Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
You, I believe, are a Cat 1. I am not, nor AFAIK is anyone else in this thread. Maybe that's the difference? You might compare yourself to Lance instead of to us duffers. Lance TTed at 110 or so, even though he could maintain the same power at 80 for the same distance? I mean really . . I don't think that's true. You're saying that cadence doesn't matter to physiological stress. Lance didn't think so. But you can ride your FTP for an hour at any cadence. Wow!
Or perhaps you simply left the word "maximum", or better, the phrase "maximum power output for the length of the climb" out of your first sentence? Yes, it's true, I can maintain zone 1 power for a long time at almost any cadence. Well, not any. 10 is too slow and 120 is too fast. For most folks, that 10-120 range gets smaller and smaller as the power goes up. But not for you! Does anyone here train in erg mode?
More to the point, are you saying that the OP's question is nonsensical? I thought that "best cadence to produce maximum power output for the length of the climb" would be a good way to put it. And IIRC it was you who pointed me to the article about the fellow training to win the Mt. Washington climb and how he found a 95 cadence worked best for him. That was very informative.
No, category has nothing to do with it. And no, there's a bigger gulf of talent between a cat 1 and a world tour pro than there is a cat 1 and a cat 5 (i.e., anyone that wants to race).
I'm saying that your entire premise is nonsense.
Cadence varies, just like power output. Unless you're on a fixed gear on a track (and even then, there are variations on the turns), a rider will vary their cadence repeatedly throughout an effort. They will stand, they will sit, they will shift up, and they will shift down.
You're clearly not getting much out of your powermeter if you've been using it for this long and still can't maintain a given wattage output through a range of cadences.
20+ min climb over ftp. Cadence (top green line) compared to power (yellow line). From stretches of 70 rpm to over 105 rpm, targeting a specific average wattage output.
And another from a different year. Cadence all over the place again, but max effort at max power.
