Wondering about cadence?

[redhot3368]

What kinds of speeds do you maintain when you're not doing a tough climb? I would say if you're dramatically slowing down your cadence for a hill, you're not downshifting enough, and that's why it's soooo haaaard... What kind of bike? Hybrid, road, etc.? On my road bike, I find it typically much easier on hills upping my cadence in a lower gear. But when I used to ride a hybrid, it wasn't nearly as easy on hills. For me, at least.

It's a road bike, my average speed is about 12 to 13 mph.
It seems impossible to get that up too!!

[Jen Jen]

It's a road bike, my average speed is about 12 to 13 mph.
It seems impossible to get that up too!!

Well don't get discouraged. I know how hard it is when you see people zipping by you. Your speed is definitely respectable though. Can you ride with anyone to have them critique what's happening? How many rings on the bike? Do you downshift into the smallest one?

Another thought is leg strength. How well would you rate yourself? Maybe weight training to get stronger?

I will throw this out there. I took my bike in last week and paid for a fitting. I wanted to make sure my seat discomfort issues weren't related to a poor fit. Even though I knew the rules of the correct fit (knee slightly bent at bottom of stroke, knee over pedal axle at 3'o-clock position), they changed me around quite a bit (seat was too low). It didn't help my comfort, but I've already noticed MARKED improvement in my riding. I feel a LOT stronger since. I've been riding faster, and hills seem easier. It also feels comfortable riding in higher gears. So how good do you think your bike fit is?