On my road ride this morning was tootling along in big/3rd from bottom (doing 18-19mph) and a lad flies past me at 23ish mph but his cadence was very fast compared to mine, he was about 2 gears up the block from me.
I tried to sit on his tail in my gear combo and their was no chance, changed to his and even though my legs were now flying round i was going 4mph faster!!

Is their a rule for cadence or just what feels right? my legs are killing now btw!!

Spin to win bro. I ride fixed so i’ve no choice, but I try average about 90rpm on rides, so my cadence on flat sections shoots up

hmm need to take notice of what i do then

What is your cadence? More experienced cyclists tend to spin faster that others. I should probably try to increase mine, usually around 80-90 but lower up hills – too low.

When doing seated sustained power tests on track and turbo, I found I performed best at 100rpm.

To be honest it is quite up to individual style, see Tony Martin’s slow cadence TT style vs Cancellara’s spinning

too many variables, there is a school of thought that says spin everywhere, but i would say it is time and place and the cyclists build that also need to be considered.

spinning out of the saddle like you can in the saddle isn’t really possible but it does mean you generate more power.

Spinning is more oxygen efficient, once you get used to it.

IF you look Time trialists seem to use huge gears at slightly lower cadence.

OP does sound like your cadence was too slow.

I find a lower cadence a little better for speed and a higher cadence a little better for endurance. It’s all relative, though – I’ve no idea what the numbers are.

I’d not worry about the cadence, just accept that he’s faster than you 🙂

practice, if you notice you’re ‘mashing a gear’ take note and drop down a few gears. I use a 34/50 compact, obviously easier to spin on that.

where do you ride? as in, what’s the roads like, flat, big climbs etc

This was a long flat drag on the A6 from Derby to Bakewell

I recently bought a new bike which is considerably lighter than my other road bike. Both have compact chainsets but I can maintain a much higher cadance on the new bike. I average around 90rpm and spin over 100 easily on the flat. Must be the weight difference I suppose.

Remember Armstrong changed the norm re cadence. The usual sports hangers on created the extra hype.

THM Armstrong may have had a cadence a little higher than other pros but they’ve always been higher than your average weekend mtber.

I appreciate that cynic-al and have works to up my cadence. But it is not quite so clear cut as some would have us believe IMO

I’ve said before, never concern yourself with how someone else is riding.

And don’t listen to the cadence Nazis. I must spin at 90…why? What are you aiming for that requires high cadence, or a specific cadence?

I’m not saying it’s all wrong or anything to do with Lance spinning his way to seven tour wins, oh no. I’ve got a big’ish ride soon, four days 130/160/105/130 miles and I’ll spin on that, but I’ve also got some Crits left to race and I’ll be mashing some gears when I prepare for those.

Anyway back to your man, he might have a good technique. Try and get on a Watt Bike and see if your a Peanut or a Bow Tie.

Although being able to spin is a desirable characteristic in a road rider, it’s only desirable as long as you aren’t spinning happily out of the back.

It’s useful to conserve energy at times, but again, is no use if you get left behind.

If in doubt, press on to go faster.

Im no expert but I’d have thought getting yourself on a power meter is the only way of finding out what cadence is most efficient for you as an indivual.

it’s about fatigue also, not just power.

Um, a power meter might well show you that, but is a leetle bit OTT for someone who got passed on a Sunday pootle…

We were out earlier and one new guy mentioned that 16mph was quite fast, on the flat I normally sit at 21mph so today was a nice gentle pootle for me. Damp though as it rained for two and a half hours.
I hardly ever (except on long fast descents or when in a tight fast group) ride in a bigger gear than 85″.

cadence x torque = power

What works best for a given individual largely depends upon their muscle fibre composition and the efficiency of the motor unit recruitment patterns developed through training at a given cadence.

It is possible to manipulate the way bioenergetic properties of muscle fibres to make them more effective at different cadences/torques thorough training – but it is a long process.

I did 90km today, with 901m climbing (no big climbs, just lumpy) in 3:25.
My average cadence was 72. The graph on Garmin connect shows me between 70 and 80 basically the whole time.

Just the way I seem to do it.

Don’t think I could ride that low even if I wanted! Tend to average 90-94, irrespective of terrain and distance.

What works best for a given individual largely depends upon their muscle fibre composition and the efficiency of the motor unit recruitment patterns developed through training at a given cadence.

It is possible to manipulate the way bioenergetic properties of muscle fibres to make them more effective at different cadences/torques thorough training – but it is a long process.

Or just press on to go faster…

Focus on your own training.

If you’ve done a long run and race someone fresh then you won’t win.

I did 90 hilly/sprints miles and ended on a 13 mile stretch with a road hogger on my tail and I couldn’t shake him off and he wouldn’t take his turn so I took him up a hill and turns out he was practising for a hill comp lol.

Met up with him when I was fresh cackle cackle.

You’ve probably all seen this anyway, but hey ho

f I’m unbeaten in long time trials this year, that’s because we’ve put a lot of thought into it. We worked a lot on cadence this winter. After Tony Martin won the world championship last year, my physiologist Tim Kerrison went away and looked at the figures; I still lost a minute and 20sec, which was high given the power I averaged. To keep my usual high cadence and go faster than Tony, I’d have had to average a power output that would have been mind blowing. So something else had to change.

Tim studied it over the winter and decided maybe it was the cadence which was the problem. They worked out Tony’s rpm compared to mine and something to do with rolling resistance and with the gears. Tim and I then started working a lot on torque because I’ve always had good cadence coming off the track, and good power production. What we tried to do was keep the power production and bring the cadence right down, then see how it worked respiratory wise, so we started doing a lot of low cadence work on climbs for those powers – torque work we call it. So at the Tour, in the time trials I was making what I call a Jan Ullrich-esque effort – powering the gear a lot rather than spinning along, and that forward momentum for the same power has helped me go a bit further. It’s made me stronger, too.

Just tried a fast spinning ride and it **** killed me, loads slower per KM and PAIN

Oh and the recovery from sunday is taking longer also 🙁

Stick at it…..its good to learn new skills 🙂

loads slower per KM

Think you’ve missed the point.
You should be making the same speed.

Training your legs to turnover faster for long periods means when you eventually increase your leg strength you will be able spin faster in a lower (harder) gear and consequently show an in increase your power.

As Bez says the general rule is spinning at a higher cadence basically tests your cardiovascular system more (more likely to be out of breath), while travelling at the same speed with a lower cadence tires your muscles more (more likely to have sore legs). This is an oversimplification but gives you the rough idea.

On a MTB a cadence of 90-100rpm may not be practical up a steep hill with a loose surface as the wheels would tend to spin out but on the road I’d tend to aim for 90-100rpm.

As for why you were slower than the other guy… he probably rides more than you 😀

This is the website for all you mashers…

On a MTB a cadence of 90-100rpm may not be practical up a steep hill with a loose surface as the wheels would tend to spin out but on the road I’d tend to aim for 90-100rpm.

Less likely to spin out at a higher cadence, less torque.

Training your legs to turnover faster for long periods means when you eventually increase your leg strength you will be able spin faster in a lower (harder) gear and consequently show an in increase your power.

Or not, as above.

You just can’t have someone just say ‘this is what you need to be doing’ And I can’t see any point in training for nothing in particular. You decide what your aims are and work to those. If you have none, then you needn’t bother with that malarky.

I agree OG, though that’s pretty ironic from someone who claims to train for racing, but appears to have no goals in their training other than riding hard”. 😀

I always used to push a big gear at low cadence, good for endurance but it can make you a bit clumsy esp off road, i feel ive been a much better rider after increasing my cadence and using a lighter gear im not only quicker but my heart rate has also dropped vs speed compared to when i used to mash the gears…higher cadence defo works for me

I agree OG, though that’s pretty ironic from someone who claims to train for racing, but appears to have no goals in their training other than riding hard

Yeah but no but yeah but shutup.

The racing has gone well though this year.

If you have none, then you needn’t bother with that malarky.

pmsl.