RPM??

[loops]

Hi all,

Me again with another daft question, some advice I got here recently on hill climbing (thanks all!) mentioned what rpm I should be aiming for. I do know what it means

but am at a complete loss as how I am supposed to work this out

Whilst I am trying to manage drop handle bars for the first time, think about toe clips and generally stay upright, in a straight line and safe..I can't possible start looking at my watch and counting how many times my feet go around

Also how are the 'recommended' rpm calculated? for hills, flats etc

I know you will have the answer..please share it!

thanks
loops!

 

[Rob3rt]

If you cant co-ordinate yourself to count how many times one of your legs goes past the same possition in 15 seconds then multiply by 4, or in 30 seconds and multiply by two then you would likely need to buy a bike computer that measures and presents your cadence to you on screen.

 

[loops]

oh yes, how stupid of me

 

[accountantpete]

You can get computers to measure cadence - I do what Robert suggests and you will soon find that you get to know instinctively what cadence you are turning.

Personally I found a turbo as the best aid as you can concentrate solely on cadence without worrying about anything else.

 

[gbb]

Depends on how you want to attack the hill, that depends on the length of it.
Attack a hill and get up fast or get up a longer hill in the most economical way.

If i'm not pushing, maintain my usual cadence and change gear to maintain the current effort. I aim to maintain 80 to 90 rpm, flat or on hill. Its just changing gear at the right moment to maintain cadence. Perhaps someone can tell me if thats correct ?

If i'm pushing hard, the cadence may well be slower, i'm using more effort of course, but still aim to change gear to maintain the effort or cadence.

Works for me !

 

[CopperCyclist]

I went and sat on an exercise bike at work and pedalled at 90 rpm for a few minutes. Thats what I aim for, and its given me an idea of what it is on my bike, which has no cadence measuring device.

 

[cyberknight]

On the flat as others have said 90 rpm ish .

I have no idea what rpm i push tbh , the only way i learned to spin was to try the gear i would normally push hard to keep up speed then dropping down to one gear lower and although my legs were going faster i was going just as fast with less strain on the legs.
hardly scientific i know but it worked for me

 

[wheres_my_beard]

You could use a gear calculator like this -->> linky

And enter your info (number of teeth on front and rear cogs), and be able to know what gear you should be in based on your speed, assuming you keep a fixed cadence, and you have some way of monitoring it <--quite cheap!