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Cadence question
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ColinW
Jul 25, 16 6:52
Post #1 of 10 (1142 views)
OK ST, I have a few questions for the group. What is a good cadence to be shooting for, average maybe? Since getting my New Argon 18 Nitrogen about three weeks ago I've had 9 decent 30 minute trainer rides. This past weekend I was finally able to get the Garmin speed/cadence sensors. My last 2 rides were with them. Ride 1, cadence average was 77rpm with a max of 105. For ride 2 I was calibrated the speed sensor and my cadence this time average was 85 rpm with a max of 146. Speed average was 19.4 mph and it says max was 46.2.

Ok question 1 - What is a good cadence average to be shooting for? - was kind of buried above.

Question 2 - is anyone familiar with the Garmin VivioActive HR and can tell me how to get the Cadence to display on it during the ride, not just in the summary of it?

Question 3 - How much pressure should my trainer be putting on the back wheel? With my lack of fitness and newness to cycling I find my speed hard to believe. I have a CycleOps mag trainer.
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii
Jul 25, 16 7:11
Post #2 of 10 (1119 views)
First, ignore speed on a trainer. (And distance too). Speed on any trainer is irrelevant. The only metric that really matters on a trainer is power. If you do not have power, then use heart rate and perceived exertion.

Only put enough pressure on the wheel to avoid slipping. Usually, that is a turn or two past initial engagement.

Cadence is a mystery to me as well, and there are tons of opinions here. When I first started riding earlier this year, I thought my cadence was too high. But the opinions generally seem to fall into "whatever works best for you." I am curious to follow the comments in this thread related to cadence.

Totally a guess on the Vivoactive HR, but if you tell it you are doing an indoor bike, can you setup the screens to have HR as one of the fields. Other than that, if it is like other Garmins, the HR screen will revert back to the main watch screen after a few seconds.
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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chaparral
Jul 25, 16 7:25
Post #3 of 10 (1110 views)
1: Self selected cadence is best, unless you are at some crazy extreme like averaging 60 or 120.

2: Can not help you here

3: Enough so that it does not slip.
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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walie
Jul 25, 16 7:46
Post #4 of 10 (1088 views)
...you haven't ridden your new bike outside yet?
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii
Jul 25, 16 7:47
Post #5 of 10 (1085 views)
One more thing I forgot to add... My natural, comfortable cadence is probably at least 5 RPM higher outdoors than inside on a trainer. I have no idea why.
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Re: Cadence question [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Timtek
Jul 25, 16 8:01
Post #6 of 10 (1065 views)
My last race average was 99 with a max. of 121. I'm on a compact crankset with shortish crank arms (165mm) and I'd be considered a spinner.
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Re: Cadence question [walie] [ In reply to ]
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ColinW
Jul 25, 16 8:24
Post #7 of 10 (1036 views)
2 small 7.5 mile rides in my neighborhood. But haven't gotten out and opened her up on the roads yet. Haven't had time to ride with a group yet and my area solo riding just seems incredibly dangerous.

Thanks for the input on the trainer. Glad to know I've been putting the right amount of pressure on the back tire.
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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TennesseeJed
Jul 25, 16 9:10
Post #8 of 10 (990 views)
ColinW wrote:
Ok question 1 - What is a good cadence average to be shooting for? - was kind of buried above.

Question 3 - How much pressure should my trainer be putting on the back wheel? With my lack of fitness and newness to cycling I find my speed hard to believe. I have a CycleOps mag trainer.

With cadence, I generally shoot to be between 85 and 95, but you wanna find a cadence that is comfortable for you.

I do not think speed on the trainer is at all equivalent to speed outside. The trainer speed is simply a function of the power you are putting down and ignores other elements like aerodynamics and terrain. You could ride your trainer with a parachute on your back and speed would not be effected, whereas if you did the same outside, it would certainly slow you down. I do think speed is useful on the trainer though, specifically if you do not have a power meter. I use speed goals on my trainer for my intervals based on past data. I just know the speed on my trainer does not equal my speed outside.
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Re: Cadence question [ColinW] [ In reply to ]
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p2k2001
Jul 25, 16 15:43
Post #9 of 10 (878 views)
for the vivoactive, you need to go into data screens, edit data fields and add something from the cadence menu from a choice of several like cadence, average cadence, last lap cadence, etc...

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Re: Cadence question [p2k2001] [ In reply to ]
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ColinW
Jul 26, 16 5:44
Post #10 of 10 (756 views)
p2k2001 wrote:
for the vivoactive, you need to go into data screens, edit data fields and add something from the cadence menu from a choice of several like cadence, average cadence, last lap cadence, etc...


Thanks got it set. removed the lap stuff and added cadence and average cadence.
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