Ideal cadence and strength - have we been spoilt by lower gearing?

[gbb]

If your spinning out on 50 x 11 on the flat you should consider going pro, with 25mm tyres on 700cc rims at 100rpm you will be at about 32 mph

No, I used to run out of steam after a few miles of it. It all depends on an individual's strength as well, , perhaps strength is actually the driving factor, I'm slightly built and found myself unable to exceed 24mph on the flat (with a slight tailwind as well) ...but only for a few miles. I felt far more comfortable cadence wise (at my peak fitness)on a 53...but I wasnt going any faster.

All this is a thing of the past for me anyway, those days are gone.

 

[boydj]

Your gearing isnt low enough. Shimano do a triple 48/36/26 teeth. It gets me up 20+% with a decent cadence

It's low enough for the riding I do, even the very occasional >20% hill up to the golf club - provided I take a turn round the car park half way up.

 

[matticus]

One could argue that more than one gear is hampering strength training so we should be riding ssfg.

Once-upon-a-time, a frenchman setup a very famous race (usually won by Slovenians). He viewed freewheels as cheating, as the riders could simply rest for long periods of the race (i.e. when they were not pedalling).

SO, fixed gears all round, if you don't want to be cheating!