Climbing Cadance
 

So I'm either the worst rider ever at climbing or everyone is full of s#$^. I've read in many magazines, articles and on BF on how one should keep cadance above 80 on climbs. Now on hills with grades below 10% I can usually stay above 80 but for the life of me anything over 10% and my cadance is down to sub 70's. There are a lot of hills in my area that go over 10% and most riders around here are in the small ring and 23-27 on back and no ones spinning a hell of a lot faster than me. I should ad most in my area ride either standard or compact. This will be my 4th year riding and I actually like climbing even though I'm a bigger guy. My knees don't bother me as most times I'm well above 90. So do I just suck or is everyone at 70 cadance on 10+% hills?

I don't focus on cadence; I just ride.

There are legitimate reasons for going for a higher cadence (like in a stage race situation) but none of that applies to me.

yeah, I laugh at that stuff cuz I'm so slow I'm glad not to have to get off the bike and push it uphill!

The steeper it gets, the slower my cadence. Though the 34/27 I have now helps with that a lot. I much prefer that over the 55 cadence I would turn over on 16% hills with 39/26.

dude, nothing wrong with 70 rpm, and there is no set rule. 10% grade is quite a bit to handle. if you are a bigger guy, you would want to "spin" your way up as "dancing" on the pedals would cost you a lot of energy. that said, what works for many is alternating between spinning & dancing as the former taxes your aerobic system while the latter taxes your muscular strength.

alternatively, you can get a triple or a mountain bike cassette that goes up to 32t on the back. i believe the sram xx mountain rd allows you to do the latter while using regular sram road levers. the new sram apex road rd also allows you to use something like a 11-32t.

currently experiementing with a compact with a 28 in the back for bailout

i can spin up almost anything at 90rpms

havent decided if its the best option for power but it certainly feels better than mashing at the same heart rate.

On a long 6% grade, I just gear down to my 39/25 and make my way up. I don't track cadence anymore. I don't see many others spinning much faster than I do on the climbs. After reading the forums, I do watch for those 110 rpm riders and I don't see them!:D

On Ride Around the Bear last year I did see a gal spinning her arse off as she rode past me. I saw her though the entire 100 mile ride (must have caught up as she stopped at reststops) but every time I saw her (about 10 times), she was spinning away from me. Like I said, she was spinning her arse off in a serious spin! She looked as if she was over 100 but spinning way faster than the hundreds of riders I saw climbing the mountain.

I wouldn't worry about what cadence other people are climbing at. Just because a 140 lb competitive cyclist prefers to climb at 80rpm doesn't mean that you will also. There isn't much difference in the climbing efficiency for various cadences so it is more a matter of the gearing on your bike and your power to weight ratio. You probably don't spend a lot of time climbing (because you don't live near any mountains) so unless your knees are giving you problems just climb at whatever is comfortable. Increasing your cadence isn't likely to make you faster up the hills.

"I'm either the worst rider ever at climbing or everyone is full of s#$^"

OP, you answered your own question here:

"most riders around here are in the small ring and 23-27 on back and no ones spinning a hell of a lot faster than me."

Less than 2,000 ft over 24 miles, that's not a steep climb as mentioned in the OP. I don't see the cadence comparison in relation to a steep climb.

If you are moving uphill on a legitimate %10 grade you are doin fine.

What is your smallest gearing? If you are on a standard crank with a 25 in the back, that's a pretty decent gear to turn over (around 10 MPH at 80 rpm). 10 MPH at 10% would be great for a lot of us rec guys!

Like a lot of others have said, forget trying to maintain X rpm's. I always play it by ear, how I'm feeling that day, etc. Admittedly, I try to use an easier gear with a higher cadence if I can help it, but on certain days, my legs work better mashing a bigger gear. Whatever the engine wants to do!

I'm 180lbs, ride with 34/28 low gear, and suffer at 70-odd cadence, maybe 7mph on sustained 10% grades. 6%ish is where I start to feel like my size is a hindrance. For a real 10% climb I'm just trying to survive and hope that my 140lb friends wait for me at the next turn.

I hear you,

That hill gets to about 4-5% at best. Though the elevation gain is over 12 miles (out & back ride).

Comparison of different folks & climbing (with new to me toy!) not climbing a 10% grade specifically.

My gearing is standard with a 25 on the back for my main bike but so far this year I've been using winter/commuter which is compact with a 26 on back. I did say sub 70"s which puts me in the 60's sometimes even 50's. On short but steep I can keep it above 70 no problem it's just those full km hills at 10% and above that get my cadance down.

Oh ok sorry! I thought it was spread over the entire 24 and not an out and back. I looked for a profile chart on your link but didn't find it. 5% average is a descent grade.:thumb:

My bad!:D

i don't choose cadence. sometimes i turn the crank as fast as i can in the lowest gear and i can barely keep it moving.

70rpm on a 10% + grade is totally decent, don't sweat it.

If you're having trouble blowing up before the ride is over then a faster cadence could help but it sounds like that's not a problem so no worries. Spinning faster in an easier gear uses an aerobic fuel system in slow twitch muscle fibers; this is a fairly sustainable process but requires some aerobic base building to take advantage of the benefits. Pedaling harder but slower uses an anaerobic process to generate fuel for fast twitch fibers; no matter who you are you can only work anaerobically for so long before you need to back off - way off - for a while. All of this assumes that you have a choice in gearing vs. cadence. It is also over simplified.

As long as I am still moving up the hill, and not going anaerobic I am happy.

I can pedal at 80-90 at 10%+ while maintaining 10-12mph...on my triple (on 30t chainring)...but when it's not a mountain and just a hill that's probably about half a mile then i stay on the 39t and i'm usually in the 70's. There's nothing wrong with a low cadence, as long you're not putting a lot of stress on the knees.

7bmwm3gtr wrote:

"I can pedal at 80-90 at 10%+ while maintaining 10-12mph...on my triple (on 30t chainring)"

Seems a bit on the high end for speed. You'd have to be in about a 30/23 to get close to 10 mph at 90 rpm.

I am skeptical.

Maybe my computer is wrong? I'm pretty sure i've hit 10 or 12mph, while using 30/19, or 21.

I'll go check again next time i find myself climbing. The hills in my neighborhood are about 10-14%

Sheldon sez a 30x21 is 10.1 mph and a 30x11 is 11.1.

... the power demands of going 10-12 mph up a 10% grade notwithstanding...

Edit: 10.1mph would take about 5.7 W/kg and 11.1 would need 6.4 W/kg

That's world-class power output to sustain for any non-trival length of time.