Best Cadence

Kim said:

They say you should strive to keep at around 80 to 90 rpm's to avoid loading
your legs.
Is this correct ?

But if I want to go very fast and push a big gear, this becomes quite hard.
Any advice ?

Kimmo

The best cadence for you maybe different. I usually ride at around
100-110 if possible.

Gears allow you to ride at differetn speeds over different grades
maintaining a (near) constant cadence.

If you're in a big gear and you can't spin it fast enough, then
you're probably in too high a gear.

--
Nick

Kim said:

They say you should strive to keep at around 80 to 90 rpm's to avoid loading
your legs.
Is this correct ?

IMHO if you're conscious of pushing the pedals down, rather than smoothly
turning your legs over, your cadence is too low. But if you feel as though
the pedals are leaving your feet behind, it's too high. There's no correct
figure.

Quoted message said:

But if I want to go very fast and push a big gear, this becomes quite hard.
Any advice ?

Don't do it for too long, or you'll bugger up your knees. And get
stronger :-)

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

Kim said:

They say you should strive to keep at around 80 to 90 rpm's to avoid loading
your legs.
Is this correct ?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

But if I want to go very fast and push a big gear, this becomes quite hard.
Any advice ?

Drop down a gear, spin up to something above the 80-90 range then go
up again. Also improve your posture wrt wind resistence.

--
Please excuse my spelling as I suffer from agraphia. See
http://dformosa.zeta.org.au/~dformosa/Spelling.html to find out more.
Free the Memes.

quote='? the Platypus {aka David Formosa}''Kim said:

They say you should strive to keep at around 80 to 90 rpm's to avoid loading
your legs.
Is this correct ?

Yes.

Quoted message said:

But if I want to go very fast and push a big gear, this becomes quite hard.
Any advice ?

Drop down a gear, spin up to something above the 80-90 range then go
up again. Also improve your posture wrt wind resistence.

--
Please excuse my spelling as I suffer from agraphia. See
http://dformosa.zeta.org.au/~dformosa/Spelling.html to find out more.
Free the Memes.[/QUOTE]
I monitored Lance in the TT at the TdF. He was spinning at between 120 to 130 on the flats, which is unbelievable. Most of the other guys were in the high 90's to 100.
I am a Div 4 rider and can hold around 80-90 quite comfortably. The Div 1 boys can hold a much higher cadence, that's one reason they leave me for dead (especially on the hills).

"Spider1977" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I monitored Lance in the TT at the TdF. He was spinning at between
120 to 130 on the flats, which is unbelievable. Most of the other guys
were in the high 90's to 100.
I am a Div 4 rider and can hold around 80-90 quite comfortably. The Div
1 boys can hold a much higher cadence, that's one reason they leave me
for dead (especially on the hills).

But what gears were they in? I know Lance spins but there's
been fast guys who push big gears.. Ulrich might not be Lance
but he's finished 2nd in all his TdF's and he likes 'em big!! :-)
Spinning is one (easy) thing.. keeping a fast cadence while
pushing gears isn't so easy...
http://www.howtobefit.com/spinners.htm

hippy

The harder the effort, the higher the cadence. When I'm touring, 80-85 feels
about right. When I'm riding a time trial, 105 feels about right, and
anything under 100 feels like I'm grinding to big a gear too slowly.

So if you want to go fast, increase your cadence.

Nick

"Kim" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

They say you should strive to keep at around 80 to 90 rpm's to avoid
loading
your legs.
Is this correct ?

But if I want to go very fast and push a big gear, this becomes quite
hard.
Any advice ?

hippy said:

"Spider1977" <[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I monitored Lance in the TT at the TdF. He was spinning at between
120 to 130 on the flats, which is unbelievable. Most of the other guys
were in the high 90's to 100.
I am a Div 4 rider and can hold around 80-90 quite comfortably. The Div
1 boys can hold a much higher cadence, that's one reason they leave me
for dead (especially on the hills).

But what gears were they in? I know Lance spins but there's
been fast guys who push big gears.. Ulrich might not be Lance
but he's finished 2nd in all his TdF's and he likes 'em big!! :-)
Spinning is one (easy) thing.. keeping a fast cadence while
pushing gears isn't so easy...
http://www.howtobefit.com/spinners.htm

hippy

I agree, there is no such thing as an ideal cadence that is equal for all people. Armstrong and Ullrich are poles apart in cadence, but very similar in TT performance.

Ritch

PS. I checked out the site. I don't think LA is spinning 120 in a 55/12 for very long, that would be almost 70km/h! A closer guess would be a 55/15 at around 120rpm for a speed of about 55km/h and power somewhere near 400W(!!!)