Spinning (cadence)

[lkrider]

anyone have answers to this on a tandem. My husband (and captain) likes to ride harder gears (is mashing the official word for it?) and I feel better spinning faster. We are not in it for speed, but like to go far. Any advice on finding the right balance?

[Veronica]

Have you talked about it with your husband?

Thom and I have very similar riding styles, but when he gets really tired he likes to mash for a change of pace. I can deal with that for a little bit, but mashing really bothers my knees. If it goes on too long I tell him we need to change gears or I need to stand. We prefer to stand together, but we can each stand alone if needed.

Communication is key on a tandem.

You could also change out the drive train for one of these.

Da Vinci


V.

[CorsairMac]

or - you could just stop pedalling??.....Just Kidding!....I find higher cadence/lower gear works really well for me - especially when I"m climbing the mountain at night to get home. There are days I feel like I"m just spinning away and going nowhere really fast - until I get home and enter my avg time in my bike journal. Surprise - it always seems to stay right around the same avg and my legs aren't so tired I can't ride to work the next day - or hike the mountains on the weekends. There is a real sense of power in "mashing" the gears - but the price I pay when I do that is too high (re: too tired to ride the next day or hike or run that night).

[SadieKate]

[i]
Communication is key on a tandem.
V. [/B]

Absolutely! Luckily my husband and I spin about the same rate, but out here on the flats it can get very monotonous and tiring to always use the same gear. He thinks it's restful to go to an easier gear and not change the cadence while I think you need to slow the cadence primarily. We end up spinning faster and faster - like 110+. It's ridiculous. I just want a short tempory change of tempo, lower gear, stand up, whatever, just don't make me spin at 100+ with no resistance and call it resting. So, we do a LOT of communicating about how spinning at a really high tempo just burns energy and is called a "superspin" by coaches. So, when he wants to do this, I just let my legs go with the flow and don't help the forward propulsion. His problem if he wants to burn extra energy. I'm just asking if we can drop the cadence into the 80s for maybe a half mile. Fortunately, he is a good listener and trainable--part of the good communications requirement!