noglider 

@rhm, a friend has offered to buy my Viscount which has the 155mm cranks. Maybe I'll put these 160's on my International. I'm thinking of putting on North Road bars and a 1x7 drivetrain.

CV-6 

Okay. I guess I am really limber. Despite my gut, I can touch my toes with ease.

I have ridden shorter cranks and just do not feel any difference. Maybe if I tried 160mm, I might notice. Spinning has never been a problem for me. Everyone's body is different to some degree. And I am fortunate (so far) to not have any knee issues.

davester

If you still want to be riding strenuous rides when you're over 60 like me then you'll favor spinning. I suffered significant knee damage in my youth by riding big gears in inappropriate situations (loaded touring through the Alps with a 52-42/14-28 for example!). I have paid the price for those youthful indiscretions. The knee is not a very durable or sophisticated joint. Treat it nicely by decreasing the stress on it and you will be rewarded by being able to continue riding as you age.

If you plan on dying or retiring to a wheelchair around the age of 50 then mash away!

jyl

I used to ride a higher cadence in a small gear. A habit learned from mountain biking and carried to the road. For a long time my only bike was my old mountain bike, set up with slicks for the road. It has the traditional 46/36/24 x 14-28. I'd naturally ride around in the middle ring at 100+ rpm all the time. I also stayed in the saddle on climbs. Another mountain biking habit. One year I decided I wanted to be better at standing pedaling and wanted stronger legs. I started riding higher gears, standing or seated mashing. That was about when I started riding more c&v road bikes, going from mountain bike gearing to the old school 53/39 x 13-21 or 14-26. So now I've gotten in the habit of riding lower cadence in a higher gear. I'm usually in the big ring in town, and climb as much as I can in that ring. I am starting to shift (ha) back to higher cadence, smaller gear. My latest road bike has a triple and 10 cogs with brifters.

Road Fan

Just like a car engine, the limits are breathing and force production. How much air you can pump in and process, hence the metric VO2max. Force production is just strength, but there's a difference between the strength a power lifter needs (peak force) and the strength for cycling (muscular endurance). ME is the ability to apply high force in cycles for a long time, such as in a hilly century. Peak force (just my term, actually) is high force in one repetition.

iab

I spin up. To a point.

My natural cadence is 85-95. There is plenty of room on top of that.

clubman 

Spin until your oxygen runs short, then shift down and burn up that lactic acid to catch your breath. Spin again, repeat often.

Bill Kapaun

I'll agree up to a point.
I have a bad knee with a limited range of motion.
Length____RPM
175__60
170__80
165__85
160__80
YMMV

Salubrious

^^ Its funny- we all know how important it is to get the seat height right, to get the handlebars right for comfort, how helpful it is to have a frame the right size, but very little attention is given to the fact that for a given length of a person's leg, there has to be an optimal crank length as well.

I find I do better with 165s than 170s, although 170s are not bad. I've yet to try 160s to see if they help at all. I'm not sure where I read it, but the French are supposed to have a formula of sorts wherein the ideal crank arm length is a certain percentage (around or just slightly more than 20%) of the overall length of your inseam.

I get a lot of pushback on this issue, but IMO/IME there is often a macho factor involved- the longer crank arms being the more mucho macho.

jimmuller 

This prompts me to think about one more factor not mentioned yet. All the articles I've read describe how you have only so much anaerobic capacity. IIRC it is a question of stored glycogen, but I could have oversimplified the chemistry in my mind. When you are working below your anaerobic limit you can consume calories and re-supply your blood sugars as fast as you can burn it up. That's why it helps to eat small amounts often, before you get hungry. When you exceed you anaerobic limit you burn glycogen which cannot be re-stocked quickly, perhaps not even in a day. When it is all gone for the time being, you are cooked. Depending on your conditioning and the intensity of the work you can go for anywhere from 45minutes to perhaps a few hours. My own experience falls in line with this premise.

All this matters for climbing technique because you may choose a different approach depending on how much of the day's ride remains. If you are feeling good, have been eating, have been staying mostly under your aerobic limit, and have only a hour or less still to go then you choose a more aggressive, lactic acid-intense approach on a particular hill. If you are only 10 miles into a century you may choose to be more conservative.

The point being, your choice depends not only the fatigue of your recent past but also the expected fatigue of the rest of the ride.

crank_addict

These days spin is in. Regardless and even if in good physical condition, I think one should look at their aerobic heart rate and age. Sometimes the heart won't listen to what the brain is saying.

daf1009

Spin, spin, spin!

Was on a 1/2 century ride when I found out that the LBS had put my new front derailleur too high to be effective...so...I had a choice...big ring/small ring...without having to get off and manually shift! So...I chose the small ring...which made me spin more! This when I found out that spinning is the thing! It keeps you looser, fresher and more effective. Find that "right" cadence...somewhere around 90...and spin, spin, spin...that is why we have geared bikes!!!!!

noglider 

Is it Chanukah already?

ThermionicScott 

I had a similar experience about 4 years ago on RAGBRAI. I installed fatter tires in the week before, and only realized during the trip that they interfered with the FD's cable anchor bolt, so I could not shift into the big ring. I was limited to an 85" (38/12) but found that it wasn't a big impediment to getting down hills and my knees were happier than previous years.

trekKiller

by nature I spin too fast. I am a runner first and fear blowing my knees out by mashing. I aim to stay around 85rpm ideally as I think that's the sweet spot. Building my newest bike, I considered the rpms I will run a lot when I was picking out the appropriate Doval chainrings (elliptical rings a la rotor or osymmetric) because they have rings that are better for mashers and rings better for spinners. I went with the masher rings as I plan to race this bike in tris and also want to focus on lower rpms to stay in better control of my bike. It's a really interesting discussion and I have always said spinning, but my favorite rider is more of a masher on his epic TT's so I aim to seize the power of SPARTICUSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

edit: also I aim to lower the rpm's in an effort to build strength and for heart rate control. Maybe I'm just not as strong as I want to be, but a super high cadence sends my heart rate through the roof