Yet another newbie!

[roo4]

Greetings! I lurked on this forum for a week or two as I test rode bikes and swapped saddles around. I have a Madone 3.1 wsd, currently with a Spec Ruby saddle. I'll spare you the gory details that led to the new saddle, suffice to say that I have no chafing issues now. I do have some sore sitbones, but I am hoping that will go away as I spend more time on the Madone.

Question on speed and cadence: I try to keep a rapid cadence and this has me shifting gears quite frequently. To get faster, should I concentrate on spinning faster or should I tough it out and try to spin the larger gears without shifting all the time?

[TrekTheKaty]

Welcome!

The beauty of a madone is good shifting, so shift away! I'm still learning my new compact gears, so I shift more than necessary as I search for a comfortable spot. You won't need to shift so much after you get comfortable with the bike.

What Muirenn said about cadence

[roo4]

Thanks Muirenn. No cadence sensor on the Madone, but I did have one when I was in college/grad school, oh, say 20 years ago (crap, has it been that long? When did I get old?). Anyway, mostly what I learned was to spin faster than I think I should. I haven't been doing intervals, but I have been riding hills. We have short very steep hills and longer kinda steep with very steep interval hills in this neck of the woods. I'm hoping my compact will see me through them, especially since I'm coming from a '94 Trek 1100 with a triple.

[Nick]

Greetings and welcome, roo4, from another newbie to the forum. I might be swapping saddles myself sometime soon...