am i pushing too hard?

[Torvi]

If, like me, you struggle up hills, keep your 11-32. 32 teeth, as opposed to 28 makes a bit difference to your legs and cadence.

thanks

if 1 can close the thread that would be good, ill remain on 11-32 for few months, maybe untill the next season and see for myself if i should get 11-28 beer for all on me

 

[Dogtrousers]

But to go to your original questio - am I pushing too hard - or put another way is my cadence too low, it's much harder to answer. There may be an optimum cadence for performance for you. But maybe you're not riding for speed. The accepted wisdom (and my own experience) is that a higher cadence is more efficient and will stave off fatigue for longer.

 

[Smurfy]

i find myself that if i use smaller gear on front i only use about 4-5 hardest gears out of rear, only on big front cog i maybe use 8 of them, having 10sp is kind of like a waste of gears

Colin's ride will almost certainly sort that out
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/y...the-settle-spectacular-july-25th-2015.182780/

 

[Torvi]

Colin's ride will almost certainly sort that out
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/y...the-settle-spectacular-july-25th-2015.182780/

haha that's one hell of a route im yet to hit my first century i plan on doing it in about 2-3 weeks from now on

 

[SpokeyDokey]

that's exactly what im debating on right now. if i should go for 11-28 or stay few months and see how it goes on 11-32

Keep it and see how it goes esp' if you ever ride somewhere really hilly.

 

[Citius]

The accepted wisdom (and my own experience) is that a higher cadence is more efficient and will stave off fatigue for longer.

I'm not sure that is the 'accepted wisdom'. Actually, the opposite is true. Metabolic cost tends to increase with pedalling rate, although there is more to it than that. Consequently, for any given power output, a lower cadence is usually more efficient.

Anyway, there's no such thing as 'hard' gears or 'easy' gears. Just 'appropriate for the terrain' - and 'inappropriate for the terrain'. Don't regard gears as 'un-used' - regard them as un-neccesary for where you are right now.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'm not sure that is the 'accepted wisdom'. Actually, the opposite is true. Metabolic cost tends to increase with pedalling rate, although there is more to it than that. Consequently, for any given power output, a lower cadence is usually more efficient.

Anyway, there's no such thing as 'hard' gears or 'easy' gears. Just 'appropriate for the terrain' - and 'inappropriate for the terrain'. Don't regard gears as 'un-used' - regard them as un-neccesary for where you are right now.

OK, fair enough but it's "accepted" by me, and I have read the same elsewhere (but I can't be fussed to find any sources other than Richard Ballantyne).

Anyway, if you have researched the subject properly I'll defer to you. I've no wish to enter into an argument on a subject about which I fully admit I'm pretty ignorant - apart from through personal experience. The mysterious ways in which fatigue sets in are, I imagine, very variable between individuals. While I will keep an open mind to the possibility of higher gearing being more efficient, I don't intend to experiment with it on my next audax.

 

[Citius]

OK, fair enough but it's "accepted" by me, and I have read the same elsewhere (but I can't be fussed to find any sources other than Richard Ballantyne).

Anyway, if you have researched the subject properly I'll defer to you. I've no wish to enter into an argument on a subject about which I fully admit I'm pretty ignorant - apart from through personal experience. The mysterious ways in which fatigue sets in are, I imagine, very variable between individuals. While I will keep an open mind to the possibility of higher gearing being more efficient, I don't intend to experiment with it on my next audax.

I've no wish for an 'argument' either. Just pointing out that metabolic cost actually increases with cadence - which, if you think about it, makes sense. Just to avoid any confusion though - it's not 'higher gearing' which is more efficient, it is 'lower cadence'. The two aren't the same - not in this context anyway...

 

[Dogtrousers]

I'll agree to be confused. I think it's fair to say that for each individual, for a given terrain and wind conditions there's probably an optimum cadence. And that if you pedal slower than that, it's slower than optimum, and if you pedal faster, it's faster than optimum.

We're not doing very well at this arguing business are we?

 

[paul2015]

I do about 1500' per 10 miles so appreciate those lower gears