Originally Posted by
SethAZ
It can be nonsense, certainly. In my own riding, what cadence I'm at is determined by the resistance I'm seeing due to the level of effort, which is influenced by my speed, ascent or descent, etc. There's no one cadence I'm shooting for, rather the cadence is matched to the level of effort. That being said, since most of my riding is in very flat terrain it's fairly predictable. If I'm going 12mph with my wife I'll probably be at like 60 or 65 rpm and freewheeling often with next to no effort or resistance in the pedals. If I'm cruising at 17 mph it'll probably be high 70s/low 80s. At 18 mph it'll probably be around 85ish, and at 19 or 20 I'm upper 80s to mid 90s. The higher 90-95 rpm cadences are only used when there's enough power being generated to develop significant pedaling resistance at a steady state..
Sounds like you are riding a fixie...
Originally Posted by
Archinutt
Is there a way to know if the big ring can even get bigger and still shift well? I’m not sure how to know.
It depends... You might be able to find a 52T for your current set, but it only buys 4% in speed to cadence. As noted above, it may require a new derailleur or at least an adjustment. Seems like a lot of headache if you have a working setup, but if you are due for replacement, it might be worth a shot.
Sorry in my last post I missed that you had an 11-23.
Anyway, here is a fun tool to play with to compare. Of course, speed and cadence needs power, of course find what is comfortable, but if you spend a lot of time at <70
and are working, you may want to try a higher cadence, it may work better for you... or maybe not.
https://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence