Pedal Cadance in Polls Forum

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Pedal Cadance

Author	Comment
Catnround	Pedal Cadance	Lead	[-]
Posts: 64 Aug 4 09 10:53 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Tags : None Whats your Pedal Cadence? (Result) 40-50 RPM 50-60 RPM 60-70 RPM 70-80 RPM 80-90 RPM 90-100 RPM 100-110 RPM 110 + RPM
devious56		#1	[-]
Posts: 2717 Aug 5 09 9:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	As I was riding with a couple of stout riders Saturday, I paid a bit of attention to cadance, and I am quite comfortable at 110-120. I don't know how fast Mark was spinning, but he looked like a pogo stick attached to an egg beater. hahahahahahahahaha David
rzexpedition		#2	[-]
Posts: 1626 Aug 7 09 11:39 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow...so you ride a century with a average cadence of 110 rpm? Amazing.
devious56		#3	[-]
Posts: 2717 Aug 8 09 2:26 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Gee, where did I say that? Or where does this thread suggest it is about average cadence and riding a century? What's your average cadence when riding a century?
rzexpedition		#4	[-]
Posts: 1626 Aug 8 09 6:45 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, if you don't mean average cadence, what is the meaning of the question? The reason I ask that is because I can easily run a high cadence on some road conditions (easily on road with slight hilldown slope), but I never finish any ride of any significant distance with a cadence much higher than 70 or so. I can finish a century ride with roughly the same cadence I finish a 30 mile with. So, when you ask what is your pedal cadence, can you really mean any other other than average cadence?
devious56		#5	[-]
Posts: 2717 Aug 9 09 2:03 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, since Catnround started the poll, he's the only one that can really answer your question RZ, but the way it asks, it leave what cadence up in the air, could be max., could be average, could be normal. How to answer, a lot of folks don't have a computer that tells them their cadence, how are they to know? My average cadence is like yours, sort of, but then, your average is going to depend what your route is like. Sort of like average speed. How many stops do you make, how many hills do you go up or down? But, I do tend to finish a ride very similar to how I started, and I will say, I tend to be a bit lazier on my trike than I am on my bike. Gee, lighten up a little. David
rzexpedition		#6	[-]
Posts: 1626 Aug 9 09 3:59 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	David, I am light, man. I think "typed words" are getting in the way, here. If the OP asks what is my cadence, then I'd have to say anywhere from 0 to 100...I seldom see higher than 100 on the trike. But if you look at the range of responses, then I'd have to say he's looking for an average. And for those who don't know, they can't rightly participate. I use a Garmin 305 and store my cadence for every ride, so I know my average cadence, max, and 1-mile average. And all of those factors you mention plus some others (like weight, leg size, etc.) do play a part. Speaking of lazier on the trike...I recently started riding a two-wheeler again after doing about 3500+ trike miles. I found I was a bit iffy on the bike, though. I wasn't willing to go as fast on the flats and downhill....mainly because I ride at night a lot and didn't want to risk crashing out due to the front wheel hitting a pot hole...but...when it comes to going up hill, I found that in order to stay upright and not wobble all over the road (this is a LWB bent), I had to go about 5 to 6 mph min...so, after being forced to do that and then taking the flats and downhills slower than on the trike, my average speed over the exact same route was about 1 mph higher than on the trike! Argh!!!! I had become a lazy trike rider and didn't even realize it. Looking at the weight of the LWB and the trike, there really is no reason I should be going slower on the trike. So, I decided it was time to break out of that mold...thus I now attack the hills...and if they are longer then I make sure I go no slower than I'd be going on LWB...after doing this, and then going like I like to go on the flats and the downhills (which is as fast as I can muster -- which ain't really fast), my average speed at the end of the ride shot up! On good roads, I'm not convince that the trike would be slower than the bike. Trikes do scrub in turns and on rough roads one is going to fight the friction of the third wheel and the three tracks (which sends vibrations from each wheel through the trike), so those factors could impact speed. But I think the trike is actually more aero than the bike due mainly to the riding position. But if one takes hills in a lazy fashion, then one is going to be slower on the trike...I think the fact that you can go slow up hills without falling tends to make us ride hills slower...if we don't make an effort not to do so. What's your take on that?
devious56		#7	[-]
Posts: 2717 Aug 9 09 10:50 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	RZ, you are absolutely right, thanks for putting things in perspective. I too, use a 305, and pay particular attention to my cadence as it has a lot to do with my heart rate, and what I have left in the tank at the end of a ride. Especially since I've started doing time trials. My cadence has a lot to do with what type of ride I'm doing, a recreactional ride I tend to be lazy and pedal slower just crusing along. If it is a training ride where performance is the priority, then I am spinning at a good rate. I find that I spin more on my road bike, than I do my trike, and don't know if it has anything to do with having my legs stuck out in front of me or not, or, if it is the more relaxed environment of my trike. But, I know, there is no way that I can extract the same performance from my trike that I get with the df, over an extended period of time, I just don't have the leg for it. Now, to be honest, if I had more folks to ride with, like we had last week, that might change. I have no one to go riding with at 20 mph for 20 or 30 miles, the guys close to me are very happy at 14 / 15. I know, that when I ride with the shop group on my df we spend a lot of time between 22 to 25 mph, with stints to 30, but after a couple of stop lights, and a neighborhood or two, we usually average 19 mph for a 20 or 30 mile ride. I tend to compare my trike to a mountain bike, or tandem, as far as performance goes. I like your take on hills, and feel that everyone has to go up a hill at their own pace. You can't ride with a friend, it's just better to agree to meet up at the top. And on my trike, I don't have to worry about falling over because I'm going too slow. The first time I every rode Mt. Sugarloaf here in Florida ( a beginning rider that knew nothing about hills) I got about 1/3 of the way up this hill, and my legs said, "Look, you have a choice. You can either get off and walk, or fall off, but we can't do any more." Mind you, this was around the 2, 2 1/2 mph mark. I wasn't very happy about that, but I wasn't the only one walking up that hill.
Catnround		#8	[-]
Posts: 64 Aug 13 09 12:21 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I was just looking for what the average cadence I didn't say anything about distance I'm in the high 80s on longer rides 30 miles plus rolling terrain and hitting low 90s on shorter flat rides and can keep 110 up for a short while. I haven't been on a bike in over a year and now been on my trike for 4 weeks and seen a drastic increase in cadence. When I first got the trike I was in the high 60s to low 70s. Note I was using a Garmin 705 and was having an issue with the cadence sensor and it took me a day or two to figure out WTH was going on. I for a while had a cadence Lance Armstong would have been in aww 140 to 180. My magnet was just far enough away from the sensor that I was getting a reading before top dead center and again at past top dead center so I was getting a 2 fer on each rev..
Pockets		#9	[-]
Posts: 148 Aug 12 10 5:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	What gets me about all these Polls or anything else about average cadence nobody say what gears they are running to measure there average cadence. One person may have an average cadence of 90 but is running in the 42/28 and doing 10mph when someone else is running an average cadence of 90 and is in the 52/11 and doing 31 mph. myself, I am a slow poke. my average cadence is 85 in the 39/18-14mph. That is where the majority of my ride time is. So I think if you are going to measure avg cadence say what gear combo you are using the majority of the time to measure your avg cadence.
jimali		#10	[-]
Posts: 1018 May 14 11 1:36 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Within the concept of cadence it doesn't matter what gear you are in or how fast you are moving. The concept is to maintain whatever cadence is "good" for you and shift appropriately to maintain that cadence under all circumstances. It's a cardiovascular and physiological 'thing' rather than a speed thing. To accomplish this you might have to change the gearing on your bike.
devious56		#11	[-]
Posts: 2717 May 17 11 7:42 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	jimali, you da' man, what a great bit of information to toss in this conversation. I wish I had said that. And looking back on my Garmin information, on my road bike my average cadance is around 88 beats per minute, and it doesn't really matter how long the ride, but more how many hills there are, or how much wind. On my trike, the average was around 83 bpm, when riding, and maybe 78 when just cruising the trails. And just for the record, my max cadance, while still holding decent form, was 136 bpm and done on level ground while doing cadance drills with the shop guys. And yes, I miss riding .................. but my Harley doesn't care what cadance I have, as long as the tach reads between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. ha ha David
rydabyk		#12	[-]
Posts: 123 May 20 11 4:06 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	devious56 wrote: And yes, I miss riding .................. but my Harley doesn't care what cadance I have, as long as the tach reads between 2,000 and 5,000 rpm. ha ha David David...David...David....
BobThomas		#13	[-]
Posts: 187 May 26 11 8:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	around 90
devious56		#14	[-]
Posts: 2717 May 27 11 12:11 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I knew there was a place that I could use this information, and I tried to post it on the forum the other day and couldn't because of an advertisement. Everyone has their own idea of what your cadance should be, and certainly it is a personal thing, but, it has been proven that certain cadance's are more efficient, and this guy is pretty knowledgable in what he says. He is a sports doctor, and one of age, and speaks of what concerns most of us. He and his wife are also avid bicyclists who live in the Villages here in the middle of Florida. So take it for what it's worth, it might benefit you. David Cycling Cadence Gabe Mirkin, M.D. Experienced bicycle riders know that fatigue comes from how hard you press on the pedals, not how fast you turn them. Novice racers may try to ride with maximum force on the pedals, but they quickly exhaust themselves and often can't even finish the race. Cycling is a power sport. The number of times you spin your bicycle pedals in a minute is called your cadence, and your power is the product of the force that your feet apply to the pedals time your cadence. A study from Toledo, Spain shows that spinning the pedals too fast slows you down (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May 2006). Most bicycle riders do best when they chose gears that allow them to pedal at a cadence of 80 to 90. You want to pedal as fast as you can with the greatest force you can maintain on your pedals, but if you spin too fast, your brain cannot coordinate your muscles so you lose efficiency. Try to choose gears that allow you to spin as fast as you can and still feel some pressure on your pedals. If you have to push on your pedals so hard that your body moves from side to side, you need to reduce the gear ratio and pedal faster. If you are spinning faster than 100 times a minute, you are probably losing coordination. Bicycle computers that show your cadence are available in bike shops and online bicycle catalogs. When you are going out on a long ride, try to keep a comfortable fast cadence. However, if you are going to sprint or race for less than 30 minutes, you will ride faster by putting more pressure than usual on you pedals, which will slow your cadence by about 10 percent. You can also use this technique to pick up the pace when you want to catch up with another rider. June 17, 2006
Trikathlon		#15	[-]
Posts: 18 Feb 8 12 11:42 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This is good info. I am typically spinning around 70-75 at 18-20mph and find myself worn out around mile 25-30. I'll try this approach and see if the fatigue abates. Although, I assume it will take time to determine how much and how little is enough for an optimal cadence.

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