Originally Posted by
scottfsmith
I didn't see 120 mentioned anywhere in that article, only 80-90 being optimal for serious riders.
That said I do like spinning. I average high 80s according to my Wahoo reading my pedal power meter; if you take out the standing/slowing places it is more like 92.
92 rpm is very good already. On climbs, I do between 80 to 95 rpm when trying to get up there as quickly as possible or 100 rpm if I want to take it easy using easier gears. Only in the flats I can sustain 120 rpm.
3rd paragraph from the top of the linked article:
Competitive cyclists pedal at an average cadence of 80 to 105 RPM and they do time trials at 110-120 RPM. If you train to increase your cadence, you will usually improve your cycling efficiency, allowing you to ride longer and faster.
And here's where the article gets quite interesting:
Why A Slower Cadence Tires You Earlier
When you feel tired and your muscles hurt on a long ride, your fatigue is caused by running out of sugar stored in your muscles. In one study, racers spinning at 50 pedal strokes per minute used up far more of their stored muscle sugar (glycogen) than they used up while spinning at 100 revolutions per minute to generate the same amount of power (Eur J Appl Physiol, Aug 2004;92(4-5):443-51) . Their bodies consumed the same amount of oxygen and had the same heart and breathing rates, total rate of power production and blood lactate levels. Interestingly, the extra loss of muscle sugar pedaling at 50 revolutions per minute occurred only in fast-twitch muscle cells that govern strength and speed. Over 30 minutes, the fast-twitch muscle fibers lost 50 percent of their glycogen (sugar) at 50 rpm and only 33 percent at 100 rpm. That means that your muscles weaken far more at 50 RPM than at 100 RPM because you are putting so much pressure on your pedals
When approaching the subject of cadence, one shouldn't just treat it as a matter of power output vs VO2 max but also in terms of fueling. Unless you can metabolize fuel at incredible speed, you'll last longer without fatigue if you spin high cadence (assuming your are also well-trained to spin high cadence). That was my own experience as well trying to do centuries with the least amount of fatigue afterwards.
Although you don't have to train to spin 120 rpm unless you see improvements in your performance and you won't be getting results overnight. Not even in a week. It would take at least one month to see anything substantial.
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