Cadence

[Dogtrousers]

Pace on Ride With GPS shows the number of minutes you take, on average, to complete a kilometre (or mile if you have it set up for miles) its the inverse of speed. Not related to cadence.

At least, that's what pace is on the RWGPS website. I don't use the app.

 

[Sandra6]

A cadence of 90-100 is quite high, around 80 is probably a better target.
Between 65 and 85 is the optimum for fat burning.
If you want to calculate your cadence and don't have a cycle computer to do it for you, then simply count how many times your right knee comes up to the bars in 30 seconds, then double it.
If you're achieving over 100, then use a harder gear, if it's much lower than 80, use an easier gear.

 

[e-rider]

A cadence of 90-100 is quite high, around 80 is probably a better target.
Between 65 and 85 is the optimum for fat burning.
If you want to calculate your cadence and don't have a cycle computer to do it for you, then simply count how many times your right knee comes up to the bars in 30 seconds, then double it.
If you're achieving over 100, then use a harder gear, if it's much lower than 80, use an easier gear.

80-100 is good, 65 is too slow for most people

 

[DaveReading]

Thanks,so then I must get my average pace lower.On this moment it is between 3:11 and 3:16.And aim for below 3.My husband's is below 3.

Why?

A pace of 3 minutes per mile equates to 20 miles per hour. If you can't sustain that pace (I certainly couldn't) it's nothing to be ashamed of or to worry about.

Particularly as you're already achieving 18-19 mph - I'd be thrilled with that.

 

[Ajax Bay]

When people run, the median of their cadence (the number of double paces per minute) is about 85. (Try finding what you run at normally, at a steady speed and when running faster. Then try that test on a different day - you'll find the results remarkably consistent.) This is true whatever their pace (the time it takes to run a kilometre or mile (the OP will be using a mile, I think)). So I suspect that this cadence is, very roughly and depending on the individual, close to the sweet spot for cycling.
But if you don't use a sensor to record and a screen to display cadence (normally a magnet on the left crank and a sensor on the chainstay) then it really doesn't matter (as many above have said). A key function of the bike's gearing is to allow the rider to maintain a comfortable balance between the cadence and the force required on the pedals, for a given speed in the conditions of the moment (gradient, road surface, drafting). Many people recommend that a higher cadence is easier on the knees (as the force being pushed through them is less).

Between 65 and 85 is the optimum for fat burning.

Where do you get that from, please?

 

[Dogtrousers]

I sometimes try to calculate my cadence by counting pedal revs for a time, then multiplying that by 60 and dividing by the number of seconds. Unsurprisingly I have never got to the end of this exercise, so I have no idea of my cadence.

 

[si_c]

Why?

A pace of 3 minutes per mile equates to 20 miles per hour. If you can't sustain that pace (I certainly couldn't) it's nothing to be ashamed of or to worry about.

Particularly as you're already achieving 18-19 mph - I'd be thrilled with that.

I'm guessing with the OP being from Namibia that the speed is 18-19km/h, still a reasonable pace though.

@slettie welcome to the forum , I'd not worry too much about cadence too much, if you want to improve it just try pedalling at the same speed using a lower gear, you can get bluetooth things which will allow you to measure it but you'll have to decide if its worth it.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Don't worry about cadence. It happens without a sensor, theres no magic number.

 

[MichaelW2]

Cadence is pedalling rate in revs/min. This is not related directly go your speed or pace because of the gears. You can pedal rapidly in a low gear or slowly in a high gear and travel at the same speed and your body is outputting the same power. Picka cadence that works for you. Long legs go slower than short legs, fat legs go slower than skinny legs. You can train yourself to use a higher cadence which can be useful for endurance riding.

 

[rrarider]

My cycle computer measures cadence. It's a Cateye and I've had it on my bike since the 1980s. It has a magnetic sensor on the chain stay and a magnet mounted on the crank. You can see the sensor on the chain stay and the magnet is on the far side of the crank (held on by the cable tie) in this crop of a photo.



I haven't used it in ages but I seem to remember that it used to work. I usually just have the device set to display instantaneous speed, which it measures with another sensor further back on the chain stay and a tiny magnet attached to the spokes. More modern cycle computers may use a different technology now, for all I know but pedal RPM has to be measured somehow in order to show cadence.

.

 

[steveindenmark]

50 years of riding a bike and now you tell me I need to know about cadence.

I knew I was doing something wrong.

 

[smutchin]

Every one is talking about your candence must be 90-100.

That's what the pros do but as with most things in cycling, just because the pros do it that necessarily doesn't mean it's right for you.

The best way to understand cadence is to experiment: pick a flat stretch of road and ride along it in the gear you would normally choose. Then ride the same stretch of road again at the same speed but in a lower gear (shift the chain to a larger cog on the rear wheel) - you will find it easier to turn the pedals but you will need to pedal faster to achieve the same speed. Then try it again in a higher gear (shift the chain to a smaller cog on the rear wheel) - this time you will need to pedal slower to maintain the same speed, but you will need to push harder on the pedals.

Decide for yourself which you find most comfortable. Some people find it easier on their knees to choose a lower gear and pedal faster, others find they can't sustain a high cadence for very long and prefer to push a bigger gear at lower cadence. You can train yourself to ride at a higher cadence but it's questionable if there is really a benefit for most riders to do this - you'll read a lot of nonsense on the internet about biomechanical efficiency and power output but most of it is best ignored.

Thanks,so then I must get my average pace lower.On this moment it is between 3:11 and 3:16.And aim for below 3.My husband's is below 3.

All that Ride With GPS is telling you here is what you know already - you are slower than your husband. Pace (minutes per kilometre) is just another way of expressing your average speed (kilometres per hour).

You can change what data is displayed on the screen while riding - just hold your finger down on the field you want to change and select an option from the list that comes up.

If you are really interested in cadence, you can measure it using the Ride With GPS app (cadence is one of the options on the list that comes up), but you will need to fit a Bluetooth cadence sensor to your bike to do that, eg: http://uk.wahoofitness.com/devices/wahoo-rpm-cadence-sensor

 

[Ihatehills]

I use a cadence sensor and find it useful to help pace myself, if I'm not worried about speed I leave it off, but when I am trying to go a bit faster then I really find it helps. If I stick at a cadence of around 80 and am careful not to put to much effort in to maintain it, then I've found it helps. I have a regular 20 mile loop that I do and I've only averaged over 15mph a few times, and they have all been while observing my cadence.
Probably not that scientific but in my head it helps

 

[DaveReading]

I bought the cadence kit add-on for my trusty old wired Sigma 1609 a couple of years ago (the cadence sensor, incidentally, is a PITA to connect if you have the computer on your stem rather than bars).

The novelty soon wore off, plus with practice you can judge fairly easily your approximate cadence just by feel, although I do usually look at the average recorded at the end of a ride, almost always in the 70-75 range.

 

[mjr]

I sometimes try to calculate my cadence by counting pedal revs for a time, then multiplying that by 60 and dividing by the number of seconds. Unsurprisingly I have never got to the end of this exercise, so I have no idea of my cadence.

That does sound dangerously like counting sheep. Did you fall asleep before you got to the end of the exercise?

Working backwards from gearing and speed, I think my cadence varies between about 40 and 110, with a bias towards the slow plod. I was more a distance runner (well, plodder) rather than a sprinter when younger, although I tended to get bored before the finish. You just see so much more cycling than running.