OP
OP
SquareDaff
Über Member
- Location
- Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Only one, as in "Watt the hell am I putting myself through this for?"
New Computer with Cadence measure
- Thread starter SquareDaff
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JoysOfSight
Active Member
Here's my take on it....
When your cadence is "too low", you exhaust your legs and give your cardio system an easy ride. When your cadence is "too high", you blow off your cardio system and have spare leg. There's a range in the middle where neither part is an artificial bottleneck - the only problem is, where the range is (and how wide it is) is personal to you, and it will also change with time.
Suppose you are riding into the wind or up a slight gradient. Do your legs explode, or your lungs? To stereotype, most people seem to ride at quite a low cadence (60?) where they're unlikely to be most efficient. I'd aim for 80-100, as a starting point, and see how it feels.
When your cadence is "too low", you exhaust your legs and give your cardio system an easy ride. When your cadence is "too high", you blow off your cardio system and have spare leg. There's a range in the middle where neither part is an artificial bottleneck - the only problem is, where the range is (and how wide it is) is personal to you, and it will also change with time.
Suppose you are riding into the wind or up a slight gradient. Do your legs explode, or your lungs? To stereotype, most people seem to ride at quite a low cadence (60?) where they're unlikely to be most efficient. I'd aim for 80-100, as a starting point, and see how it feels.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Depending on your terrain 80 ish is OK as a guide but pedal at a cadence that feels comfortable to you. Out on the club run I'm pedaling at 90 average - 160 max but on a longer distance hillier solo ride I'm riding at around 60-70 on average (I like to free wheel down hill so the cadence there is zero and that lower the average). I've never recorded the cadence on the commute but I like to be riding at a comfortable pace and have the spare capacity to up it, when I need too.
Years and years and years ago when I rode the track, I got to know how fast to pedal to get a 'comfortable' rythym.
As my legs got stronger and I could output a bit more power, I would naturally get the bike to travel faster. But this meant that because the bike only had one gear, I was pedaling faster.
So, the chainring was changed to a tooth or two larger for a couple of inches longer gear to bring my pedaling rate back down to where I felt comfortable. 105.
Hills though were a different matter.
There wasn't a gear on the bike ( my Pug ) that allowed me to ride at the pedaling rate I rode on the track up Gorcot hill on the return ride from Evesham.
I steadily climbed up the last 10% gradient on 38 x 23 at 70ish rpm. 9 mph, and according to CTC's PowerCalc sheet, that's 400 Watts.
So I guess 400 Watts is not beyond 10 mins of effort ( even for a fifteen year old ).
As my legs got stronger and I could output a bit more power, I would naturally get the bike to travel faster. But this meant that because the bike only had one gear, I was pedaling faster.
So, the chainring was changed to a tooth or two larger for a couple of inches longer gear to bring my pedaling rate back down to where I felt comfortable. 105.
Hills though were a different matter.
There wasn't a gear on the bike ( my Pug ) that allowed me to ride at the pedaling rate I rode on the track up Gorcot hill on the return ride from Evesham.
I steadily climbed up the last 10% gradient on 38 x 23 at 70ish rpm. 9 mph, and according to CTC's PowerCalc sheet, that's 400 Watts.
So I guess 400 Watts is not beyond 10 mins of effort ( even for a fifteen year old ).
Years and years and years ago when I rode the track, I got to know how fast to pedal to get a 'comfortable' rythym.
As my legs got stronger and I could output a bit more power, I would naturally get the bike to travel faster. But this meant that because the bike only had one gear, I was pedaling faster.
So, the chainring was changed to a tooth or two larger for a couple of inches longer gear to bring my pedaling rate back down to where I felt comfortable. 105.
Hills though were a different matter.
There wasn't a gear on the bike ( my Pug ) that allowed me to ride at the pedaling rate I rode on the track up Gorcot hill on the return ride from Evesham.
I steadily climbed up the last 10% gradient on 38 x 23 at 70ish rpm. 9 mph, and according to CTC's PowerCalc sheet, that's 400 Watts.
So I guess 400 Watts is not beyond 10 mins of effort ( even for a fifteen year old ).
BTW, it was a 48 x 16 on the track bike to keep a steady 25mph.
And before you shout...
In a 'Devil take the hindmost', you try to draft someone most of the time..
BTW, it was a 48 x 16 on the track bike to keep a steady 25mph.
And before you shout...
In a 'Devil take the hindmost', you try to draft someone most of the time..
I've just thought. Keeping 25 mph on a track bike would be over 300 Watts, but because I was drafting a pack of riders, I can knock a third off that.
I've just surprised myself because I regularly do 30 to 40 minute sessions on the gym bike at 220 Watts NOW! thirty five years later.
