@ Jan as in running I shoot for 90. I find that number keeps me lighter on my feet and keeping up with the same on the bike it keeps me from mashing my gears.
One of the things I want to work on this OS is getting my cadence higher. I tend to be around 80 outside, and most of what I've heard has me thinking my legs will be more fresh for the run if I am closer to 90. Typically on the trainer I use cadence as a way to fight boredom. Break intervals into a few minutes of low cadence, then a few of high cadence. It is interesting to see what feels "easier" despite the same power.
I find what Coach R said to be very true for me. Outside, I live in the low 90's to low 100's, very consistently. Inside, I tend to live in the upper 80's to low 90's. On really tough intervals, I often have to switch one gear up or down, to tolerate the discomfort. Sometimes in a tough interval, a certain cadence will be self-selected (ie....there is no choice that is reasonable except cadence of "x"), to maintain a certain wattage.
The road cycling philosophy on cadence has been trending towards higher cadences in recent years....Lance made it popular during his TDF runs, and high cadence (95-100+) is what most of the really top pros tend to use when it matters most. Chris Froome just won the TDF and his climbing cadence (which is where he really dropped people) was super-high...almost weird looking fast. Theory is that smaller chunks of effort more frequently at the end of the day takes less out of you than larger chunks more frequently. I think that's sort of been "proven" in some way, but can't quote anything solid and it may be really only theory?
Some people are just naturally "mashers" and prefer lower cadences. Seems to me, that those folks usually have big, powerful legs. Chicken-leg folks like me seem to gravitate to higher cadences.
My cadence trend over the last couple years has been slower. I used to be consistently in the low-high 90's for just about any length ride inside or outside. Now its common to see 85.... I've been getting faster thru this trend so I don't think about it anymore . Don't display it when training or racing. I've been back on the Computrainer the last couple weeks with a no PM bike and didn't even bother to set up the cadence. All I wanna know is power.... Under the same theory I no longer use HR with power.
Lotsa discussion on this over the years. Cadence is a very individual thing. Most folks simply spin at what they are comfortable with. If you look at the top bikers at Kona you will see a wide range of cadences. Folks do specific cadence work of specific muscles or whatever. But overall we all fall into what RPM's we are comfortable with. I never worry about it.
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88-93 is ideal. There's a tendency to gravitate towards lower cadences on the trainer so just be aware of that.
I find what Coach R said to be very true for me. Outside, I live in the low 90's to low 100's, very consistently. Inside, I tend to live in the upper 80's to low 90's. On really tough intervals, I often have to switch one gear up or down, to tolerate the discomfort. Sometimes in a tough interval, a certain cadence will be self-selected (ie....there is no choice that is reasonable except cadence of "x"), to maintain a certain wattage.
The road cycling philosophy on cadence has been trending towards higher cadences in recent years....Lance made it popular during his TDF runs, and high cadence (95-100+) is what most of the really top pros tend to use when it matters most. Chris Froome just won the TDF and his climbing cadence (which is where he really dropped people) was super-high...almost weird looking fast. Theory is that smaller chunks of effort more frequently at the end of the day takes less out of you than larger chunks more frequently. I think that's sort of been "proven" in some way, but can't quote anything solid and it may be really only theory?
Some people are just naturally "mashers" and prefer lower cadences. Seems to me, that those folks usually have big, powerful legs. Chicken-leg folks like me seem to gravitate to higher cadences.
Not a coincidence.
Lotsa discussion on this over the years. Cadence is a very individual thing. Most folks simply spin at what they are comfortable with. If you look at the top bikers at Kona you will see a wide range of cadences. Folks do specific cadence work of specific muscles or whatever. But overall we all fall into what RPM's we are comfortable with. I never worry about it.