High cadence or big gear

Glenn C

hi guys. pretty new to the road biking and was wondering whats the best pedalling habit to get into. High cadence and a smaller cog or bigger cog and slower cadence..cheers

okgo

Big gear and high cadence.

Job done.

cougie

Yes - ideally thats what you'd work towards - but as a beginner - try and spin a gear rather than struggle with a big one.

mpatts

You should aim to keep your cadence between 80 and 100 rpm.

Or, just ride it!

mike101

Different strokes for different folks - you need to find out what works for you. Most would suggest a higher cadence but I prefer to turn a bigger gear.

marcusjb

Agree ^ - start with what works for you. If it feels right to be in a small gear with high cadence then go with that, same if you like to pedal at a low cadence but massive gear. It's all fine.

Then, as okgo says, you ideally want to be able to do both! As you get stronger and fitter, you can push your cadence up and push a gear or two (or more!) higher.

kajjal

Depends on your build and strength. Normally high cadence is best but one very strong guy I used to cycle with had a noticeably lower cadence with no performance issues.

samsemtex

marcusjb wrote:

Agree ^ - start with what works for you. If it feels right to be in a small gear with high cadence then go with that, same if you like to pedal at a low cadence but massive gear. It's all fine.

Then, as okgo says, you ideally want to be able to do both! As you get stronger and fitter, you can push your cadence up and push a gear or two (or more!) higher.

Id imagine learning to spin a high cadence as a beginner is more important. What feels fast to you right now probably isnt very fast in reality. When i started on the road bike first (Not long ago at all!) I was very tempted to push a bigger gear all the time. Spinning faster generally doesnt feel right if you have never done it before. I decided to focus on spinning faster and I think ive made very big gains since doing so. I can still push a big gear when i want to but spinning faster was something I had to practice before it felt right.

Mikey23

If you start to experience knee pain then you are probably grinding too big a gear...

imposter2.0

Mikey23 wrote:

If you start to experience knee pain then you are probably grinding too big a gear...

Or your position is wrong. Or it could be one of a number of different issues....

gubber12345

I found for me sitting at about 85-90 rpm suited me perfectly and I just changed to whatever gear I needed to be in to stay at that cadence, actually found it saved me a of energy as well.

francis666

I'm a big guy and high cadence kills me, but then I can pull really big gears (55*11).
On the flat I'm faster than most, but also die on big hills (Boxhill, Leafhill and Whitedown are my locals, but I still get up them!).
The problem with using big gears is that its a lot easier to burn out deep muscle which doesn't recover as quick, so when your legs get tired, use a higher gear and spin to recover.
learn your strengths and ride accordingly.
Wiggins realized that backing off up the hills was rewarded with more performance elsewhere.
All of this could be completely opposite for you.
Its simple really the lower the gear, and the higher the cadence, the faster you go, but it takes more energy and strength and that's gained from hard work.
(seriously now on a diet to improve performance, 2 day fast!)

dw300

You can't just decide that you're gona cycle everywhere at 85-95rpm. But unless you're near your limit it soesn't matter too much unless you're cycling round everywhere at 50rpm or 130rpm.

If you're grinding up a 15% slope you might be doing 60-70rpm because you don't have a choice. If you're doing 40mph on the flat with a strong tailwind you might be doing 100-125rpm.

Typically, if you want to save energy and are sub threshold (sitting in a pack, or just tootling along) you'll want to spin. But if you want to go fast your heart rate is going to rocket doing 100+ rpm, so you might control it (a little bit!) by pushing a big gear and be applying some significant torque in order to take the load off your CV system. You might say a rough guide is that the shorter the interval will be the more you should take the load on your muscles.

Mikey23

@imposter ... Fair comment!

bahzob

As the above comments show there will always be variants.

However as a beginner I'd suggest that best advice would be to look at and learn from the pros.

Everyone of them will average 80+rpm for a full tour stage, even the hardest mountain ones. Many will average over 90rpm.

If you have access to a turbo one thing to do is a session where you watch some pro cycle footage, pick a rider and just try to emulate their cadence and pedalling style. It will be smooth and look relatively effortless even when they are pumping out way more power than you or I could ever manage. Moreover it will stay that way much further/longer in their red zone than the typical amateur, many of whom make that mistake that that
big gear = big power. (Actually since power = force * rpm a smaller gear turned at higher revs will often be more effective)

term1te

When I'm not thinking about cadence and am just enjoying the ride, my cadence is around 75 rpm. I did an experiement last year on one particular hill I wanted to get a PB on. I'd normally grind up at 65 - 70 and get fairly consistent times, I tried Froom's very high climbing cadence, keeping it in the mid 90s, but I just wobbled all over the place and nearly cramped up by the top, with a very similar time to the grinding. Tried keeping the cadence at 80, and got the PB. Not very scientific, different weather, etc. but certainly for climbing my sweet spot was at a higher candence than felt "right/normal". Just practice I guess.

Try a single speed for a weight training and spinning session in the same ride.

imposter2.0

News just in: cadence is largely down to personal preference.

sloppyschleckonds

@imposter ... Fair comment!

cougie

Imposter wrote:

News just in: cadence is largely down to personal preference.

Is it though ? If I look at the local charity ride by me - most of the people are new to cycling and their RPM is about 60 or so.

Check out the peleton in any pro race and the average is likely to be in the 80s.

imposter2.0

cougie wrote:

Imposter wrote:

News just in: cadence is largely down to personal preference.

Is it though ? If I look at the local charity ride by me - most of the people are new to cycling and their RPM is about 60 or so.

Check out the peloton in any pro race and the average is likely to be in the 80s.

That's why I said 'largely'. I would suggest that those genuinely 'new' to cycling will not yet have developed their preferences and in any case, cadence is one of those things that tends to improve with fitness anyway...

xavierdisley

The most efficient cadence will vary with power output. So if you're just cruising around then a lower cadence is fine - spinning away at 100rpm when you're riding easy is inefficient and just accustoms the muscles to applying low force for a given power. For aerobic activity, increasing power output will require a concurrent increase in cadence. Sprinting is slightly different and there's a dropoff past 110-130rpm.

During group riding there are a couple of factors to bear in mind. In a road race/crit/track race where you need to be able to respond to changes in speed, then a higher cadence will be beneficial. In a long stage race where you may have concerns about muscle damage, then a higher cadence for a given intensity may reduce this day to day. Having said that on an easy flat stage in the bunch most riders will be cruising at low cadence for extended periods, but you tend not to see that on TV.

As people have mentioned above though, preferred cadence is individual. Grinding away at 50rpm all day is probably not going to be a good idea, neither is going mad at 120rpm, but finding a happy medium for you, and the type of riding that you'll be doing (whether road racing, track, sportives, time trials, touring etc.) will require a bit of experimentation as you go along.

Xav

chrisw12

bahzob wrote:

As the above comments show there will always be variants.

However as a beginner I'd suggest that best advice would be to look at and learn from the pros.

Everyone of them will average 80+rpm for a full tour stage, even the hardest mountain ones. Many will average over 90rpm.

If you have access to a turbo one thing to do is a session where you watch some pro cycle footage, pick a rider and just try to emulate their cadence and pedaling style. It will be smooth and look relatively effortless even when they are pumping out way more power than you or I could ever manage. Moreover it will stay that way much further/longer in their red zone than the typical amateur, many of whom make that mistake that that
big gear = big power. (Actually since power = force * rpm a smaller gear turned at higher revs will often be more effective)

You obviously understand the formula but then post 'look at and learn from the pros.' if you believe that then why don't you suggest that we all ride at the pro's force (torque) rather than cadence?