JavaMan

Since you have triples, I'm assuming you can spin at any cadence you want when climbing.

So what is it?

LordOpie

if you have a double and you're not comfortable at a slower cadence then perhaps a triple is for you? (whomever "you" are)

But I like spinning in the 80s, no matter how steep. I don't have the knees for hammering.

pearcem

i like upper 70's

JavaMan

Perhaps it is me. On a 50 mile group ride yesterday my cadence fell to around 60 on a 1.6 mile climb of 9%. I was 5th out of 8 riders to the top, but I felt I could have done better if I could have spun at 70 or above.

Is this my imagination? Knees aside, are you able to go faster up a hill when you spin at the cadence you choose instead of a low cadence dictated by your lowest gear?

Tom

jbhowat

I have a triple, but I don't use the inner ring as anything besides a bailout (I live in Co, imagine 15% grade for several miles with no break.... after riding 50 miles of big rollers - **** happens). I keep around 80-90 if possible, but if I will drop much lower than that before I drop down to the 30t. Simply because changing down to the 30, and then simultaneously switching up some gears in the back makes me lose some momentum.

LordOpie

you're asking a very specific question whose answer is relevant only to me, but okay... I do ride faster at a medium cadence over enough distance. I can't seperate my knees from the equation cuz I've never ridden without a bum knee.

If you were fatiguing, then maybe you'd have been faster at a higher cadence. I doubt I could ride 39-19 on that climb you mentioned without ruining the rest of my ride. I'd push myself if that was the end of the climb... I can spin all day, but can't hammer for very long or very often.

sorry if I'm my post isn't as applicable to you, but like they say... ymmv

flyingasics

I'm not shure of my cadence, as my computer dosen't tell me, but I have never use the inner ring.

gmason

70 to 80 climbing.

90 to 100 on the flats.

JavaMan

That sound great. Fast enough to keep the lactic acid flushed out, slow enough to keep the heartrate down.

JavaMan

When I was watching the TDF l'alp dhuez time trial, I noticed Basso and Ulrich had about the same cadence. I measured it with a metronome. They both started out at around 88, then settled down to around 76-80 in the middle sections.

I'm assuming these guys can also choose any cadence they want. If they could go faster at a different cadence, they would modify the bike for sure! This seems to be a pretty popular range among you guys, too.
Tom

SDS

95 plus with 185 mm crankarms and a 35" inseam. On a long hill, if I have the gears and I am in a hurry, you will see me turn the same rpms I would turn in a flat time trial. I really can't tell the difference. To me it is the same problem: correct rpms to make maximal power over the given time period. HR will be somewhere between 170 and 180.

superstator

I think I probably do about the opposite. Maybe because I'm still heavier than I should be, it's a lot easier to hammer along on the flats than going up a hill. Could be psychological - I feel like I should be pushing a bigger gear than is really appropriate when I don't have a hill as an excuse to shift down and spin.

In any case, I still have to drop into the granny more than I'd like.

DieselDan

I only use my granny ring as a bailout or the rare occasion I'm pulling a trailer. I try to keep my cadence up a bit all the time. The terrian here is flat. The only elevation comes on the bridges connecting the various islands together. The triple came with the bike and I've yet to spend the money on converting.

jppe

Okay I'll play...

On the flats I find I'm most comfortable spinning around 95. My optimum spinning for power on flats (like a time trial) is 85-90 with a little bigger gear. I tend to use and watch my cadence more so than speed.


On longer climbs, such as 2 to 13 miles, I'll drop to the 30 and spin in the 70-75 range, depending on my heart rate that day. However, I'm not a very strong or good climber and am not able to push bigger gears. My objective on a climb is to get to the top without wearing myself out-unless it's near the end of the ride.

brent_dube

I checked the other day... I'm most comfortable around 90-100rpm.
I can slow down to 75-90rpm at times, maybe. But it's really not a good thing for me to climb that slowly.
I guess it's just how my legs are built - I have always had very fragile knees... it just naturally feels best to be around 95rpm.

I have a triple and actually want lower gears. With my RPM, the lowest speed I can comfortably spin is about 9-10mph... and it's not very comfortable for me to ride an entire +1mi climb at that speed.
I love climbing, as long as I have the gears to spin comfortablly.

Pro cyclists aren't necessarily the smartest bunch.
Basso was probably pushing too high of a gear - he said so that he didn't have a low enough gear on the climb.

JavaMan

Oh, that's interesting - I had not heard that. So he probably would have preferred to be in the 80's, I guess. By the way, Lance started out at 108, then settled in at 100.

For some reason, I seem to be comfortable at around 80. But because I don't have a triple, my cadence falls below 60 on some hils. That's not comfortable at all! I am 6'4" and have 180 mm cranks.

Tom