Newbie cadence and gearing.

ben@31

Hi, I am new to road cycling. Where I live is reasonably flat with the occasional long easy angled slope.

Probably because I'm a newbie, I'm finding I prefer a slow steady cadence. The problem I'm finding is that everywhere I go, I'm always using the biggest chainring on the front and at the rear I'm using the smallest half of the cassette. When I get up to speed on the flats or decend the long sloping ground, I seem to run out of high gears.

I don't have a problem running out of low gearing... there's no real hills here that needs a 28 sprocket, I'm reasonably fit and a glutton for punishment.

I can't seem to grasp a high cadence, it seems unnatural to me and it feels like I'm peddling like mad to make little ground.

What should I do? Work on getting a faster cadence or is it worth changing the front chainset for something a little bigger? I currently have a 50 x 34T chainset and a 9 speed 12-25 cassette.

Thanks for any advice

Ringo 68

How fast are you going when you run out of gears?

I have been riding for a year now and have had to use my highest gear once and that was at speeds approaching 40mph on a steep downhill. I can cruise on slight downhills (with a tail wind) at 23mph and never come close to using my highest gears (50/34 with a 11/28 rear)

ShutUpLegs

Go for a 11-23 cassette and consider a double chainset 53 x 39

rolf_f

ben@31 wrote:

Probably because I'm a newbie, I'm finding I prefer a slow steady cadence.

Exactly. You just need to up your cadence. If you are running out of gears on 50-12 as a beginner you are either amazingly talented or relying too much on brute strength which isn't going to be much use to you on long rides. I use those gears on my commuter in hilly country and I don't feel like I need higher gears - despite the route sometimes taking me over 35 mph.

Ideally, you want a GPS computer like a Garmin, Bryton or Holux with cadence. Those not only record cadence instantaneously, but they also record average cadences uphill and down and enable you to record progress. I'm currently trying to increase my cadence and was pleased yesterday to manage an average of 87. Mostly I average low 80s but before I started doing this my average was in the 70s.

What I tend to find is that if my mind wanders off, my cadence drops. When I realise this I drop a gear and actually find the bike accelerates . It feels like instead of forcing the bike along, the bike is helping me along (do you have a computer? Do you really know that in the lower gear you are actually going slower or does it just feel like you are?). But it is a fine balance between not spinny enough and too spinny. I think you need to improve gradually - that's my experience of it.

CiB

Get onto a guy called Dave Brailsford if you spin out as a newbie in the biggest gears.

Or buy a cheap computer for about £30 that includes cadence and use that to get yourself into the sweet zone; like Rolf says something in the 80-90 zone is where you want to be aiming for.

ben@31

Thanks for the advice.

It's likely I'm going slow and relying on brute strength and getting the impression of going faster than what I actually am due to my inexperience. I don't have a computer yet, but when I do, maybe I'll see whats going on and see how a faster cadence can be better.

jon33

I'm also fairly new and I've noticed that I'm prefering to grind away slowly in the higher gears, which means my legs burn out pretty quick.

Could anyone recommend a reasonably priced computer which will do cadence?

CiB

The Topeak 140 does. Halfords were shifting them last year for about £30, dunno if they stil do though.

MichaelW

You don't need a computer to increase your cadence. Set aside 5mins for cadence training to accustom your legs to spinning rapidly.
Pick a Lower than usual gear.
Gradually ramp up cadence without using full power.
Maintain max cadence for a minute.
During this exercise you should not care about going fast or cycling hard, just spinning rapidly.
Feel your legs turn in circles, don't push down at the 6.00 position.
Repeat daily.

nickel

It just takes getting used to, I used to grind out a gear at 60-70 rpm but nowadays my preferred cadence is around 90, and feels much more natural now than a lower cadence.

slowondefy2

A high cadence looks Pro. End of

ben@31

Thanks for all the advice, what a great forum.

My friend who's been into cycling a lot longer than me took me out on a 40 mile / 64km route. For a newbie, thats the furthest I've ever cycled by far.

I tried keeping it in a lower gear than what I'm used to. I learned that I would have died of exhaustiion if I tried to power round a long route in a high gear all the time.