Cadence Article (Rich Strauss)

Until the gurus reply I'll give you my .02 ( but on this, it may only be worth .01 )

Reading I've done leaves me thinking that the most efficient cadence is more like 90.  I know that's just a guideline, but my first thought was "wow, 105 is really high".  If it is difficult for you to sustain speed at lower cadence, then IMHO, yes, do some strength work at lower cadence.  And why not?  Even if you continue to ride at 105, it's a common strength training technique to do some low rpm high resistance work.  Of course you won't (and you shouldn't) change your cadence due to my opinion, but why not try "plodding" for a bit to see how it is after you get used to it?  Now, I'll be curious to hear from the coaches and gurus too

Watts ( the measure for power most often used in cycling) is defined as work/time. So if a cyclist is traveling at 20 mph with a cadence of 90, they are producing the same power(watts) as a cyclist that is traveling at 20 mph with a cadence of 110.

 Think of it like this. Lifter 1 bench presses 1000 lbs. at an RPM of 1(1 lift of 1000 lbs. in one minute), and Lifter 2 does it at an RPM of 10(10 lifts of 100 lbs. each over one minute). Same work done.

That doesn't mean that a 110 cadence is better than a 90, it depends on the rider. Gordon Bryn seems to reccomend a higher cadence in 'Going Long'. He advises trying to ride in the upper portion of your comfortable zone early in the season, to try and push your comfort zone up.

Also I'm not sure that a 90 cadence on the bike translates to a 90 cadence on the run. I'd say it's more like a 100 on the bike makes for a smooth transition to 90 on the run. Think I read that somewhere, but I can't find it so I may just be talkin out'a my back side.

So I would say find your comfortable bike cadence, ride at the upper end of that zone, and try shifting up and keeping your cadence up and see what the bigger gear does to your HR. Experiment to find your most efficient cadence and gearing. Cause that's what it's really all about. If I ride at 20 mph at 90 rpm with a HR of 140, and I ride at 20 mph at 110 rpm with a HR of 145, then 90 rpm is the way to go, more effiecient.

One more thing, Lower cadence bigger gear training can increase leg strength, but can also put stress on the knees. And High cadence spinning is good for developing pedaling efficiency(smooth circular pedaling with a more even power output all the way around the stroke). It's tough to just push down at 110 RPMs, you bounce all over the place. So I think there is a place for mixing it up in your training.

Just some random thoughts.

That said, I don't think your cadence is too high. You are riding fast and feel comfortable doing it. If you are worried about it try a couple of transition runs after your long ride (15-30 minutes). Try one with your normal bike cadence and speed, and then the next week try one with a 95-100 cadence at the same speed. See what that does to your HR on the bike and how you feel transitioning to the run.

I think Mike and I are not in dissagreement. I think it's more of a semantics issue. Slower RPM bigger gear will build leg strength(power?). Different RPM, different gear, same speed = same Watts(Power). Back to my weight lifting example, a lifter that could do 1 rep of 1000 lbs could be much stronger, and could probably do 10 reps of 100 lbs, but the second lifter may not be able to lift 1000 lbs in one rep. So incorporating a lower cadence with bigger gear would help build leg strength(power), which will improve your effieciency at any cadence.

I think that's what's being said.

All I can relate to this thread is my experience.  I have found when doing long bricks (40+ miles on the bike and transitioning to a run) that the legs seem fresher when I keep the bike cadence down to 90.  Typically, my cadence is between 90-105 and I'm shifting based upon terrain and wind changes.  The average is usually right around 97.  When I keep it down around 91-92, though, it does a few things:

First, it helps me to control the speed.  I will typically keep a 20mph pace on the bike, but when doing a brick, I need to slow down to 18.5 or 19 to save something in the legs.  Slowing down the cadence does a nice job of helping to throttle the speed.

Secondly, I think I agree with the lactic acid comments.  My legs are much less stiff thanks to the slower cadence, the "jelly leg" effect is less severe when beginnning the run.  I've experienced this a few times this spring.   On one run, after a very high cadence bike ride, I bonked half way through.  Other factors might have been involved, but I believe my overall exertion increases when trying to spin the pedals as a higher RPM.

Finally, the slower cadence helps keep the HR down in the lower zones.  I have long legs and can't imagine how hard my heart has to work to get the blood down to my toes and back up again.  I find it very easy to keep the HR down when the cadence is around 90.  At higher RPMs, the fluctuations are greater when faced with wind or elevation changs.

By the way, I'd love to boast a 23mph average speed on the bike.  I hope you get there someday.

Hi, Sorry to wander into the conversation kind of late. Next time, please ping my email address, as I might not come in here every day.

A few notes:

Force is how hard you are pushing on the pedals, as measured by torque on a powermeter. Power is the product of how hard you press on the pedals x rpms (cadence) and is measured as watts. The result of watts to the rear wheel is speed, which is affected by rider weight, aerodynamics, tire pressure, etc. More watts = more speed, keeping weight and aerodynamics constant. All of this is a fancy way of saying that you can ride at the same watts/speed at very different cadences (60rpm or 110rpm). So the question then is what is the right cadence for me?

Within this cadence question are two additional questions:

1. How should I manipulate cadence for training purposes? What cadence will make me "stronger" or increase the watts/speed I output on the bike?
2. What cadence should I race at, given the requirement to run off the bike.

Racing
Probably should have put this as #1 above, as how you race should dictate how you train. It's better to think of exercise in terms of muscle recruitment, not just aerobic/anaerobic/lactate threshold, etc. As you ride at 15mph your body is using primarily slowtwitch fibers to accomplish this. Your fast twitch fibers are just hanging out. As you increase the speed to 16, 17, 18, etc Your muscles say "hey, we need some help down here. Somebody wake up the fast twitch fibers so we can put them to work." These fast twitch fibers produce lactic acid. As more FT fibers are recruited, more lactic acid is produced. However low cadence cycling accelerates this fast twitch recruitment. I know it may seem counterintuitive, but low cadence = higher force = your body recruits more fast twitch fibers. So two cyclists, same wattage, 60 and 95rpm, Mr. 60 will be recruiting a higher pecentage of fast twitch fibers. And per my article, these fibers tire easily, burn glycogen, and produce more lactic acid than their cousins. So my argument is that high cadence shifts to the load to the fibers that are made to go all day, slow twitch fibers, and saves the fast twitch fibers to be recruited later in the race when you really need them. For shorter races, you need these FT fibers to continue to run fast. For longer races you need every available fiber to just keep going or to not slow down.

This is a muscle fiber recruitment argument. The other is a running cadence argument. Most people agree that ideal running cadence is 88-93+ rpm. It makes sense that riding at 88-93+ rpm for hours would make it easier to transition to running at that same cadence.

Training
I'm going to assume that I"ve sold you on racing at 88-93+rpm with arguments above. So what is the most effective training protocol? After years of doing this and trying all kinds of stuff, I've learned that specificity is king. If you want to get better at a thing, do that thing. If you want to go faster/more watts on your tri bike, in aero, at 88-93rpm, then ride fast/more watts on your tri bike, in the aero at 88-93rpm. Think of all the different coordinated movements that have to happen to pedal a bike fast: muscle A contracts at the exact time that muscle B relaxes. Your core adjusts to help transfer power. Your upper body learns to relax. You strengthen your neck and shoulder muscles so you can ride in the aero for hours at a time. Your lower back and midsection adapts to riding bent over AND tossing out big watts AND processing fluids AND processing calories. Cadence, or how frequent this all happens, is a huge factor and it makes sense that we would train to go faster at the cadence we will use in the race. Now, there is some evidence that some of the benefits of training at lower cadence are transfered to higher cadence, but I say why waste time? Why not push big watts at race cadence and reap ALL the benefits. So me and my peeps do interval session at or near LT heart rate/watts, on the tri bike, in the aero, at race cadence.

"Cadence Comfort"
My term. We do train some low cadence stuff:

1. So we can handle when it does happen or we can't avoid it in a race: steep hill, you stand in the saddle, you run out gears, etc. Think of this as skill that's nice to have but you only use it when you need to. However, its better to show up with the right gears so you reduce the requirment to use this skill.
2. To target those fast twitch fibers. This is more of an advanced training technique. At the end of my rides, especially my long rides, I'll gring a huge gear at big watts, hammer out of the saddle at lights, small hills, squeeze every drop out of the lemon, in other words.

Lance vs Jan
This debate has been around almost exactly 7 years, right about the time LA started winning the TDF. Lance used to be a huge masher, very low cadence. Personally, I think he changed his cadence to take advantage of the huge aerobic engine/genetic freak advantage he has. By pedaling at such high cadence he shifts the load from his leg muscles to his aerobic system. In other words, he doesn't press down very hard but he does so VERY quickly and frequently. This aerobic load plays to his strength. Jan has a different style that plays to his strength. What's right for JU and LA may not be right for you. And don't forget that neither of these guys have to run off the bike afterwards. Personally, when I watch Lance TT I'm thinking "Dude, shift to a higher gear!" He spins at 115+, crazy high.

Athletes riding 100+
I've seen alot of athletes move up on the cycling ability scale. Beginner cyclists first need to learn that they have a variety of gears to work with. We've all seen inexperienced cyclists grinding a huge gear simply because they don't know they can shift around the cogs to find one that works for them. Once they figure that out, they usually gravitate to higher gears, as it feels "easier" on their leg muscles. They don't have the cycling strength to support lower cadence (83-88rpm) cycling so they gravitate upward in the range, naturally. This was where I was in '00-01 and my most memorable example was spinning at 105rpm in the last 10 miles of IMCali '01. My legs were tired and just naturally gravitated towards higher cadence.

As the athlete gets stronger and more experienced, the cadence range begins to shift downwards, 88-93rpm. However, the athlete becomes incomfortable when moved outside of this range, more uncomfortable going below it. If the athlete then does both low and high cadence cycling, this range is expanded and they begin to build that cadence comfort, a skill. They can spin comfortably at 105-110 out of T1 to warm up the legs. Settle into 88-93. Climb a hill at 60-65rpm without getting worked, and then jump right back into 88-93rpm. This is experienced cycling.

Cadence and HR
Yes, in general lower cadence cycling is associated with lower heart rates. Athletes often use low cadence to lower their heart rates or think they are save energy: "I'm going the same speed, lower heart rate, therefore I must be working less." This is a false economy. By going at the same speed you are, by definition, doing the same amount of work/watts. You've merely shifted the load around, from aerobic system to muscular system, you're not saving any energy. Personally, in an Ironman I "may" target slightly lower cadences (83-85) after the first 30' of the bike to accelerate the lowering of my heart rate after the swim so I can free up more resources for eating and drinking. For me, lower heart rate = I can eat/drink more. However, I know I'm still doing the same amount of work. I'm simply manipulating cadence, temporarily, to make a small change in my body. I've found its more effective to soft-pedal and coast whenever possible in this first 30-40 miles.

Wow, that was long. I need to get to work. Cya!

Mike and Rick, thanks for the valuable info. Awesome Thread!