Gentlemen,

I ride a LWB EZ Sport (seen in my avatar) and have a question about cadence. My spousal unit (twahl) suggested I start out at 60-65. I tend to find myself riding with an avg of 70 most of the time. Tonight's avg speed was just shy of 14 mph. I also prefer to ride distance (35 - 60 miles). Training rides like tonights are usually less then 15 but we will work that up over the summer.

Is there a target cadence I should be looking at?

Please don't transfer this to the women's forum based on my stats or size wise I think it would be more appropriate to see what guys are doing. I'm just shy of 5' 10" and am not petite.

Thanks for your help~

Most experienced cyclists aim for somewhere between 80 and 100 rpm. Those with heavier legs tend to aim for the lower end of the range.

70 is fine wok up to 80 thats a good basic speed. the faster the better within reason.

Uhmmm...just wondering..why does anybody care about "cadence"? I've never understood all the concern with that.

Just checking. I knew that the 80 - 100 applied to the roadies but I wasn't sure it translated the same to the bents.

Chili- One of the reasons is that it is better for your knees. I think it would also be a little more aerobic to spin more with less pressure (anaerobic) against the pedals. I find that when I keep my cadence around 70 and shift gears to manage that my heart rate stays up without pushing my muscles past what they can handle. I last longer.

Yeah, I was kind of wondering about that too. But then I got to thinking about that. I'm not a fast rider. I pedal at various speeds and in different gears. My average moving speed is about 10.5 mph. Yet, it's not much problem doing 35 miles(more later in the year). But I'm also not losing any weight. I'm 208 lbs. and about 6 ft. tall. Can candence help me lose some weight? Will it prepare me for longer riders more quickly?

BTW, I ride an EZ Sport also. And I think a 14 mph average speed is just awesome!

I told her to ask, having set the first goal at 70 once we had established that she was riding around 60 most of the time. Reason I am concerned about it is that my knees have been pretty well hosed since I was about 12. I discovered, much to my surprise, that when I started BMX racing at about 30, that my knees didn't ache as much. The rest of my body often did, but my knees felt pretty good. I've always had strong legs, but the spin really makes me feel better. With my wife on the bent, I am concerned about her being able to stay in for climbs and all without overspinning and burning up, or underspinning and tearing her knees up. I'm not concerned about how fast we climb, just that we can get to the top of a hill. I just wasn't sure that the bent, with less weight on the pedals, there might be some difference in what is ideal.

Megaman: The general rule I've heard is that if your lungs give up first, your cadence is too high. If your legs give up first, your cadence is too low. Generally my rump gives up first, but I'm not on a bent! As far as losing weight, how often are you riding, and how long? Our plan is to do 3 fairly short but fast rides (~12 miles) a week, and one longer ride. A lot of different excercise programs tell you the same general thing, an aerobic workout 3 days a week will help. Get your body into that regular routine and you should see results, you kick your metabolism up by getting it tuned for regular use. The training & nutrition forum is a better place than here, certainly more people that know more about it than I do.

I've found the best way to lose weight is to ride slow but steady, and do it at least 3 days a week. That way you burn calories without depleting blood sugar and triggering a huge eating binge. For 'fat burning' I wear my HRM and keep the reading VERY low, on the order of 115 or below. Losing-weight rides are not training rides, unless you count recovery rides as training!

As for the cadence, it's a technique to limit the force you put on the pedals (and consequently channel through your knees.) The lower gears mean if you push too hard the pedal simply goes down too fast. If you're just taking it easy and not stressing your legs, a slower cadence doesn't hurt anything.

I have found that riding at a comfortable cadence, whatever that is for each person, and staying in a gear that doesn't put much pressure on my knees works very well. However, I don't care about speed, I just want to ride and enjoy it. Good luck.
Larry

The theory revolves around efficiency and power production. The idea is that high cadences are more efficient than slower ones, produce more power, and result in better recovery as the effort is more aerobic.

All true, but perhaps of concern only to the more serious and/or racing cyclist. Even among the pros, it's obvious that both power-pedalling "mashers" and high-rpm "spinners" both get excellent results. It's as much a matter of body type and muscle fiber ratios (slow-twitch and fast-twitch) as anything else.

Ullrich, a "masher", and Armstrong, a "spinner".....Up the Alps. Different bodies, different styles; both great riders.

I'm fairly large, at over 200 pounds, but I feel more comfortable with a 90-100 rpm cadence.

I haven't had any knee problems, but I wonder if I could? Sometimes I mash and others I spin. Is there any way to tell ahead of time that I might get knee problems?

Do your knees ever hurt, even just a little?

Yeah, sometimes a little, but very seldom. Only once while I was riding and that wasn't much.

So which one has six tour wins?

Ullrich is a great rider, but if he trained to be more of a spinner, Lance might not have those 6. Hopefully 7 by the end of July.

From a guy that use to be a masher, and is halfway between a masher and spinner now.

I think spinning is more important on a bent, with less power coming from the back muscles.

On recumbents it is generally accepted that a higher cadence is better as it is very easy to overload your knee's, as you can use the seat back as a stop to press against.
Most on the trike forum I frequent run at ~100 rpm or more, once they get used to it.
As a bonus a higher cadence is suposed to burn more calories.
I have a slightly dodgy knee and it becomes very apparent if I start mashing to much, my cadence at cruise is between 105-120 rpm according to an exercise bike I was playing with last week, I was always a spinner even on df's probaly closer to 90rpm back then.
Oh, it's not just knee's that it can effect, hip's also, guess how I found out