Cadence?? What is it? Is it important?

Everyone has there own built in rpm i.e. a pedalling speed that they find comfortable. There are no hard and fast rules, only guidance.

With training and pedalling technique you can increase this natural rpm and after a year of road cycling you should now be looking at a cycling computer to take you to the next step.

My general advice to beginners is to not get a cycle computer immediately but instead concentrate on technique and your natural rhythm.
Try to maintain a cadence of 60+. We can all count rough seconds in our heads and one revolution per second is not that stressful.
If your cadence falls below 60 then you're in too higher gear.
If your thrashing around like a demented blender then your gear is too low.
Slightly increase your cadence when climbing, you will find it easier.
And that's the end of the advice really.

The trouble with technology is that it can take over your life and suck the fun out of cycling.
Make sure it is you using the technology and not the technology using you. [Really bad English I know but you get my drift.]

Don't forget to enjoy yourself!

Yeah, don't just buy any cheap computer and assume it'll measure cadence if you put the sensor on; get one which specifically has cadence (lots - most? - do now, even at the very low end), and add the sensor.

Sure, you could measure it by counting strokes with a stopwatch. But you could also measure your heart rate with a stopwatch and a finger on your wrist. It would work, but it would be cumbersome to the point of stupidity.

The best way to do it is get a watch and count your pedal strokes for 60 seconds.
This is your cadence.
You can experiment and learn what different cadences feel like, and it's the learning and the feeling which is far, far more important than the actual number.

"Thanks for all the help/info. Whats the cheapest way into a cadence comp?"

Buy the cheapest bike computer you can find (usually < £5), but put the magnet on the crank arm. The unit is designed to measure wheel speed using rpm and circumference, but by changing the wheel size you can effectively make it show rpm.

Cadence is pretty important. Know what gear you can ride at your given comfortable cadence then select your gears accordingly. 90-95 is good up to 110-115. 40-50 is not as you are pushing heavy gears. Glaciers move faster. Riding at your optimum cadence means you can ride more efficiently and for longer and maybe faster.

A computer with a cadence feature is very useful to a beginning cyclist. There is no ideal cadence and you should train at various different cadences to see how you respond. Ideally you would use a power meter to see how cadence relates to the power you can sustain on different types of terrain. Even though I don't ride with a computer at all any more, I learned a great deal from measuring cadence and power which I can still use - it trains you to estimate better.

I'm a bit unusual, in that I rarely get over a cadence of about 40-50, and I do like distance riding. It seems to work for me, but it causes a lot of head scratching amongst the guys I ride with. I think it's rooted in the fact that I only had a single speed bike, for 20 odd years, Derailleur gears were a bit of mystery to me, and old habits die hard.

In general if you're in the 80-100 range it's not a problem, but yes it is important and it would be a good idea to measure it.

I don't know the Cateye model in detail but I'd be surprised if any computer can't measure cadence. You just need the magnet and transmitter which attaches to your crank and frame.

Why is it important? On a climb you generally want to try to keep your cadence from getting too low. Of course you can feel it but sometimes setting yourself a target like not going below 65 can be helpful.

It can also be used for specific training. Using low cadence i.e. pushing a big gear is useful for building muscle strength, and high cadence for speed. Mark Cavendish attributes part of his speed to having a higher cadence ability than others.

A useful session can be to alternate some time (e.g. 1-3 minutes) at low cadence and the same at high cadence but maintaining the same effort in terms of power or heartrate.

Cadence =rpm leg speed. Endurance riding generally spin a little bit faster than short distance riding. High cadence lessens stress on the legs over distance at the expense of higher heart rate. Generally 85 to 95 rpm is considered normal for distance riding.

Now here is the rub, everyone is different and 65 to 105 is not unusual. I have found after a few years of spinning above 90rpm that I actually prefer 80 - 85 rpm. This is backed up by the fact I cycle much faster and have less stress on my heart rate. I travel at 20-21 mph now as opposed to 18mph spinning.(could also be with the fact I spend most of my spare time on the turbo trainer )

How to measure buy a cadence sensor.

To see this information you will need a garmin cycle device or a smart phone with one of the many apps available(map my ride) for instance.

If you want to go faster and understand/analyse your rides to find out which cadence results in the higher speeds over distance.