estimate cadence without a meter

Sprool
Sprool Posts: 1,022
edited October 2012 in Training, fitness and health
Any tricks for estimating your cadence if you have no meter? Can be either out on a ride or training on rollers or turbo. Is there for instance a well known song with a steady beat you can play through your head which will correspond to 90 bpm or similar?
You know the trick for timing heart pushes used in recussitation? You're supposed to do it in time to Bee Gees Staying Alive, which is quite apt, but also a song well known by many, and the beat is well known (around 110 bpm). I wondered if there was anything similar which could be used to set a known cadence rate?

Comments

  • dw300
    dw300 Posts: 1,642
    Yes ..

    If you're not tired, your cadence is too low.

    If you're tired, then it's just right.

    If you feel like you're going to die .. it's possible it's a bit high.
    All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
    Bike Radar Strava Club
    The Northern Ireland Thread
  • mattshrops
    mattshrops Posts: 1,134
    Presumably you have some sort of bike computer? count the number of revs(one leg) in 15 secs. Times by 4.

    Do it often and you'll start to get a feel for it.
    Death or Glory- Just another Story
  • marz
    marz Posts: 130
    I just count how many times my right knee comes up on each pedal stroke. If it's roughly once per second, pedal faster, if twice per second pedal slower, but aim to nearer twice per second rather than once.
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    marz wrote:
    I just count how many times my right knee comes up on each pedal stroke.
    I count once per pedal stroke :D might try the 15 sec counting thing but i sometimes have difficulty gluing my eyes on the clock when I'm cycling on a road. I might go in search of a well-known song at 90bps I can inbed in my brain, looking for some way of easily keeping pace. Maybe it will come with more experience.
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    Ain't the internet wonderful!
    http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~davet/music/bpm/90.html
    You can select which bpm you want then take a song from the list you know really well, store it in your head and use it to pace your cadence on a ride. This is just what I was searching for.
    90bpm for me is now Edie Brickell - what I am. I can then step up or down from that rate to try and keep an average known cadence when I'm training.
  • chrisaonabike
    chrisaonabike Posts: 1,914
    Sprool wrote:
    Ain't the internet wonderful!
    http://www.cs.ubc.ca/~davet/music/bpm/90.html
    Useful site, but worth checking a chosen song. Checked a few - your Edie Brickell one is ok, Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen) is bang on, but Two Thousand Years (Billy Joel) is miles out - only 58bpm.
    Is the gorilla tired yet?
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    If you think cadence is that important then get a bike computer that measures cadence. Otherwise don't worry about it. By counting or singing a song to yourself you're probably looking at +/-10rpm error at best so I can't see what you'd actually get from it.
    More problems but still living....
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.

    Well simple if your cadence is fixed, but not in the real world. I'd get a bit bored spending a whole ride counting pedal revolutions.
    More problems but still living....
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    amaferanga wrote:
    If you think cadence is that important then get a bike computer that measures cadence. Otherwise don't worry about it. By counting or singing a song to yourself you're probably looking at +/-10rpm error at best so I can't see what you'd actually get from it.
    When i can afford to get a cadence-measuring bike computer I'll get one. As I don't have one at the moment, I can stick a song in my head and use that. It will be better than +/- 10% accurate as I am a musician and have a good memory for tempo and tone. So its a really neat solution to help me pace myself.
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
    I can't keep staring at a watch when i'm cycling down a street, as has already been posted earlier.
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    Sprool wrote:
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
    I can't keep staring at a watch when i'm cycling down a street, as has already been posted earlier.


    You only need to glance at it a few times you don't need to stare at it for the whole 10 or 15 seconds. But your idea of using music is a good one. You will find you soon get to know your cadence instictively and will only use the computer as a check and confirmation.
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    So the question is, now that you know your approximate cadence, what are you going to do with that information? How is it going to help your cycling?
    More problems but still living....
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    Primarily interval training on rollers to start with, to give some structure and discipline to the sessions which will help keep me motivated.
    You will find you soon get to know your cadence instictively and will only use the computer as a check and confirmation.

    Bang on Trev.
  • indjke
    indjke Posts: 85
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
    Yep! I used to count revs for 12 seconds and multiply by 5.
    Typically was 20-21 revs on 170mm cranks)
    Boardman Team C / 105 / Fulcrum Racing 3
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    indjke wrote:
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
    Yep! I used to count revs for 12 seconds and multiply by 5.
    Typically was 20-21 revs on 170mm cranks)


    Crank length is not needed to calculate speed. You only need to know wheel circumference and how many teeth on ring and sprocket.
  • Herbsman
    Herbsman Posts: 2,029
    Good grief
    CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    Herbsman wrote:
    Good grief


    Don't get you.
  • t.m.h.n.e.t
    t.m.h.n.e.t Posts: 2,265
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    indjke wrote:
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    It is simple to work out cadence & speed without a computer, all you need is a watch.
    Yep! I used to count revs for 12 seconds and multiply by 5.
    Typically was 20-21 revs on 170mm cranks)


    Crank length is not needed to calculate speed. You only need to know wheel circumference and how many teeth on ring and sprocket.
    What the fvck are you on about Trev??
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    To calculate speed without a computer all you need to know is wheel circuference, teeth on front ring and teeth on sprocket...........sorry and a watch.

    2.11m x 53/15 x 90rpm = 40 kph or 25mph approx.
  • t.m.h.n.e.t
    t.m.h.n.e.t Posts: 2,265
    If the poster was actually talking about speed :roll:
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    who mentioned trying to calculate speed? I was just looking for the right tempo to store in my head to try keep a steady known cadence when riding on road or rollers :)
    Now I know my road cadence is actually quite a bit slower than is deemed efficient, I can work more on that. Get it right on the rollers, muscle memory and a good tune will help translate to the open road for training and technique improvement. Hopefully.
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    T.M.H.N.E.T wrote:
    If the poster was actually talking about speed :roll:


    Why else would you want to know cadence?
  • Sprool
    Sprool Posts: 1,022
    you know sometimes i just wish i'd kept my mouth shut.
  • markp80
    markp80 Posts: 444
    Sprool wrote:
    you know sometimes i just wish i'd kept my mouth shut.
    :lol:
    Boardman Road Comp - OK, I went to Halfords
    Tibia plateau fracture - the rehab continues!
  • dw300
    dw300 Posts: 1,642
    This thread just went full retard ..
    All the above is just advice .. you can do whatever the f*ck you wana do!
    Bike Radar Strava Club
    The Northern Ireland Thread
  • sub55
    sub55 Posts: 1,025
    Sprool wrote:
    who mentioned trying to calculate speed? I was just looking for the right tempo to store in my head to try keep a steady known cadence when riding on road or rollers :)
    Now I know my road cadence is actually quite a bit slower than is deemed efficient, I can work more on that. Get it right on the rollers, muscle memory and a good tune will help translate to the open road for training and technique improvement. Hopefully.

    reed this one
    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12882231
    Some very knowledgeable people telling it as it is.
    even Tev agreed in the end
    constantly reavalueating the situation and altering the perceived parameters accordingly
  • indjke
    indjke Posts: 85
    Trev The Rev wrote:
    Crank length is not needed to calculate speed. You only need to know wheel circumference and how many teeth on ring and sprocket.
    Ha-ha! For sure!
    there was no crank length in my formula :lol:
    I mean that my comfortable cadence might become a bit lower on a longer cranks :)

    P.S> and yes, I was calculating cadence ofc, not speed :)
    Boardman Team C / 105 / Fulcrum Racing 3
  • Trev The Rev
    Trev The Rev Posts: 1,040
    sub55 wrote:
    http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12882231
    Some very knowledgeable people telling it as it is.
    even Tev agreed in the end

    I must have been tired and emotional.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Sprool wrote:
    Primarily interval training on rollers to start with, to give some structure and discipline to the sessions which will help keep me motivated.
    You will find you soon get to know your cadence instictively and will only use the computer as a check and confirmation.

    Bang on Trev.

    How will knowing your cadence help interval training though?

Categories