Why so many gears?.....

[Racing roadkill]

The conclusion in your link

"In short, you should choose a cadence that mirrors your power output; unless you’re an elite rider, it’s unlikely you’ll benefit from using cadences exceeding around 80rpm. However, world-class athletes can push into 100 rpm range for the most efficient cadence that will produce the greatest performance."
​

Would appear to contradict your original assertion

Not at all. I just said 90 is the proven most efficient cadence, I didn’t say for whom.

 

[Racing roadkill]

https://www.bikecalculator.co.uk/cadencespeed.htm

 

[Racing roadkill]

It's a bit like asking Goldilocks what is the one universal optimum porridge temperature for bears.

It’s 90 degrees, or the bear is wrong.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Whoosh. Straight over my head.

Fits All = Fitz Hall

 

[Racing roadkill]

I tend to find that dealing with nonsensical pseudo science via humour beats trying to engage with it. I regret that I have no peer reviewed evidence to back this up though.

Or actual data based on numbers garnered through experimental science, as normal people (not keyboard warriors ) know it.

I tend to find that dealing with nonsensical pseudo science via humour beats trying to engage with it.

And you failed there as well.

 

[Salty seadog]

Having started from the premise that
View attachment 402800
Is a valid thing.

Very good, that'll go whoosh over a few heads....

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Not at all. I just said 90 is the proven most efficient cadence, I didn’t say for whom.

I can't see how you can make a generalised statement like that. It's like saying car engines are most efficient at a particular RPM. In reality, how efficient any sort of engine is at a particular speed, mechanical or human, depends on how it was designed and made. Cyclists tend to ride at the cadence they find most efficient for themselves (assuming they don't have defective gears so no ratio choice etc). You jump on a bike and start pedalling. When you build up speed and your legs are going round uncomfortably fast, you change up a gear to slow your legs down. You don't think "I'm not up to 90 RPM yet, so I'll keep in this low gear"! Ask yourself, why would anyone deliberately pedal at a speed they find tiring/difficult to sustain? You might as well say that the most efficient speed for humans to walk at is 4 mph. It may well be for someone like me close to 6ft with long legs but it won't be for someone who is 5ft 2in and short legs to match.

 

[Racing roadkill]

I can't see how you can make a generalised statement like that. It's like saying car engines are most efficient at a particular RPM. In reality, how efficient any sort of engine is at a particular speed, mechanical or human, depends on how it was designed and made. Cyclists tend to ride at the cadence they find most efficient for themselves (assuming they don't have defective gears so no ratio choice etc). You jump on a bike and start pedalling. When you build up speed and your legs are going round uncomfortably fast, you change up a gear to slow your legs down. You don't think "I'm not up to 90 RPM yet, so I'll keep in this low gear"! Ask yourself, why would anyone deliberately pedal at a speed they find tiring/difficult to sustain? You might as well say that the most efficient speed for humans to walk at is 4 mph. It may well be for someone like me close to 6ft with long legs but it won't be for someone who is 5ft 2in and short legs to match.

https://www.bikecalculator.co.uk/cadencespeed.htm

Click on the calculate for gears tabs.

 

[ColinJ]

Fits All = Fitz Hall

Ah - I thought it was Cockney Rhyming Slang for F All!

 

[MichaelW2]

I like to have a low gear for my worst case scenario, the steepest rough road I could possibly expect, with the luggage load I carry. I am not too bothered about the high end spinning out on big descents.

Any notion of "optimum cadence" needs to take into account the size of the rider, big legs being harder to shift than little legs, and the size of the cranks, big cranks having a longer circumference per rotation. Ideally big legs should be combined with long cranks and a slower rotation pushing bigger gears for optimum transfer of power from muscle to chain. Visa versa for little legs and short cranks, spinning rapidly.

The gear wars are similar to pixel wars where more is always better until it is not.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

. I am not too bothered about the high end spinning out on big descents.......The gear wars are similar to pixel wars where more is always better until it is not.

No sane person is bothered about cadence on descents unless they are racers in a competition - if you've just slogged your guts out to get up a hill why the hell would you even want to pedal on the way down the other side when you can get gravity to do the job for you? That's why bikes have freewheel, so you can coast when you do not need to provide any motive power.
Adding pointless numbers of gears is just marketing hype gone mad. You know the "our bike sells at the same price point as bike X, but our bike has 27 gears and bike X only has 21, so you get 6 extra gears free with ours" nonsense. Half the bikes being sold today are all made in the same far-east factories and the only difference is the decals and the paint schemes and advertising. Many of the bikes themselves are virtually identical. They're a commodity like the washing powder that washes whiter than all it's competitors!
From my observations of a lot of local cyclists (admittedly mostly youths and short distance commuters on crappy BSO quality MTB's) is that a lot of them seem to ride everywhere in ONE gear, despite the fact that even the cheapest BSO will have at least 18 to choose from. They just pick a mid-range ratio and clatter along, varying their cadence rather than using the gears. The marketing men should sell them single speeds and increase their profit margins...

 

[HLaB]

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/product-news/campagnolo-12-speed-2-374356

Somebody will be along with 13 in a minute

 

[winjim]

Fitz Hall

 

[Siclo]

why the hell would you even want to pedal on the way down the other side when you can get gravity to do the job for you?

To keep generating heat? Miles of descending with no pedalling can really strip the warmth from your muscles.

 

[Randomnerd]

No sane person is bothered about cadence on descents unless they are racers in a competition

. I must be insane

To keep generating heat? Miles of descending with no pedalling can really strip the warmth from your muscles.

...when you thought it was warm enough for shorts.....
My gearing allows me to push downhill at a good cadence, which is one way to save energy for the next uphill in rolling country. I’m not racing, but I rarely freewheel any distance. On a long ride, pedalling all the ride helps keep rhythm and momentum, and is less tiring for me than cooling off and starting again. Horses for courses.