Do you really use your 11 cog to go faster?
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What does being pulled along at 17 mph on a flat (or riding solo at 14 or less) - have to do with mashing? When the watts are low enough, even 40 rpms is easy going. Plenty of folks often find themselves coasting when the pace is relaxed. Having to coast because ones sporty, high cadence acceleration would close a gap too fast, well, that may not be bizarre, but it is annoying.
#130
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i don't understand where you are getting these ideas from. High cadence lets you modulate your speed more finely, a 5rpm difference at 90rpm is way less than 5rpm@60rpm. Its easier to hold a steady line at a high cadence. Usually the people yoyoing all over the place have poor ability to modulate cadence.
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I don't understand where you are getting these ideas from. High cadence lets you modulate your speed more finely, a 5rpm difference at 90rpm is way less than 5rpm@60rpm. Its easier to hold a steady line at a high cadence. Usually the people yoyoing all over the place have poor ability to modulate cadence.
I'm not sure what your example indicates either way, really. The 5 rpm cadence change is 5.5% for the guy starting at 90, 8.33% for the guy starting at 60 - of course it's going to make a bigger difference for the latter. It's also going to be far more noticeable in terms of effort - which gets to my point that, from any given speed, it's easier to accelerate more quickly with a higher starting cadence. Up to a point, the lower the cadence, the more sluggish acceleration tends to be. Anyone who has tried to take off again after slowing down to 5 mph or so while still on 53/11 knows this.
Oh, and by the way: as easy going, chatty and apparently "relaxed" as they may appear to be, toodling along at 35 mph or whatever, the pros in a race peloton (and those of you who ride like them) are hardly relaxed, they are WORKING. Some of it may be un-challenging, but if they were actually relaxed so much of time, those 140 lb guys wouldn't need to consume 8,000 calories a day.
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Like most folks, I get "these ideas" from experience and observation. Of course someone who is practiced can modulate their speed finely from any cadence. It's been my observation that the steadiest wheels around often do maintain a high cadence, but spinners don't have a monopoly on that distinction, and some of the worst yo-yo-ers spin as fast as anyone - that is, when they aren't coasting.
I'm not sure what your example indicates either way, really. The 5 rpm cadence change is 5.5% for the guy starting at 90, 8.33% for the guy starting at 60 - of course it's going to make a bigger difference for the latter. It's also going to be far more noticeable in terms of effort - which gets to my point that, from any given speed, it's easier to accelerate more quickly with a higher starting cadence. Up to a point, the lower the cadence, the more sluggish acceleration tends to be. Anyone who has tried to take off again after slowing down to 5 mph or so while still on 53/11 knows this.
Which is catatonic? The 17mph, or the cadence one would be rolling with 53/11 at that speed? If the latter, I'd agree, but that's not what I was talking about. But if you're saying 17mph is catatonic, well, then more than half the folks out there every weekend on four- and five-figure road bikes are catatonic most of the time, regardless of what one might read here. And a lot of them find an 11t cog useful for "going fast" from time to time. It may seem silly to some, but they really do use it, and happily.
Oh, and by the way: as easy going, chatty and apparently "relaxed" as they may appear to be, toodling along at 35 mph or whatever, the pros in a race peloton (and those of you who ride like them) are hardly relaxed, they are WORKING. Some of it may be un-challenging, but if they were actually relaxed so much of time, those 140 lb guys wouldn't need to consume 8,000 calories a day.
I'm not sure what your example indicates either way, really. The 5 rpm cadence change is 5.5% for the guy starting at 90, 8.33% for the guy starting at 60 - of course it's going to make a bigger difference for the latter. It's also going to be far more noticeable in terms of effort - which gets to my point that, from any given speed, it's easier to accelerate more quickly with a higher starting cadence. Up to a point, the lower the cadence, the more sluggish acceleration tends to be. Anyone who has tried to take off again after slowing down to 5 mph or so while still on 53/11 knows this.
Which is catatonic? The 17mph, or the cadence one would be rolling with 53/11 at that speed? If the latter, I'd agree, but that's not what I was talking about. But if you're saying 17mph is catatonic, well, then more than half the folks out there every weekend on four- and five-figure road bikes are catatonic most of the time, regardless of what one might read here. And a lot of them find an 11t cog useful for "going fast" from time to time. It may seem silly to some, but they really do use it, and happily.
Oh, and by the way: as easy going, chatty and apparently "relaxed" as they may appear to be, toodling along at 35 mph or whatever, the pros in a race peloton (and those of you who ride like them) are hardly relaxed, they are WORKING. Some of it may be un-challenging, but if they were actually relaxed so much of time, those 140 lb guys wouldn't need to consume 8,000 calories a day.
#135
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I reckon this says something about how I get along with my 11:
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I glanced at the comp. on one downhill last ride 53-11 65kph 110 cadence. Seeing as I often reach 80+kph would never give away the 11t.
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+1 on both.
The hand-wringing that goes on at BF over gearing/cadence never ceases to amaze me.
I will say that I saw a bunch of Pathletes over the weekend riding along on the MUP on aerobars spinning at about 50 rpm with their knees knocking way out to the sides on each upstroke. They seemed to enjoy their 11t so good on them.
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There is one guy i see occasionally riding a hybrid with aerobars an easy 10" above his saddle height. When he's riding, his arms extend straight out from his shoulders like Superman(but nothing like Graham Obree).
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No, I guess not. But wouldn't full aero tuck coasting on that kind of downhill make more sense?
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I run a 50 on the front and do use the 11 on the back on nearly every ride. I have big hills here to go up and down. Sure, a 52 would give me more gear for down hill but I make good use of the 34 on the front (Campy).
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But if you're saying 17mph is catatonic, well, then more than half the folks out there every weekend on four- and five-figure road bikes are catatonic most of the time, regardless of what one might read here. And a lot of them find an 11t cog useful for "going fast" from time to time. It may seem silly to some, but they really do use it, and happily
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I honestly don't know which gears I use mostly, when, or what for, so that's why I went down to look at my wheel, and yeah, it looks like I get on it often enough, probably because the rolling terrain out here rewards carrying momentum, and if I have the opportunity to make speed downhill to save me some effort on the next uphill, I do. At 220lbs, it's not hard for me to gather the speed to be able to crank over the 53/11 for a bit down a gradual 6-7% slope before madly dumping gears to hump it up the other side.