Mr Know-It-All Learns to Spin
 

I'm a new commuter and stubborn so naturally I ignored the results of thousands of bicyclists that said spinning is the way to ride. Surely pedaling harder is more efficient, I thought. What did it get me? Painful knees and excessively sore thighs courtesy of the Queensboro Bridge.

I hate that bridge and still do but last week things changed for me. "Why don't I at least try the granny gear?" I said. Lo and behold, the thousands of cyclists were right and I was wrong. Spinning is a godsend!! The bridge still taxes my heart and lungs but my legs are doing much better. Not only that, but I'm staying in a lower gear on the flats which feels better as well.

So far, my best week as a new commuter is three days but this humbling and valuable lesson should get me to five days much quicker. Me and spinning are gonna make a speed bump out of that bridge by the end of the summer.

congratulations - couldn't agree more "Spin to win" to coin a very cliched phrase

:D it's definitely the way to go.

Ack, I hate it! Steady 60rpm in the tallest gear I can manage for me - anything faster just knackers my legs in short order. I'm a big squatter though, my knees seem fine with how I ride.

I find I can't spin very highly unless I've been riding for at least 10 minutes to warm up. After 20-30 minutes I can spin a lot higher consistently - it's very obvious to me when I do this because I can feel the differences in how my legs are behaving. As for actual cadence speed, I've no idea - I'd have to get hooked up to a machine or do some math once I bother to count the teeth on my roadie gearing.

Yeah, I do the Queensborough Bridge, and I spin it, somewhere around 110 rpm I guess, which keeps me going 13 or 14 mph. If I upshift, my feet slow down... and my bike slows down... and next thing I know there's a bicycle in the rear view mirror and it's getting closer... well, we can't have that, can we? So I spin it. It's funny, though: when I see someone else spinning, I think jeeze, put it in gear, man, it looks so goofy!

As for hating that bridge... enjoy the view! It's the high point of my commute (how do you spell double entendre?) and I look forward to going over it on my little green folding bike at 7:45 every morning and 3:45 every afternoon until I move back to NJ for the school year.

I'm almost always spinning at 80-90rpm. Sometimes up in the low 100s but any higher cadence and I begin to bounce. I've found that putting more effort into my pedal stroke evens that out so when I find myself bouncing I usually try to spin through it, if not I'll just shift into a harder gear unless I'm going downhill and in the tallest gear already (53/12).

Going uphill I usually alternate between standing and sitting. Right before I get out of the saddle I'll drop it down a gear or two and then shift it back up right as I sit down.

Coworker is an exclusive masher. He's had a good run w/ his knees but he's about to buy a car 'cause they've pretty much had it now.

For me, I try to never go under 70. Often I'm around 100 though.

Same here -- I keep the cadence in the 90s or so, as far as my musical ear can tell. I kind of found my sweet spot by watching the spedometer while spinning vs. while trying to power through. Once I got used to how it feels to be at my optimal cadence, I became a much more efficient cyclist. And my knees feel great :)

I keep the cadence at 90 - 110. If too high I shift up, if too low, I shift down.

I love my bridge, easy on, easy off, and nothing too dangerous at either end. The slow, long slope up manhattan bound is pretty annoying though. As you get better, you'll notice being able to slowly nudge up the gear going up as you get used to spinning at a certain rate.

Gawd I HATE it when that happens to me!!! :D

Are you all measuring your cadence with a cyclocomputer or are you simply estimating? Just curious. I'm debating whether to buy a new one or not (it's been many years since I've used one with any consistency).

used to guestimate 90-100rpm - bought a computard after having a lapse in confidence only to find I was bang on 94-98rpm

To figure out my cadence, I usually just look at my watch. If you've got 3 downstrokes on the pedals for every second, you're doing a cadence of 90. If you're doing more than that, you're spinning faster; less is slower.

Usually I'm around 90 - 110, but if I'm feeling lazy, I'll get down to ~80.

I'm a nearly 60 year old clyde with arthritic knees and 50+ lbs. overweight.
I ride an old RockHopper with 175MM cranks.
I picked up a cheap xmart computer about 6 weeks ago and "back calculated" my cadence on a spreadsheet.
My top 2 gears are 13 & 14. It turned out I had a cadence of 60. I had naturally assumed that IF I downshifted, I HAD to be going slower.
Much to my surprise, My cadence went to 65- and my speed stayed the SAME. EFFORT was MUCH reduced. I can "last" MUCH longer "spinning" at 65.
I'm now in the process of looking for shorter crank arms. I think that will allow me to spin faster and also reduce the knee strain. (clips etc. are OUT. I have to keep shifting my feet slightly, else the knees start to hurt)

It's a bridge. It couldn't possibly have more than 100' or so of elevation gain, right? What's the problem?

oh shut up Mr. San Francisco. So we puny, mostly flat landed NYC'ers get 150-200 ft. of elevation to strain us ;)

London too - pancake flat for the most part

Have you tried clipless? Get some with a good amount of float and it probably won't be a problem. I actually find having arthritis in my knees to be helpful. If I slack off and start to mash, my knees will hurt, if I keep spinning, my knees are fine.

I have a higher cadence, usually between 105-110. I do not have a cadence computer. I just count my cadence for 15 seconds then multiply by 4. This is my normal cadence, the one that I feel best at. Now if I drop to 90 I feel like I am slacking.

Brothers and Sisters, I have SEEN THE LIGHT!!

That's an exaggeration but I'm just so excited. I've shaved 15 minutes off my commute since starting about six or seven weeks ago and I gotta give a lot of credit to learning to spin. There are other factors involved such as my fitness improving, a more direct route, and more confidence on the road but I think spinning has really been the key. Any other newbies out there who are still mashing, take my word for it and learn to spin. AMEN!

I'm amazed how many cyclists haven't learned how to spin. I generally keep a cadence ranging from 90-110 and it really helps my endurance on long rides. However, I ride with some very experienced cyclists who are diehard mashers. Some people claim they ride better mashing, and I guess they know what works best for them. To each his own.