Maximum speed with minimum sweat?

[mjr]

What approach to gears and so on gives the maximum speed for the least sweat?

Cycling at lunchtime today, I settled on sub-60 cadence as much as possible, not hesitating to change down rather than push too hard, and freewheeling for periods on the flat and definitely downhill (not that there's much of that around here) but I still need to get from A to B in reasonable time to get to appointments and so on, so is that as fast as one can go without generating too much heat?

 

[Moodyman]

I wear cycle clothing so not bothered about sweating. But I found it easier to push a higher gear than normal. A high cadence puts a lot of pressure on the cardio and increases core temperature.

 

[smutchin]

Get an e-bike?

I rode the fixie to my appointment on Monday and took it very easy but was still sweating buckets by the time I got there. Obviously freewheeling wasn't an option but I used the brakes a lot on the steep downhill bit rather than spin like a hyperactive washing machine.

I can't imagine cadence makes much difference to the energy input required for a given speed - is there a big difference in biomechanical efficiency between low-cadence mashing and high-cadence spinning?

 

[S-Express]

What approach to gears and so on gives the maximum speed for the least sweat?

It depends...

 

[PK99]

Downhill.

 

[smutchin]

is there a big difference in biomechanical efficiency between low-cadence mashing and high-cadence spinning?

Answering my own question:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3218268/

 

[mjr]

Thanks for the ideas so far. Except the downhill one. We don't have hills.

I wear cycle clothing so not bothered about sweating.

I've various reasons for not wanting to do that, including that I'd then need to carry business clothing, which would mean extra weight and drag which means more work and so more sweat, plus allowing extra time changing before and after every appointment, if there's even anywhere suitable to change.

Get an e-bike?

Probably eventually. Seems like overkill yet for the number of very hot days where I need to ride.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Answering my own question:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3218268/

Thanks. That's a lot clearer.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Hold on to the back of an HGV

 

[S-Express]

... on who you ask and how they cope with hot weather?

Depends on lots of things....

 

[Beebo]

I run hot. I keep sweating long after I stop cycling, in fact once the wind evaporation effect has gone I get much worse after I have stopped.

 

[Racing roadkill]

It's personal preference, and if you ask a bunch of different riders, you'll get a bunch of different answers. For me, in this weather ( and in general) I prefer / find it easier to make my POWWWAAAAHHHH, by producing higher torque, and lower cadence, it's a whole big can of worms, and you'll find different approaches to different cycling applications, track sprint, track endurance, road sprint, road endurance, TT, all balance the Torque / Cadence slightly differently, and for different reasons.

 

[ChrisEyles]

In this heat I usually keep the same cadence (somewhere around 90ish) and drop a gear. It's obviously slower, but feels like the easiest way to make distance.

 

[RoubaixCube]

I wear a DHB bandanna under my helmet which wicks all the sweat away. cadence wise im doing my usual 80-90rpm with an average speed between 14-15.6mph with my max speed topping at 23mph on long flats

 

[Tin Pot]

95rpm is a good cadence for me, but as far as sweating goes you need to step back a minute.

You sweat because you are hot
You are hot because you are generating heat
You are generating heat because you are working your muscles

So if you don't want to sweat, don't work out.