What cadence should i ride at

skinnydog1973

I am new to cycling and have just bought an edge 500 i was wondering what cadence should i aim for when riding on the flats, i have been trying to keep it at about 90 and have been changing the gears to keep it at that, is that ok or should i be trying for a higher or lower cadence

cattytown

That's fine - 90 is the general guide. As you settle in you ay find overall you run best a little faster or slower.

imposter2.0

Ride at a cadence which you find comfortable and/or sustainable for your ride. Ignore the numbers.

alihisgreat

90 is about right, but its about what works for you.

I tend to ride at 90-95 on the flat during normal riding. When I'm pushing hard though I tend to move up towards 100.

Bozman

I'd say that you tend to find your natural cadence, I only had a rough idea until I bought a Garmin and it was just where I though it was..... 85-90, it can pop up 10 when it's required but I don't really go above a 100 because my body doesn't like it.

skinnydog1973

Thanks for that i thought i might be close if i go over 100 my legs seem to be going too fast

ziglar

I seem to find the most comfortable cadence around 50-55 but wondering if I should drop a gear or two and increase my cadence? Presumably you can get to the point where a higher cadence becomes the new 'norm' that you feel comfortable with?

KMC1993

higher cadence equals higher speed so 50-55 is going to limit your speed significantly. Take a look at this table, it shows what speed you will be at in regards to cadence and gears.
http://www.machars.net/bikecalc.htm

bondurant

That's not to say you should attempt to cycle at 200 rpm of course...

ziglar

looking at the table 53x11 @ 55rpm = 20.7mph and this speed is also achievable, for example, with 53x15@75 so if I wanted to go at 20.7mph and I feel very comfortable with 55rpm should I force myself into a lower gear and higher cadence in the short/medium term to give me more room for improvement with the bigger gears in the longer term?

I don't know why but when I try to increase the cadence by reducing the gearing it feels very awkward and hurts my knee joints more than with a lower cadence.

bondurant

Saddle height plays an important part too

dee4life2005

When I started off cycling about 18 months ago my cadence was around 70-75. Over time, as my fitness has improved, this has gradually crept up and now I find a comfortable cadence to be 90-103, and I find myself changing up/down if I fall outwith this range.

Cadence is a very personal thing, and will differ from person to person - having said that, a higher cadence is reported to have it's benefits in helping to reduce leg fatigue and stress on the knees - something that plays a part if you're going on extended rides. I've certainly found my ability to ride further distances has improved since my cadence has increased.

+1 on saddle height being important too.

sungod

the advantage, within limits, of higher cadence is that you apply less force per revolution, so your legs fatigue less

an extreme analogy is that you can easily lift 10kg twenty times, whereas lifting 200kg is another matter, but both involve moving the same mass through the same height, dividing the task into smaller chunks makes it easier

the price you pay is additional load on heart/lungs, but these recover faster than legs

if you get knee/other pain at higher cadence it may mean there's a set-up problem with bike/shoes/cleats

djm501

dee4life2005 wrote:

When I started off cycling about 18 months ago my cadence was around 70-75. Over time, as my fitness has improved, this has gradually crept up and now I find a comfortable cadence to be 90-103, and I find myself changing up/down if I fall outwith this range.

Cadence is a very personal thing, and will differ from person to person - having said that, a higher cadence is reported to have it's benefits in helping to reduce leg fatigue and stress on the knees - something that plays a part if you're going on extended rides. I've certainly found my ability to ride further distances has improved since my cadence has increased.

+1 on saddle height being important too.

+1

I've been riding about a year and largely ignore all the numbers on cadence. I did get a cadence computer at one point but stopped using after a few times as once you know, you know and you get a feel of it. 'Unless you're a racer, who really cares?' is what I thought.
However, I'm a natural masher rather than a spinner and my riding has developed into full on long distance stuff. On the really long rides I've definitely discovered that high cadence low gear is *much* easier on the legs and knees over time. I did a 600 km audax at the weekend and on the last 300 k I barely used my big chainring, I was still able to spin it up to 20 mph on my lower 34 chainring without crosschaining.

gubber12345

don't know what my cadence is for sure but I think i'm in the 80-90 bracket and actually think that I conserve more energy whilst at that cadence and in the right gear instead of turning a lower cadence with a higher gear.

ziglar

sungod wrote:

if you get knee/other pain at higher cadence it may mean there's a set-up problem with bike/shoes/cleats

as a general rule of thumb (if such a thing exists) would this point to the seat being too high, too low, too far forwards or backwards?

plowmar

Averages taken from my garmin remain at or about mid sixties. Irrespective of whether I grind at 55-60 or, for me, spin at 75-80.
Grinding I can get to 40+mph down hill but the lower gears help me get up the hills quicker.
Yes I know you can grind down hill and spin up hill and that changing gears are a get help but it is just the way I ride.

sungod

ziglar wrote:

sungod wrote:

if you get knee/other pain at higher cadence it may mean there's a set-up problem with bike/shoes/cleats

as a general rule of thumb (if such a thing exists) would this point to the seat being too high, too low, too far forwards or backwards?

depends where the pain is, feet/knees/legs are complicated, some general info here...

http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

...but some things may only be detected by a specialist