Originally Posted by
carleton
This sounds reasonable.
I have a free app in the Apple App Store called "Track Cycling Gear Calculator". It will help you keep track of the gears you can make.
Pay
close attention to your cadences. Learn to feel the 3 sensations:
1) Gear is too big: This is often called, "Under the gear", "Bogged down", or "Couldn't get on top of it.". This is because you can't get up to your optimal cadence range.
2) Gear is too small: This is often called, "Spinning out", "Spinning like a hamster", "Revving out". This is where the gear is so small/light that you are capable of going past your optimal cadence range.
3) Gear is perfect: This is called, "On top of the gear."
...just like Goldilocks!
You will find that your gearing will evolve with your rest, fitness, and as the season progresses. What feels good one week may feel awful the next. Feel is important in gearing....and cadence
This is great. I'm working on gear selection, and noticing that I'm feeling decent (manageable HR max) at 120-126 rpm in a sprint, and in current fitness, that's matching to 100-102 gear inches. But that's for a relative newb in the 200, lots to learn, but enjoying it immensely.
Will experiment with gearing for matches; thinking initially, I should be down in the 94-96 area. That's what I'm using in general practice, and it feels light enough to get up to speed suddenly without bogging down badly, but still has enough top end for a lap or two at decent speed. I'm not naturally a high cadence person. Once I get some diligent strength training in, I might adjust, but going by feel right now, it's apparent that I'm not really ready for big gearing (over 102).