I have read comments like "spin is in" and such.

I have searched but could not find an answer to why spin is an issue with some riders.

So what is to be gained by it?

What are the mechanics of "spin"?

What is the opposite of spin? (and by that, I don't mean "not spinning" like some of you would reply!)

I'm just trying to learn more.

It is hard to spin really fast without bouncing around on your seat. It's essential if you are running lower gear inches.

spin is easier on the knees I would think, and better for building endurance.

the opposite of spinning would be standing up and mashing really hard on a really big gear.

This should be debated at length in any road or tri forum. It is related to a person's knees, is more pressure put on knees at lower cadence(?), does a higher cadence require less work/distance than a lower one and a corollary as to how more efficient cadence help with the processing of lactic acid in the muscles. (And yes, too high a cadence generally makes you bounce on your saddle. Not good.)

Lance fans will claim that a higher cadence is more efficient all around and proven by 7 wins. Jan (Ulrich) fans will claim that a big engine runs at lower cadence.

I like a higher cadence but I often move around my cassette on the road bike when I'm pace lining. Sometimes lower cadence feels good as well. My guess is that this is my body telling me to move between fast and slow twitch muscles to give different groups a chance to rest a bit.

I am by no means an expert. As I said, hit up a tri geek forum and you’ll find plenty of experts. All disagreeing. That is a start anyway.

Whether or not it improves efficiency is probably besides the point. Being able to ride a wider range of cadence is always helpful. Especially on fixed gear.

It's a question of where the work gets done. When you spin (high cadence) the heart and lungs do more of the work. When you mash (lower cadence) the legs do more.

In terms of a smooth mechanical motion (as mentioned by orbthorn), if you live somewhere with hills, you need a low(ish) gear to get up the hills, that means you've got to be able to spin smoothly at high cadence to get back down at speed and to move quickly on the flats.

wow... great input by all!

I understand now where it fits in all this.

Anyone else?

Spin is in !!
I definately prefer spin over mash.
My personal opinion is you will get from point "A" to "B" quicker if you
spin consistantly than if you mash, also way less tired. As other posters
wisely pointed out, everyone has an opinion but to me there is no contest...
Spin is in !!

spin is great for cardio vascular efficiency if you can spin at a low gear you generally have more control over your bike that is if your spin is even most people use rollers to even out their spin and make themselves more balanced strong riders

it is also less work to stop the bike therefore less stress on the knee


I spin when I ride on the street then I try to spin as high of a gear as possible on the track when you can spin 120 in the saddle you can rule the world

also climbing hills in the saddle is a nice thing

If you really want to get into hair-splitting, spinning is easier on your bike, too.

+1

I started doing this after a back injury made it impossible to stand for climbing (I'm pushing a 69" gear). Then I noticed that something about my physiology makes it way more efficient than standing. I'm healed now but I still climb everything "in the chair".

As well, it's easier to keep track of where your knees are and focus on form/ not hurting yourself if you're seated than if you're standing up and bobbing around.

Well, I thought the word spin, as a noun, referred to form.

Here in Bend we have a large bicycling community, and they take "spin" classes and go to special therapists and coaches to work on their "spin."

Forgive me if I restate the obvious, or have completely misunderstood the thrust of this thread.

Anyway, when we spin our crank, it goes in a 360 degree circle.

Growing up, before we had clips and straps and clipless pedals and shoes, we only "mashed" on the forward 180 degrees of the spin.

We pushed down on the pedal as it went forward and down and simply trusted the back rising pedal to come up due to mechanical inevitability.

Now we know that many hands make light work, and if we train our body organization to work all the way through the spin, for the whole 360 degrees, and not just the front 180 degrees, we can spread the work out amongst more muscles in our backs, hips, thighs and calves, and thus go faster, longer, for less effort.

At lower gearings, or gear inches, we spin faster per unit of time, or our pedals and crank go around more times per unit of distance/time.

A faster spin means less effort per revolution, and less torque.

In order to go the same speed with a lower gearing, or lower gear inches, we must spin faster.

For each increase in spin, our muscles do less work and our tendons, ligaments, bones and joints receive less mechanical feedback as torque.

Computer programs and hardware exist, which one can attach to his/her bicycle in a trainer, and thus analyze the uniformity of his/her spin.

Most people who have not had spin coaching or training have empty spots at the bottom and top of their spin.

Looking from the right side, and imagining a clock superimposed over one's crank, the pedal hits the top at 12:00 and the bottom at 6:00.
Most of us push hard at 3:00 and pull hard at 9:00, but we don't contribute much between 10:00 and 12:00, nor between 4:00 and 6:00.

Spin training teaches a person to fill in the holes in his spin, and also how to spin faster.

Fixed gear riders do better on some hills than geared bike riders because the human body has a cadence range in which it works best.
I don't know the actual numbers, but I'll guess between 60 and 120 rpm.
Since fixed gear riders cannot increase their spin rate by going down in gears, they learn to increase torque in order to maintain their cadence as they go uphill.
On relatively short hills this works, and fixed gear riders typically do well on these hills.

My family wants the computer.

Later.

if you can spin fast and relax you will have a very high top speed

i initially lowered my gearing (now: 50/19) to take it easy on my knees after moving to a place with a couple decent hills to contend with every day. at first i hated the spin, but now i love it, and i'm always trying to get better at it. i like that i'm getting more of a cardio workout and being able to skid fairly effortlessly is a plus too. sipin ftw!

do odd/even chainring/cog combos affect this?

no not in my experience

Didn't you guys see RASH?

Not only is spinning easier on the knees and better for cardio and endurance, it also gives you an advantage when accelerating. Track racers are constantly fighting to find the balance between a gearing high enough that they can still spin at high speed but something low enough to let them jump at moderate speed.
It is much easier to jump to a sprint from a moderately high cadence (90-110rpm) than it is to jump from 60rpm. The exception, of course, are sprinters, who have to basically compete in a drag race on the last lap. But they are able to use the bank of the track to help them get on top of their gear.

On the street, I noticed a big difference when I lowered my gear from 48x16 to 50x18. For 90% of my riding it was not only easier for me to stop, but also easier to accelerate from moderate pace to a sprint to make gaps and avoid bad situations. For me, my gearing choice is much more about this than about climbing hills.

uhhhh no

The best feeling ever is when you're spinning and then out of nowhere, you're SPINNING...when you say to yourself "I found the rhythm" and you're just a complete smooth-operating machine until you get to where you need to go. Just had one this morning coming into work, probably the fastest and smoothest I ever got here.

+1

During the roller race that is featured in RASH I hit almost 200rpms and I ended up in 5th place. In other words: SPIN IS IN.

One more positive to spinning: it helps in recovery for the next day. Mashing takes more out of the legs. It's my belief that this is really the main focus of road pros. It also leads me to believe one way is not better or worse than the other for most non-pros. People in the road forum debate the pros and cons endlessly. But unless you're doing multi-day stage racing, it's almost a moot point. Do what works for you...some are spinners, some are mashers.

Spinning is less of a relevant issue for fixed gears, because you cant change gears to keep a constant high cadence,

thus as long as you have gear in the upper sixties to upper 70s, you will be spinning a high a cadence when going fast, and a low cadence when going slow, unlike a road bike where people try "spin" a higher constant cadence, regardless of speed.

so for the most part unless your running a silly high/low ratio, the notion of "spin" shouldn't really be a big factor in your day to day riding.

learning about the concept of spin let me focus on my pedal stroke and helped me improve a great deal. understanding what is at play on a bike (of course, with the acknowledgement that it's different than on a geared, coasting bike) still matters when developing legs and how to think about using them.

i still focus on getting a smooth pedal rotation, with as-close-to-even pressure through all 360degrees of the stroke. on good days, i can absolutely fly with out putting in barely any energy - or so it feels...

I find real spinning to be difficult and I have never really bothered to condition my body to do it. I will consciously spin circles sometimes trying to get a nice smooth rotation, but I never seem to stick with it for long. Maybe I need to get on a spin bike so I can forget about how much fun riding is and just focus on the mechanics of it.

I can pedal at really high cadences, but its not really true 'spin'