Cadence -- how important is it?

Okay, not a newbie to bikes, but a relative newbie to riding on roads (ie, places where cadence isn't constantly interrupted by obstacles).

I'm commuting on a road bike (easier to commute on a road bike than road bike on a commuter, I figure, and eventually I do plan to ride further than the 12 miles to work), and I have this new shiny toy that tells me my cadence.

So, picking a number out of my vague memory, I decided 80 was a "good" cadence, and this morning I worked on keeping my cadence between 75 and 85. This definitely resulted in a lot more shifting than I would have done otherwise =)

I guess my question is, if you're someone who pays attention to cadence at all, what is your target? Is everyone's target cadence pretty similar, or is it "okay" say for some people to target 60, some 100? Mostly I hear about people bringing their cadence up to 80 or 90 because most people, I guess, start out pushing too high a gear too slow -- is there a negative to going higher than your target?

All the hills on my commute are pretty short, and I found myself (this was a surprise) up to a cadence of 100-115. I'm not sure I could have maintained that on anything longer than a few hundred yards. Should I still have been forcing myself to upshift till a cadence of 80 felt right, or is it okay to burst your cadence on short hills? If I had done that on a longer hill, would I have been sabotaging the rest of the climb?

Your thoughts appreciated =)

There is nothing wrong with spinning a high cadence on hills. A lot of people prefer to do that if the gradient is such that they can. There's no real problem with spinning high cadences at all, unless you start bouncing around a lot. At first, though you may be slower doing that than having lower rpms in a harder gear, but the trick to going fast is learning to spin fast in a small cog. ;) You are much more likely to blow up on a longer climb having a low cadence, because your muscles may fatigue faster. However, you could also go too high for a long hill with your current fitness level. Really high cadences may start to burn in a different way, and it puts more stress on you cardiovascularly. This is something you can improve more with training than using harder gears and lower cadences on long hills, just because this is an endurance sport and so it's going to be harder to work on sustaining more strength over long periods of time. With longer hills, you probably just want to pick a sustainable tempo. So this may not be the quick spin up a short gradual hill technique or the power up a short steep hill technique but something in the middle. Steady, sustainable watts maybe at 80-90rpms.

There can be a downside to having too low of a cadence, because the kind of resistance you'd have below say 70rpms can really strain the knees if done for long periods (for some people, at all). It can also cause your form to break down over time, and then you may be tensing up your shoulders or doing other things that would cause discomfort.

Don't worry about all the shifting you may have to do on the terrain on your commute. That's why you have gears :p.

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Originally Posted by aicabsolut

There's no real problem with spinning high cadences at all, unless you start bouncing around a lot.

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And if you are bouncing around a lot, you can use those high-cadence bursts to train yourself to get smoother at high cadence. If you want :) It'll make you a more efficient pedaler all the time.

I usually try to keep my cadence between 90-100 unless I am doing a specific workout that requires low low cadence(ex. bridge reps in 53-15 to gain more explosive power).

A great way to get more comfortable spinning at a higher cadence is to incorporate spin-ups into your warm up. To do spin ups start in your easiest gear combination down in your drops. Spin as fast as you can until you start to bounce, once you start to bounce shift up to a harder gear. Continue doing this until you work your way through your gears or until you aren't bouncing anymore. Take a few minute recovery and then repeat. I usually do 4-5 spin ups during my warm up and feel that they have helped greatly with the smoothness of my cadence.

What about cadence for a century??

Cadence - ON THE FLAT 90-100 is good. This is a very efficient way to ride your road bike. I mean, it does not wear your legs out as much, i.e. less muscle fatigue; however, beware, when you are not used to this, your heartrate and rate of respiration will go up. You have to train your body to do this. It does not happen over night.

Remember, a cadence of say 50-60 on a steep hill is fine. If you have gears to spin faster, it is probably better on your in the long run, you will have more endurance climbing for a longer time! You do not have to do 90-100 on a hill! So, the cadence you should be shooting for is a byproduct of the topography you are riding.

Spinning faster on a bike is better and more efficient, so work on it, but do not be too disappointed that you cannot do it right away. It takes practice.

And, yes, some people are more able to spin quickly. This is a product sometimes of whether the person has slow or fast twitch muscles. If you are long and lean, you are more likely to have slow twitch (endurance muscles) and will naturally gravitate to a less fast cadence. If you are muscular and stout, more like a sprinter, then you are more likely to have fast twitch muscles and your will naturally gravitate towards a faster cadence.

spoke

Huh. Interesting. I've always thought of myself as muscular and stout with slow twitch muscles (if any!) =P

I am definitely stout...and somewhat muscular (nowadays buried under all the flubber)...but I've always been a slow twitcher (endurance over speed). My cadence has always been embarrassingly slow, even when I was in good shape.

When I got my cyclometer, I purposely avoided any that had a cadence measure...I felt like it would force me to directly confront my slowness. :D

Thank you, bounceswoosh (your screen name makes me smile, btw) for posting this question 'cause I will definitely put to use the good advice being given here.

Now you all, I say "MORE LIKELY" to have a certain type of muscle type, this is not a perfect science! :D

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Originally Posted by spokewench

Now you all, I say "MORE LIKELY" to have a certain type of muscle type, this is not a perfect science! :D

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LOL! :D

Some days I don't think I have any of either type =P

I am new to serious road biking. I don't count cadence yet. I am still at the point where my goal is to have a constant cadence in a sensible gear, use good form, not be ruled by asthma, and not bounce around in the saddle. Counting won't help me at this point, but I expect to work on that later this summer. I also haven't figured out how to get the computer working, but that is another story.

"They" say a higher cadence is good... however, we have a huge range of cadences in this house.

My 17yr old spins usually at about 90-100rpm pretty much all the time, but higher when he races. My 15 yr old about 90. They have both had to race on restricted gears because of their ages, so have had no choice but to learn to spin.

My partner tends to push big gears even when racing or climbing hills, and his cadence is often lower than the guys in his grade. He has tried spinning and finds it hurts his knees.

I have a cadence of about 60 when climbing a hill, about 80-85 when training or road racing, about 75-80 when time-trialling.
I would like to spin more, but training myself to do so is hard.

I would particularl;y like to have a higher cadence when time-trialling as this means i could go faster in the same gears...