Originally Posted by
Kaben
Thanks for the info both.
When i did my 12.77 on the 88 inch gears we also only had a half lap windup. not a problem with such a small gear - I think with a proper 2-3 lap windup i could definitely ride a heavier gear comfortably.
I would definitely consider myself a spinner. When i race crits my average cadence is about 105 and i hit about 135 - 150 rpm in the sprint, depending on gearing coming out of the last corner.
People i train with say my spinning is quite distracting in the chain gang as i am spinning alot faster than everyone else. It just feels natural to me. I am starting a significant weights program this off season though so perhaps my cadence will slow down as i get more accustomed to squatting heavier weights and thus pushing heavier gears. ( i am by no means a small guy either at approx 98kg's - i have always just felt more comfortable at fast legs speeds, i may be wasting potential).
i have purchased a 13 & 14t rear cog now and a 50t & 52t chainring so i have alot more gearing options. i know have 13,14,15,16,17 on the rear and 48,49,50,52 on the front.
108" is still my biggest available gear though.
You need less windup than you think. You can jump on an 88" on a 250 track as you hit the end of turn 4, whereas you're jumping a little earlier on each bigger gear. But even on huge gears, the first 1.5 laps are mostly just going fast enough not to slide down the track as we corkscrew our way to the rail. The effort doesn't really start to wind up until coming out of 2 with 1.5 to go.
On a 333 the first lap is just totally chilling and the effort doesn't start winding up until you get into turn 4 (because the jump is usually out of 2).
When I do training or warmup jumps on small gears (88-92), it's just utterly chilling until turn 3-4 on a 250, because it's SO easy to wind up the gear, there's just no need to waste the energy in getting to the jump point at higher speed.