Slow Cadence

[CopperCyclist]

Hi Adrian. That's what I was trying to get at. Why is it considered wrong? I didn't know it was.

There is no "wrong" if it works for you. Unless you're in Team Sky and Dave Brailsford is telling you otherwise. Even then it's worth arguing!

However the reason people say this is because standing up is less efficient. You will burn more energy standing up to cycle than sitting. That's all about energy conservation though, and standing does make it easier to put power down, so often means it can be faster than sitting - but at the cost of more energy, which is why it's used in short busy for sprinting and climbing by most people.

That's the theory as I understand it. I am ready to be corrected, because like I started with, it doesn't really matter to me! (I am a spinner btw)

 

[Zoro]

Stronger riders - as in weight lifting stronger - tend to have lower cadence. Tired riders - as in later on in a stage race - tend to have lower cadence. Older riders also tend to lose cadence. Riders with fewer miles tend to ride lower cadence.

I push as hard as I ever did but at 50+ I push at 85rpm, while at 20 I pushed at 110. I also ride less.

Too high can cause injury too. My 15 year old got tendon issues riding 52X16 max gears in Belgium when he grew up with 52X14. 140rpm was something he was not used to.

 

[S.Giles]

Thanks CopperCyclist.

To me, standing on an ascent seems to utilise somewhat different muscles than sitting down, so switching between the two techniques prolongs endurance. I stand for as long as is comfortable, then sit, then stand again, etc. I'm not sure how I would do on hills if I didn't stand at least some of the time. I'd get to a point where I would probably stop if I didn't stand up.

It also seems like really good exercise. As I mentioned above, it's much like stair-stepping.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

How do you decide when to switch from sitting to standing?

1. To keep up the cadence on a short, steep section of an otherwise not so steep hill;
2. When it's coming to the end of a very long tough hill/mountain I've run out of gears (which very rarely happens);
3. When I want to use some different muscles (on a long climb); or
4. When I need to blow past someone on a hill (of course that's as much about psychology - i.e. disheartening the opposition!).

 

[Zofo]

I've noticed that almost every other cycle rider I see has a faster cadence than mine. I just naturally tend to turn the pedals slowly and in a high gear. I heard somewhere that a high cadence is more of a cardio-vascular workout. Is this correct?

I have large leg muscles, but I'm not sure of the cause-and-effect (ie, do I have a slow cadence as a result of my leg muscles, or are my legs the by-product of a slow cadence habit?). Just recently I've occasionally started trying to spin the pedals faster in a lower gear, but to be honest, I'm not quite sure what I'm trying to achieve. It also sometimes feels quite inefficient.

I occasionally have trouble with pain in the tendons behind the knee, but I think I've sorted that out by paying careful attention to saddle height. I assume that a faster cadence would tend to reduce knee problems of this sort, though.

To give some idea, I have a cycle with three chain rings at the front, and an eight-gear cassette. I never use the smallest front chain ring, and generally stick to the highest four gears at the back (even on hills). I don't have tooth ratios to hand, but it's a fairly standard bicycle with 26" wheels.

Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated!

Steve

Ideal cadence is around 85-95 on flattish road or turbo. On climbs anywhere from 80 down to 60