Rocking at high cadence

dru

Hi people,

From the observations of a fellow rider who rode with me on the weekends sportive does anyone know why when I'm going higher than 90 rpm/cadence I start to rock (from side to side in the hip department)

Also and more importantly does anyone know how to cure it - either with bike positioning or drills?

Cheers,

Dru

mattward1979

over 90 Id say you were spinning out and making yourself unstable...
Either that or you put excessive pressure in your down stroke rather than maintaining a smooth motion which would shift your weight and be more notceable at higher cadence....

jgsi

Seat possibly too high
The higher rate of pedalling may just bring the over extension of the leg to be more noticeable.

ris

i'd echo jgsi's post, i wonder if your seat is too high.

Airwave

+3 Sddle to high?You should'nt spin out under120rpm.

Velonutter

+4 deffo seat too high, drop it an inch and see if it is better, your upper body should not move unless out of the saddle.

mrchrispy

dare i say it?

+5

CiB

Having considered the likeliest causes, I'd go for errr... seat too high. So +6 then.

cougie

+7 !

blorg

+8 on the seat but it could just require practice, you get better at spinning high RPMs without rocking. There is research out there to suggest that pedalling piston-style is actually more efficient but a more circular style can tend to reduce rocking in my experience.

FatLarry

+9

Anyone for double figures?

crumbschief

I thought this was going to be a music thread about a new bike orientated Bar/Club.

RC21

-1
You need longer legs

dennisn

I don't see your problem as necessarily too high a saddle. If you rock from side to side no matter what the cadence, then yes, try lowering the saddle. For spinning up in the higher cadence ranges I would recommend that you concentrate on pushing your toes straight ahead when the down stroke starts for that particular foot. Don't try to push down or pull up, just push the toes forward and everything else will take care of itself. This should allow you to pedal at a higher cadence without coming off the saddle. Assuming the saddle is not too high.

keef66

I only bounce around like a loon when I'm spinning out, ie spinning very fast and still having trouble putting any pressure on the pedals.

It's usually on a steep downhill where I can't be arsed to change up because a steep uphill is imminent. Probably not the most efficient technique tbh.

Monty Dog

I find that I have a natural frequency at which I get a bouncy cadence - around 150rpm, but if I push on through it smooths out and I can go all the way to 220rpm

rake

your leg should have a slight bend at the bottom stroke 15 degrees or so. may be the saddle hight so +6 from the troll. could be just a rusty technique also. you might be a low cadencer like me i only topped 93 today do a steady 80 usually.

dru

Ok guys - I get the feeling that the first thing to try is the saddle being too high. I'll drop it by 5mm and see how we go this weekend.

The only thing I don't get is that I don't rock at lower RPM/cadence, so it problably a bit of techgnique as well. Anyone got any ideas for drills to do on a turbo to solve this?

Also, would my cleat positions have anything to do with this?

Cheers,

Dru.

Velonutter

To get a very smooth riding style takes time and one of the things that helped me many years ago was a set of rollers, you can't ride them properly without being smooth, so maybe look at a pair of them in the winter.

Fru T Bunn

Monty Dog wrote:

I find that I have a natural frequency at which I get a bouncy cadence - around 150rpm, but if I push on through it smooths out and I can go all the way to 220rpm

Sounds like that late 70s early 80s film about an atomic bus.

oldwelshman

Slow-N-Old wrote:

+4 deffo seat too high, drop it an inch and see if it is better, your upper body should not move unless out of the saddle.

I agree that the saddle may be toohigh but it is not wise to drop saddle by an inch in one go ! especially if the op has been riding like this for a while. He will probably cramp up first ride.
Lower it 2mm initially then ride again and lower it gradually over a few rides so your legs get used to it.

dru

oldwelshman wrote:

Slow-N-Old wrote:

+4 deffo seat too high, drop it an inch and see if it is better, your upper body should not move unless out of the saddle.

I agree that the saddle may be toohigh but it is not wise to drop saddle by an inch in one go ! especially if the op has been riding like this for a while. He will probably cramp up first ride.
Lower it 2mm initially then ride again and lower it gradually over a few rides so your legs get used to it.

Well I dropped it 5mm yesterday and tried it out today on a little ride (little meaning a 100km ride up from Cardiff and did the rhigos and bwlch)

The same rider I rode with earlier in the week, commented that I was not rocking today.... so a good result all around

oldwelshman

I bet you did not do 90 rpm going up those ?

dru

a smidge under average for the ride was 75 (there was alot of free wheeling coming down, despite the head winds

oldwelshman

You don't freewheel down those climbs, you pedal all the way
MAybe I will join you for a ride when I come down soon, who do you ride with?

dru

oldwelshman wrote:

You don't freewheel down those climbs, you pedal all the way
MAybe I will join you for a ride when I come down soon, who do you ride with?

Don't get me wrong - I did try, but with the headwind we only hit 40 mph also as it was my firt time down did not really know the sections.

I must say there was loads of clubs on runs up there today you could take your pick

peanut1978

+ 1 seat too high

look up set up tips