Is it ever wise to crank in a high gear?

[dub-no-bass]

I've always cycled in low gears at a high cadence with frequent gear-changes to maintain my cadence. I stay in the saddle except for the few second after sprint starts (i.e. at traffic lights).

I have some buddies who have started cycling to improve their endurance and leg strength. They have taken to cycling in very high gears because they feel it gives their legs a better workout. As an old lady*, doing this hurts my knees and I'm sure I've read that this is not a good idea for anyone, even if they're not an old lady like me.

That said, I often see people who look like they know what they're doing (i.e., roadies in lycra) cranking up hills and thousands of gyms across the land run spinning classes.

So - is there any consensus on this? Or it it just a matter of opinion/preference as to whether it's better for your knees to cycle in lower gears at a higher cadence?

*36

 

[jimboalee]

Of course it is.

On a stretch of flat road, drop the bike into the longest gear it's got. Stand up and let your bodyweight glide the cranks round ( it’s a bit like climbing a stairway ). Practice this and soon you'll be doing it naturally when a short incline comes along and you can't be bothered to change gear.

 

[lukepinkhandbag]

I decided a few years ago to change down and lengthen my cycling career... Think about the bio- mechanics of it. Less strain = less wear particulalry at that very complicated and critical joint the knee. Anyway whats all this getting somewhere faster about? Surely you can buy one of those smokey fast things for that!!

 

[I am Spartacus]

With Mr J ..
but to put some overload some of the time on the legs is good.
depends on where you want to put your cycling?
if pootling then easy easy easy and enjoy , however some do have a desire to go fast on a bike and put themselves to a test.
hence a certain amount of overload in a bigger gear with a slower cadence in a training enviro
however, riding a 5 hour sportive like that is just going to do your head in and if you do observe a race you will see some very healthy cadences on show... the trouble is tho' they is pushing big gears some of the time... doh

 

[tyred]

In my youth, I remember old men in their 70s pootling along at little more than walking pace in top gear on heavy old 3-Speed bikes. Never done them any harm and those bikes have unfeasibly high gearing.

 

[marinyork]

It depends what gears we're talking about, which was why I tried to specify in the sister thread to this where I was effectively talking about the same topic. For example I shouldn't have thought going up 13 gear inches would do me much harm.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

 

[Crankarm]

You mean spinning a gear this big ........

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q77GMkXzOVE&feature=player_embedded


In general don't push heavy gears. It's a strategy that has worked for me.

 

[MadoneRider1991]

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q77GMkXzOVE&feature=player_embedded

CRAZY !!

 

[Ian H]

Pushing big gears, generally up a slight incline, is a strength-building technique practiced by some. But it won't do anything for endurance, and as a normal cycling technique it's just rather inefficient - something beginners do until they learn how to do it properly.

 

[marinyork]

Pushing big gears, generally up a slight incline, is a strength-building technique practiced by some. But it won't do anything for endurance, and as a normal cycling technique it's just rather inefficient - something beginners do until they learn how to do it properly.

True enough to an extent, it's what I used to do. The problem is 4 years down the line you end up pretty good at pushing tiny gears properly and nowhere near as good at pushing "normal" gearing. The question is what to do about it...

 

[jimboalee]

True enough to an extent, it's what I used to do. The problem is 4 years down the line you end up pretty good at pushing tiny gears properly and nowhere near as good at pushing "normal" gearing. The question is what to do about it...

The bottom line is "Get yourself good at pushing every gear".

 

[marzjennings]

True enough to an extent, it's what I used to do. The problem is 4 years down the line you end up pretty good at pushing tiny gears properly and nowhere near as good at pushing "normal" gearing. The question is what to do about it...

Just push one gear. My road now runs as a single speed 52/17 which means I have to pedal quickly and smoothly on the downhills, very efficiently on the flats and power like crazy going uphill. You're sort of forced to develop a smooth pedaling action across a large cadence range (20-165rpm)

 

[marinyork]

Just push one gear. My road now runs as a single speed 52/17 which means I have to pedal quickly and smoothly on the downhills, very efficiently on the flats and power like crazy going uphill. You're sort of forced to develop a smooth pedaling action across a large cadence range (20-165rpm)

That's effectively saying I should go up about 30 gear inches. I just don't think that's very realistic. I'm sure I would get used to it but I'm not sure how many years that would take, 5, 10, 15 doing it straight off like that.

 

[GrasB]

Just push one gear. My road now runs as a single speed 52/17 which means I have to pedal quickly and smoothly on the downhills, very efficiently on the flats and power like crazy going uphill. You're sort of forced to develop a smooth pedaling action across a large cadence range (20-165rpm)

I raise you 45/13 on 650x23c tyres... I can deal with a 1 mile 4% ave gradient climb on that which is about as big as a climb gets around here.

marinyork, in all honesty though you'll be able to drive a bigger gear fixed than freewheel but yeah a 30" jump is out there in la la land unless you're seriously under geared now.

 

[Ian H]

True enough to an extent, it's what I used to do. The problem is 4 years down the line you end up pretty good at pushing tiny gears properly and nowhere near as good at pushing "normal" gearing. The question is what to do about it...

I don't quite understand why that's so. If you're saying you're getting slower and pushing ever lower gears, it simply means you're losing fitness. There are many possibly reasons for that.