing cadence for overtaking.
06-13-06, 06:25 AM
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I picked up some toe clips last night... makes a huge difference in spinning faster and easier in the same gear. -- for me its not so much a scraping poo backwards at the bottom, but just easier pushing forward at the top of the pedal.
There's no question though, passing power in the same gear is lacking.
There's no question though, passing power in the same gear is lacking.
06-13-06, 08:53 AM
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Originally Posted by jimmay
Then I read on forums like these that I should be spinning. So I learnt to do that. However, I found that my average speed decreased (over a period of 6 months) and that I got less of a workout.
Again, it takes time to learn how to spin. Yes you will initially lose speed, but after you have retrained your body you will be able to spin and run at a higher speed. The goal is to keep cadence and slowly increase conditioning so over time you spin at higher and higher gears.
A few younger types are push types and get more speed by just hammering. As they age, they too will probably convert to spinning. Remember Lance changed his style of riding because his body could no longer take the old non-spinning method. I figure if an expert leads the charge and shows a better way, why not give it a serious try?
06-13-06, 09:28 AM
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I try to tstay above 80. 100-110 is good. I don't try going faster unless i'm doing 40+mph which in Houston won't happen.
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06-13-06, 10:56 AM
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Click HERE to try out my cadence calculator.
Keep the wheel size @ 27 for " typical " 700c wheels...
Keep the wheel size @ 27 for " typical " 700c wheels...
06-13-06, 11:05 AM
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This may not be for everyone, but it certainly helped me: get yourself a fixed gear and set up a nice mellow gear ratio (like around 70 gear inches). Now find a nice mellow hill. On the way down, focus on keeping your feet moving in nice clean circles. Now find a flat road and try to keep a constant 20+mph. Do this for a couple of weeks and you'll have a nice 110 rpm spin in no time.
06-13-06, 08:48 PM
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Originally Posted by HiYoSilver
Again, it takes time to learn how to spin. Yes you will initially lose speed, but after you have retrained your body you will be able to spin and run at a higher speed. The goal is to keep cadence and slowly increase conditioning so over time you spin at higher and higher gears.
A few younger types are push types and get more speed by just hammering. As they age, they too will probably convert to spinning. Remember Lance changed his style of riding because his body could no longer take the old non-spinning method. I figure if an expert leads the charge and shows a better way, why not give it a serious try?
A few younger types are push types and get more speed by just hammering. As they age, they too will probably convert to spinning. Remember Lance changed his style of riding because his body could no longer take the old non-spinning method. I figure if an expert leads the charge and shows a better way, why not give it a serious try?
My suspicion is that it's easier to spin than push if you're a whippet-thin endurance type, but if you're a ball of muscle then you spend a lot of energy moving your muscles about.
06-13-06, 09:22 PM
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Originally Posted by marqueemoon
Staying in the 90 RPM ballpark feels best to me. Higher and I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. Lower and my knees start to smart.
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06-13-06, 09:54 PM
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Originally Posted by icedmocha
How do you know how fast you are spinning?
It has two pickups and magnets, one for the wheel, to measure speed, and one for the crank, to measure cadence.
I love it... it really shows me a lot about how I ride...
And something I've learned... mashing in really high gears and bad fit are something a body can handle pretty well when young.... an older body (I'm only 32 now and feeling it!) doesn't handle a bad fit OR the mashing so well anymore!
I used to be able to jump on pretty much any bike and ride all day long... Just cruising along in or near the highest gear available through most anything, now I'm really feeling the fit issues and finally looking to get my bike actually adjusted properly for me!
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06-14-06, 12:12 AM
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75 to 90 is supposed to be most efficient for most people and most bikes. Some people will do better at 80 than they will at 90, and so long as you're putting out 75 or more you're doing fine.
06-14-06, 06:39 AM
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cadence songs to sing in your head...
140 bpm -70 rpm: flintstones, firestarter
150bpm - dancing in the dark
160: we will rock you
180: turning japanese
190: i'll be there for you
you can find out how fast you are going by using gear calculators.
140 bpm -70 rpm: flintstones, firestarter
150bpm - dancing in the dark
160: we will rock you
180: turning japanese
190: i'll be there for you
you can find out how fast you are going by using gear calculators.
06-14-06, 07:23 AM
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Originally Posted by jimmay
Hey I'm glad you're calling me young!
My suspicion is that it's easier to spin than push if you're a whippet-thin endurance type, but if you're a ball of muscle then you spend a lot of energy moving your muscles about.
06-14-06, 07:25 AM
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I'm 60-70. Amazingly I spin much faster than most people. I don't see the point in really trying to increase that though as I don't bike for exercise. I avoid mashing to keep from hurting my knees, not to build cardio.
06-14-06, 07:44 AM
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I just noticed that when I'm in the low 90s to 80s it feels like I am not hardly working out or I'm going darn slow. That is unless I'm climbing a nice hill like we have north and south of denver.
My new normal cadence is 100.
My new normal cadence is 100.
06-14-06, 10:15 AM
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you can also figure out what speed your computer should be telling you for a given gearing...
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Tom
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Tom
06-14-06, 01:50 PM
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wow some high cadance going on in here...
88-92 is cruisin speed for me
94 = shift to higher gear
80 = shift to a lower gear
Everyone is different... but once you find that magic number, you can spin forever.
88-92 is cruisin speed for me
94 = shift to higher gear
80 = shift to a lower gear
Everyone is different... but once you find that magic number, you can spin forever.
06-14-06, 01:52 PM
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Follow on. Rememering that knee pain is not just from cleat position: Even though I had the FIT test and have been riding the same bike for about 2yrs, I raised the seat about 1/4" and that stopped the knee pain when I do high cadance over longer distances.
Hope this helps others.
Hope this helps others.
06-14-06, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by HiYoSilver
Incidental link seems pointless. It's is horsepower instead of watts, and has limited choices. There are better calcs from analytical cycling.
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