Power and Cadence on the Turbo Trainer

Dave_P1

When training for power on the turbo, does your cadence matter? Should I be aiming for a particular cadence and if so what should that roughly be?

Cheers,

Dave

doyler78

Dave_P1 wrote:

When training for power on the turbo, does your cadence matter? Should I be aiming for a particular cadence and if so what should that roughly be?

Cheers,

Dave

Just get on a peddle at the rate that feels comfortable. It's not the gear but power that's important.

danlikesbikes

Cadence is important but only in respect of what type of training your are looking to do.

Power is the constant as a measure of your output so your power should be what your aiming to train to - but you could be doing 2 different sessions one that calls for a mid/high gear and slow steady cadence to replicate a hill climb, or a flat out sprint effort for the flat.

Check out this http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/articl ... ing-24170/ which is bikeradar's start guide for turbo training. However there are plenty of sources on the internet and a quick google search should set you on the right direction.

doyler78

Power is what will get you up a hill and a lower cadence on a hill is a function of a lack of power. Train the problem not the outcome.

amaferanga

Also, since turbo riding is so different to riding on the road a given cadence may feel completely different.

I always do intervals at the cadence that feels best. Never tried to hit a certain cadence number on the turbo, yet I can ride hills at various cadences without a second thought.

mattshrops

Most of the guides and training programmes will tell you to use a low cadence and high resistance to replicate hill climbs-obviously after a thorough warm up.(These are things written by coaches btw) :? If you can pedal high cadence then increase the resistance.

cyco2

I like training for power and I have in the past done it on a turbo but at the moment I'm doing it on the road. The main concept of training for endurance power is to make sure you're always putting a plenty of pressure on the pedals for a period. It can also be developed though sprinting. But I think you're wanting endurance power which also helps with climbing. You more less copy the pedal pressure and cadence of climbing. Maybe 70 to 80rpm. But on a turbo it's easier to watch your HR and then increase the cadence/resistance/gear to take you well in to the VO2max zone for periods of time. Painful but great fun.

doyler78

mattshrops wrote:

Most of the guides and training programmes will tell you to use a low cadence and high resistance to replicate hill climbs-obviously after a thorough warm up.(These are things written by coaches btw) :? If you can pedal high cadence then increase the resistance.

Most coaches who write books tell you to ride around all winter losing your power f@rting about in Level 2 rides. That's something I'm not doing I have retained all my power from last year and my 3 hour NP is static also even though I done very little endurance rides through not being able to get my normal weekend rides in. It goes to show that the greatest predictor of 3 hour power is not how much Level 2 you can ride but what your FTP is. Similarly the greatest predictor of how well you can climb a hill will be your w/kg and not what cadence you ride on a turbo but hey if you want to spend time worrying about the garnishes when you've forgot to cook the main course then feel free

Dave_P1

Some interesting thoughts on the subject then.
I like the idea of using the turbo as I can see the wattage on the screen and it acts as a reminder if I'm slacking off.
I suppose by improving my power output it will also help with my hill climbing.....?

jgsi

The turbo can be a great tool for refining one's pedal stroke at higher cadences.
To be as smooth as possible and if you have a vid of Cancellara timetrialling, trying to emulate being as rock steady and as hard as he goes.
'We' may be crap at it but we aspire to greater things....

phreak

Depends what you're training for I should think. If you're doing some serious hill work then I think it's handy having the option of riding reasonably at a low cadence. I did the Mortirolo for instance last year at the back end of the GF Pantani, and had to grind up it at a really low cadence, something I hadn't really trained for and subsequently it was incredbly tough.

So for what it's worth I'd say train with your aim in mind and work back from there.

Herbsman

JGSI wrote:

The turbo can be a great tool for refining one's pedal stroke at higher cadences.

Your bike will stay still on a turbo no matter how sloppy your pedal stroke is. On rollers any sloppiness is turned into side-to-side bike movement, hence they are a far better tool for pedal stroke refinement.

jgsi

Herbsman wrote:

JGSI wrote:

The turbo can be a great tool for refining one's pedal stroke at higher cadences.

Your bike will stay still on a turbo no matter how sloppy your pedal stroke is. On rollers any sloppiness is turned into side-to-side bike movement, hence they are a far better tool for pedal stroke refinement.

Fair enough if you have rollers.
As I didnt advocate riding sloppily, you can use the superior resistance of a turbo to better effect by making yourself as smooth as possible.
We all know how to do that and we have all seen it on the road when someone is going up even the slightest incline rolling the shoulders and 'humping' the bike and that was the point I was trying to make.

Herbsman

JGSI wrote:

Herbsman wrote:

JGSI wrote:

The turbo can be a great tool for refining one's pedal stroke at higher cadences.

Your bike will stay still on a turbo no matter how sloppy your pedal stroke is. On rollers any sloppiness is turned into side-to-side bike movement, hence they are a far better tool for pedal stroke refinement.

Fair enough if you have rollers.
As I didnt advocate riding sloppily, you can use the superior resistance of a turbo to better effect by making yourself as smooth as possible.
We all know how to do that and we have all seen it on the road when someone is going up even the slightest incline rolling the shoulders and 'humping' the bike and that was the point I was trying to make.

Doesn't sound like it to me - you said "refining one's pedal stroke at higher cadences" - surely that applies more to sprinting and spinning on the flat than to going up hills.

For riding at high cadence on a turbo to refine your pedal stroke are you really going to want to increase the resistance much more than a couple of clicks? For cadence work you only need it high enough to stop you 'chasing the ratchet'. Rollers have more than enough resistance for that.

I didn't say you advocated riding sloppily - I don't know where you got that idea from. My point is that a turbo isn't that good for refining pedal stroke at high cadence, because the bike stays almost completely still even if your pedal stroke isn't 100% perfect, meaning that imperfections in the pedal stroke aren't as noticeable as they are on rollers.