preferred-google-button
log in
register

Cadence newbie question

  • Creator
    Topic
  • October 6, 2014 at 9:43 pm #22523
    iwantmorecash

    Hi Im new to all this cycling stuff.
    Got a road bike in Aug now I just got a Garmin with Cadence & heart rate.
    My questionis what should my cadence be ?

    Thanks
    Matt..

  • Creator
    Topic
Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Author
    Replies
  • October 7, 2014 at 9:34 pm #817089
    0
    iwantmorecash

    Thanks for all the replys
    My
    Thanks for all the replys
    My Cadence has been hovering around to 75 mark so I will work on increasing it slightly.

    Thanks again

    Matt

    October 7, 2014 at 12:21 pm #817087
    0
    notfastenough

    Jif wrote:General advice

    Jif wrote:
    General advice tends to be to try and keep your cadence above 80, too low puts the strain on your muscles and joints and too high wastes energy. I find around 90 works for me and allows me to keep going for longer.

    It did take a few rides to get used to 90 as upping your cadence does work your cardiovascular system more. Experiment with a few different pedalling speeds and see which one suits you.

    I think the other aspect is that the cardiovascular system tends to recover more quickly than the legs. My legs feel shredded after a hard ride, suspect I could use a slightly higher cadence myself.

    October 7, 2014 at 12:09 pm #817085
    0
    Anonymous

    General advice tends to be to
    General advice tends to be to try and keep your cadence above 80, too low puts the strain on your muscles and joints and too high wastes energy. I find around 90 works for me and allows me to keep going for longer.

    It did take a few rides to get used to 90 as upping your cadence does work your cardiovascular system more. Experiment with a few different pedalling speeds and see which one suits you.

    October 7, 2014 at 11:51 am #817083
    0
    CXR94Di2

    I think it is just a power
    I think it is just a power band issue(like a motorbike engine), once you get to a certain power o/p for a given gear, you can spin it faster. then at a certain point, spinning faster doesnt really generate any more power, but jumping upto a harder gear drops you back into your power zone. That is my take of how my speed creeps up if i use a harder gear versus spinning.

    October 7, 2014 at 10:58 am #817081
    0
    glynr36

    andyp wrote:’i have a coach,

    andyp wrote:
    ’i have a coach, higher cadence is always better, it will improve your fitness more quickly’

    I *am* a coach, and the above sentence is nonsense.

    I was always under the impression (from a few training books and online articles, and personal experience and I’m willing to be corrected if I’m wrong) that cadence is an individual thing.
    Some people get more power ‘spinning’, others get more power out grinding.
    And even for myself I find in some situations pushing a harder gear at lower cadence feels better than an easier one and spinning, and also the opposite of this.

    October 7, 2014 at 10:47 am #817079
    0
    andyp

    ‘i have a coach, higher
    ‘i have a coach, higher cadence is always better, it will improve your fitness more quickly’

    I *am* a coach, and the above sentence is nonsense.

    October 7, 2014 at 10:25 am #817077
    0
    seanq

    i have a coach, higher
    i have a coach, higher cadence is always better, it will improve your fitness more quickly, and also pushing bigger gears makes your muscles sore and recovery is slower. I agree a good 90 rpm is about right, although my Zone 1 sessions on turbo are all at 100+.

    October 7, 2014 at 7:15 am #817075
    0
    CXR94Di2

    I found my legs are fresher
    I found my legs are fresher for longer if I spin over 90 rpm but I go quicker if I use a bigger gear around 85 rpm. Now I just need to keep going for longer, faster at the lower cadence đŸ™‚

    October 7, 2014 at 6:22 am #817073
    0
    Scrufftie

    I’d aim for around 90, which
    I’d aim for around 90, which will take a bit of practice on the road and will probably feel faster than you’ve been used to. The better your bike fits, the easier you’ll find it to maintain a higher cadence but a good peddling technique takes conscious practice. Styles vary (eg Froome) but generally it should help to focus on keeping a stable core and focussing your movement from the hips down.

    Once you start working on it, you’ll notice how many cyclists waste energy grinding along and gyrating all over the place

    October 7, 2014 at 5:55 am #817071
    0
    MuddyGoose

    I got a cadence sensor
    I got a cadence sensor recently because I wanted to concentrate on upping my cadence during flat sections etc. I realised that I was probably pushing too high a gear most of the time and so have been using the cadence reading to give me a prompt to change down and spin a little more.

    Anyway the result of this is that I’m fairly familiar with my cadence atm. This may not relate to other people but I find that an average of around 70-80 is good for me on the flats but I find much more power for the hills down at around 60.

    The only times I’ve hit 100 is pedalling frantically down hill.

    October 7, 2014 at 5:29 am #817069
    0
    glynr36

    What ever feels comfortable
    What ever feels comfortable for now.
    Some people are quite happy to ride at a cadence of 100+, others around 70-80. And everything inbetween. There is no hard and fast number

  • Author
    Replies
Viewing 11 replies - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.