My cadence is 70-75 and I tend to ride in a higher gear than others. Many people keep telling me I need a higher cadence and ride in a lower gear. When I try, my effort level increases but my speed doesnt. At best it stays constant. Also, I do not feel I have any (additional) problems running off the bike. Did a 3h43m marathon at IMTX with a 5h38m bike split.
I have heard that cadence is a very personal thing and given the above, I am not sure I want to try to increase my cadence but also want to consider the multiple advices I get on this topic.
I read a study a while ago showing that the most efficient cadence powerwise was 50RPM, while the least muscle fatigue happened at 100-110rpm. 85-90 seems to work pretty well for most top riders that ride these kind of distances. If you are bouncing around the saddle everywhere when you try to spin faster it’s probably flat spots/technique problems, you can do 1 leg at a time on a trainer and it should show you any problems in your stroke. You can also try to demo a bike with shorter cranks and see if that feels better. Sounds like what you are doing works for you but I’d say it’s worth a try in the offseason to see if a higher cadence helps you over a few weeks of riding.
Take a peak at the current Sept/Oct issue of Inside Triathlon…great article about Mirinda Cafrae and her battle to increase her cadence, and why.
I think of myself as a bit of a grinder, with an avg Cad of 82-85, started to work at it last summer, and on the flats I’m hanging at about 88 avg this summer, I haven’t done any long distance Tri’s this year, so its hard to know if I have just spent 15 months to this point wasting my time…next year ?
I’m generally in the 82-90 range. My training rides are usually in the low 80’s, but my race cadence is usally 87-89. I feel like I can run well off a bike cadence closeer to 90, which is around what my run cadence is as well.
My cadence is 70-75 and I tend to ride in a higher gear than others. Many people keep telling me I need a higher cadence and ride in a lower gear. When I try, my effort level increases but my speed doesnt. At best it stays constant. Also, I do not feel I have any (additional) problems running off the bike. Did a 3h43m marathon at IMTX with a 5h38m bike split.
I have heard that cadence is a very personal thing and given the above, I am not sure I want to try to increase my cadence but also want to consider the multiple advices I get on this topic.
Thoughts?
Cadence is highly individual. Experiment on your own and let your body decide what’s best.
As I understand it,
When you grind at a lower cadence, the muscular system is being used. Higher cadence taps the cardiovascular system, which is why it may feel more taxing to you.
People who use lower cadences as a preference, tend to have better muscular endurance.
You need to be able to switch these systems on/off in a race, i.e. climbing so that you can better perform on the bike. You can only hold that muscular endurance for so long, and your heart rate can only stay at your red line for so long, which is why switching those systems on and off is needed.
I tend to ride around 85 when I race on the TT bike, but on my road bike I am more like 90-95. Just depends on the course, bike and how I am feeling to be honest.
I used to be a big grinder. I used to be a heel-striking, long-striding runner as well. Now I spin gears more and have a mid-foot strike and higher turn-over on the run.
Now I have fewer injury problems and I feel like I am able to change things up when I go through a low-patch in training or racing. Before I never seemed to have much of an option - I couldn’t shift to a bigger gear and let my system reset a bit, or lengthen my stride and let myself recover. I’m sure you could make the argument that I could have increased my turnover and used smaller gears or shorter strides, but as the OP said, if I tried, it always felt like I was working just as hard or harder to get the same or slower results. Now that I am comfortable with the higher cadence on the bike and run I still have the strength to grind or stride out a bit more and I can drop my heartrate 10-15 bpm for a few minutes and keep a similar pace.
**Take a peak at the current Sept/Oct issue of Inside Triathlon…great article about Mirinda Cafrae and her battle to increase her cadence, and why. **
I think of myself as a bit of a grinder, with an avg Cad of 82-85, started to work at it last summer, and on the flats I’m hanging at about 88 avg this summer, I haven’t done any long distance Tri’s this year, so its hard to know if I have just spent 15 months to this point wasting my time…next year ?
For those of us that are not subscribers, any chance you could do a summary of the main points? Would be curious to hear. What was her baseline? What was she trying to move to? What were the 3-5 reasons why? Thanks!!
I am the OP and getting increasingly confused. Guess I can try to do some drilling and learn to ride with a higher cadence but will probably not put it on the top 5 list of what to do to improve.
As I understand it,
When you grind at a lower cadence, the muscular system is being used. Higher cadence taps the cardiovascular system, which is why it may feel more taxing to you.
People who use lower cadences as a preference, tend to have better muscular endurance.
You need to be able to switch these systems on/off in a race, i.e. climbing so that you can better perform on the bike. You can only hold that muscular endurance for so long, and your heart rate can only stay at your red line for so long, which is why switching those systems on and off is needed.
That is incorrect. It’s a myth that was created around… yes, Lance Armstrong.
I am the OP and getting increasingly confused. Guess I can try to do some drilling and learn to ride with a higher cadence but will probably not put it on the top 5 list of what to do to improve.
I am the OP and getting increasingly confused. Guess I can try to do some drilling and learn to ride with a higher cadence but will probably not put it on the top 5 list of what to do to improve.
Keep riding like you’re riding.
x2…70 is hardly an outlier…don’t worry about it at all.
That is incorrect. It’s a myth that was created around… yes, Lance Armstrong.
Yup! There was a post the other day on the Wattage list (the thread about wiggins cadence):
“For example, had Armstrong never come back from cancer, all the talk about his high cadence would have been replaced by similar regarding Ullrich and his somewhat lower cadence peddling style.”
As I understand it,
When you grind at a lower cadence, the muscular system is being used. Higher cadence taps the cardiovascular system, which is why it may feel more taxing to you.
People who use lower cadences as a preference, tend to have better muscular endurance.
You need to be able to switch these systems on/off in a race, i.e. climbing so that you can better perform on the bike. You can only hold that muscular endurance for so long, and your heart rate can only stay at your red line for so long, which is why switching those systems on and off is needed.
That is incorrect. It’s a myth that was created around… yes, Lance Armstrong.
