Bouncing on the saddle and overspinning at high cadence

[RoadRaven]

Just reinforcing the "get your seat height checked" message.

If that is fine, then the bouncing should rectify itself as your legs get smoother at pedalling a high cadence.

But first stop is def your bike fit.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

If your saddle is too high you will experience more hip rocking, but not really "bouncing".
The only time I experience bouncing is when I shift into a lower front gear too soon without bringing the back gears closer- thus spinning way too fast and bouncing way too much. It just means I'm in TOO LOW a gear for the moment and I upshift in the back until I smooth into the right pace.
If your back gear is in the easiest position, don't upshift into your middle ring in front until you have shifted out of your easiest back gear by a couple of gears.

[velogirl]

It takes time (and training) to learn to spin a high cadence. What you're experiencing is natural for a new cyclist and most likely isn't related to bike fit at all.

To train yourself to spin a higher cadence, start in small increments. Find your natural cadence (the cadence you would spin if you were just riding with no biofeedback about your cadence). Then, for five minute intervals, try to add 5-10rpms. Recover and repeat. Soon your natural cadence will be higher.

If you're bouncing, it most likely indicates a lack of muscular strength (natural with a beginner). Because you're not strong enough to spin a high cadence with a harder gear, you spin an easier gear than you can biomechanically control (ie you bounce).

[beetle]

Thanks everyone for your replies and advice which seems to follow a common thread. It's good to hear that if I'm persistent I should improve. I think I will get my fit checked at my next service, I'm pretty sure it's right as the LBS did it just 4 months ago but no harm in getting it looked at just in case.

[equus123]

3 things to add outside of what everybody has said about saddle height:

1) if you're new than you probably haven't developed high cadence pedalling techinque yet. it takes time and time is the only way to build it! practice practice practice. before you know it your avg cadence will increase from week to week on your rides.

2) one thing that works for me to smooth out my pedalling at higher cadence is to focus on keeping my heels down a little bit from wherever they were. it's a natural tendency to pedal "toe down" as your cadence increases. if i focus in keeping my heels down so my feet are flatter (note: by flatter i mean relative to the "toe down" position, not actually level) than what my feet do automatically, it's much more smooth and i actually have a higher power output via my powertap.

3) what also works for me in keeping a smooth rhythm if i'm riding tempo or doing an interval, i focus on the top half of the pedal stroke. i think it's Lemond(?) that says to think about scraping something off of the bottom of your shoe and pull your foot back at the bottom of the pedal stroke. for me it's the opposite that works better. i focus on pulling across the top as if i could pull my foot directly from the 9 o'clock to the 3 o'clock position. it makes more sense to think of it this way anyway because when people do one-legged drills - where's the dead spot? at the top! so why not focus on pulling your leg/foot across the top and this easily eliminates that problem and gives you a fluid pedal stroke.

[sgtiger]

I don't know if this will help, but in a martial arts class I took many, many years ago, we would practice kicks very slowly so that we could concentrate on proper form before beginning to put power into the kick. This lets us develop the corresponding muscles and form muscle memory. Our instructor insisted we learn proper technique from the get go since it's a lot harder to try to unlearn bad habits that form from not learning it in the first place.

Keeping this in mind I did a training ride where I was pedaling at a low rpm because like you I was having similar issues of my pedal stoke not feeling even and my form falling apart at higher cadences (and I knew it wasn't fit issues). I did okay at 72 rpm, but any faster and I felt bouncy. I pedaled at a slow enough cadence(~55rpm for me) where I could pay attention to my form and how much pressure I was applying throughout the pedal stroke. I practiced this for a while 'til I felt confident that I had the form down. I really feel this has helped me greatly. I've been able to spin at a higher and higher cadence since without really thinking about it. On my last ride I averaged at 82rpm (max 97) without feeling like I was over spinning. Even DH, who is a seasoned cyclist, commented that my form looked very good. So IMHO it has worked for me.

I wanted to add, as others have mentioned, make sure it isn't a fit issue first. It's worth the expense of having a professional fit done.

Good luck and have fun!

~sg

[beetle]

so for my practice and drills should I stay in the gear/cadence that I'm overspinning/bouncing and try to smooth it out OR should I gear up to build up my muscle strength and where the pedalling feeling smoother and gear down as my pedalling improves