Spinning

Jordan93

I cycle using a MTB with road tyres on. I have a cycle computer but it doesnt tell me my cadence. It has 24 gears, I usually ride The biggest chain ring and the 4th or 5th biggest cog on the cassette. But when i'm pedalling it feels as if I need to change gear as it feels as if i should change gear, obviously because of the high cadence but as my computer doesnt tell me im not sure what 90-100rpm feels like

Anonymous

Count your pedal strokes for a minute?

redddraggon

Huh? If you feel like you need to change gear, change gear. What your cadence is, is largely irrelevant.

cooldad

Your cadence should be what you feel comfortable with, I spin (old puny legs), some people push high gears (chunky thighs). Why count at all.

There is no usual gear. The right gear is the right gear for that particular piece of road - that's why modern bikes have lots of them.

Jordan93

Thanks for the replies. I'm only 16 and have pretty big and strong thighs. The onyl reason i asked is because i thought if you had a slower cadence it was less efficient

ALaPlage

Jordan93 wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I'm only 16 and have pretty big and strong thighs. The onyl reason i asked is because i thought if you had a slower cadence it was less efficient

That's generally right and from a training point of view cadence can be a useful tool to use. But as the other posters have pointed out - for general riding the right cadence is what feels right for that particular piece of road/terrain that you are on and also what weather conditions you are facing such as wind speed.

Ride whats comfortable to maximise your pace.

If you use cadence as a training guide most advice seems centred around comfortably being able to maintain 90-100 rpm with adjustment for hills etc I read recently in a magazine article from one sports trainer that he advises 70-80 rpm on a climb.

If you can spin your legs easily then you are letting your heart and lungs do the work and not overworking the leg muscles. When you start to push with the legs or "grind" then you are using your leg muscles and if you overdo this by using too big a gear for too long you will tire early. Once you find a comfortable pace/gear you can spin out you will find that you can last longer.

daviesee

ALaPlage wrote:

Jordan93 wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I'm only 16 and have pretty big and strong thighs. The onyl reason i asked is because i thought if you had a slower cadence it was less efficient

That's generally right and from a training point of view cadence can be a useful tool to use. But as the other posters have pointed out - for general riding the right cadence is what feels right for that particular piece of road/terrain that you are on and also what weather conditions you are facing such as wind speed.

Ride whats comfortable to maximise your pace.

If you use cadence as a training guide most advice seems centred around comfortably being able to maintain 90-100 rpm with adjustment for hills etc I read recently in a magazine article from one sports trainer that he advises 70-80 rpm on a climb.

If you can spin your legs easily then you are letting your heart and lungs do the work and not overworking the leg muscles. When you start to push with the legs or "grind" then you are using your leg muscles and if you overdo this by using too big a gear for too long you will tire early. Once you find a comfortable pace/gear you can spin out you will find that you can last longer.

The way I had it explained to was:-

You can recover your breath quicker than tired muscles recover.
So it is better to pant than to strain.

Within comfort levels of course.
Short distances won't matter too much but over long distances I have noticed a great improvement.

Jordan93

Thanks for the replies but because I'm new to road cycling and the techniques it feels strange to spin. But my question is that if it feels like my legs are going faster than the pedals if you ctach my drift, does that mean my cadence is too high?

cooldad

Jordan93 wrote:

Thanks for the replies but because I'm new to road cycling and the techniques it feels strange to spin. But my question is that if it feels like my legs are going faster than the pedals if you ctach my drift, does that mean my cadence is too high?

Yes, change up.

Jordan93

Yeah thats what i did today. I should really count my pedal strokes for a minute but I always get too concentrated on riding

Jordan93

Yeah thats what i did today. I should really count my pedal strokes for a minute but I always get too concentrated on riding