Slowly slaying the high cadence myth....

[matticus]

Nonsense. Utter and total.

 

[GetFatty]

I would have thought mine is quite low (although @ianrauk would be able to hazard a guess) but I find it suits me better. I also find it helps with acceleration in that I have potential to up my cadence while staying in the same gear.

 

[ianrauk]

I would have thought mine is quite low (although @ianrauk would be able to hazard a guess) but I find it suits me better. I also find it helps with acceleration in that I have potential to up my cadence while staying in the same gear.

Yup, would agree with that, a slower cadence then me definitely.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Good, it's always been bollix

 

[Rusty Nails]

Don't think that in 35ish years of riding I've ever met a cyclist with bad knees.

 

[ColinJ]

Don't think that in 35ish years of riding I've ever met a cyclist with bad knees.

Local cycling pal @Littgull is now drastically cutting back on hilly rides because he has developed... bad knees!

As for cadence... I built myself a singlespeed bike a few years ago and experimented with different gear ratios before settling on 52/19. I have ridden thousands of kms on the bike since then so I have developed a good understanding of how it feels riding at different speeds and hence cadences.

60 rpm gives a speed of about 21 kph and that feels very easy, but below my natural cadence.

100 rpm gives a speed of about 35 kph and on the flat that feels too 'spinny', like my legs can't quite keep up. I'm not really fit enough to do that speed for long on any kind of upward slope, but curiously enough it feels more natural doing it up a slight drag, say 1-2% gradient. That provides enough resistance for my legs to work against. I wouldn't like to pedal much faster than that with a bike with a freehub. (I've never ridden fixed but everybody says that it easier to maintain higher cadences when you can't freewheel?)

70 rpm ~= 24 kph. Comfortable but slightly slow.

80-90 rpm ~= 28-31 kph, ideal cadence range for me.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I'm about 85-95rpm pretty much all the time. if I try sprinting (badly) I can maintain about 110rpm for a short time, and maxed out at 120rpm once. On the 1 minute sprint segment that I tested cadences on (or at least tested different gears, which resulted in different cadences) they were all within a few seconds of each other so within the margins of a gust of wind. I was more out of breath with a high cadence and my legs hurt more with a low cadence, so the best balance will be somewhere in between.

Which is what a lot of the research shows, a self-selected cadence is best, riders with a bit of experience in the saddle tend to know what works for them, they'll shift gear if it feels too hard or too easy. This is a great video on cadence, all of this guy's videos are worth watching:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6I1z7eyXOI


The conclusion that pros pedal fast because they produce a lot of power, rather than producing a lot of power because they pedal fast, is a good one, and backs up the linked research that amateurs who will be producing less power are maybe more suited to a lower cadence, or at least maybe not suited to a high cadence (90rpm+). One thing that jumped out from the article is it didn't mention the power produced, only ventilatory threshold - I don't know what the relationship between the two is, but if they'd asked the riders to maintain the same power with different cadences then they might have seen different results.

Out of interest, @Fab Foodie do you know what your usual cadence is?

Last time I measured its 70 to 90 from memory.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Riding around with low cadence and high gears puts a lot of strain on the knees. Pedaling at a higher cadence is easier and enables me to ride longer distances with a heavier load.

I think the knees argument is bollox.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Nonsense. Utter and total.

What is?

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Saddle height would likely have more effect on knee joint health than cadence, especially when it results in gross over extension of the leg

 

[matticus]

What is?

The post immediately before mine:

Don't think that in 35ish years of riding I've ever met a cyclist with bad knees.

It's twaddle. Would take 30 seconds with google to find plenty.

 

[matticus]

"
Riding around with low cadence and high gears puts a lot of strain on the knees. Pedaling at a higher cadence is easier and enables me to ride longer distances with a heavier load.
"


I think the knees argument is bollox.

Based on your data sample of one, I presume? Not confirmation bias at all, of course! :P

 

[Low Gear Guy]

Don't think that in 35ish years of riding I've ever met a cyclist with bad knees.

How would you know?

 

[Tigerbiten]

My cadence varies in line with my power output.
My low power cadence is in the 60-70 rpm range. I'll spin this cadence either when I've had to drop my power output because I'm overheating badly when hill climbing or I'm just turning my legs over in a high gear on a decent.
My normal cadence is in the 70-80 rpm range. As this is my normal cadence, I can happily keep this up all day.
My high power cadence is in the 80-90 rpm range. The fitter I get then the higher my power output is and I start to spin this range.
I can hit down around 40 rpm if I've run out of gears down on a hill climb. But at this speed I'm grinding my way uphill which end up hurting my knees.
I can also hit around 100 rpm if I cannot be bothered to shift up a gear range on a decent. But a this speed I'm overspinning and my efficiency suffers, a higher heart rate for no real increase in speed.

Luck ..........

 

[dan_bo]

How would you know?

Conversation, usually.