CJ C

So todays ride, for some reason i realized i coast way too much. i have no logical reason why?

on my SS commuter bike i pedal nonstop and only coast up to red lights. some times i do coast on a mini downhill in on a hot morning to manage sweat cuz i ride in my work clothes. but i rarely coast.

now with my geared bike i coast way to much. i tried to correct it today but when i dont think about it i fall back to crank crank coast crank crank coast. the only time i dont coast is when i am pushing my fitness level then when i recover i fall into the coasting habit.

i have no clue what my cadence is but assume its 60rpm so maybe i am running to high a gear and should shift down and spin faster and longer? i will have to wait for my garmin to figure out the cadence.

any opinions and tips to break this habit?

Crazydad

Get a cycling computer with cadence and make that the display. Focus on keeping the cadence in a certain range.

kevin_stevens

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...stupid-pelican.

Join the flock.

KeS

CliftonGK1

Ditch the gears. You said it's not a problem on your singlespeed.

(I'm biased. I just ordered parts to convert my remaining non-cargo-hauler bike to a single.)

CJ C

where is the sign up sheet and do i get to wear a pin?

fc_

We'll know you when you coast on by.

pallen

I start doing that when I get tired. I think more riding and training, keeping your speed up, will take care of it.

sstorkel

It's not coasting.... it's interval training!

CJ C

LOL this is now my new sig at the bottom. (when i figure out how to do that)

Seattle Forrest

Forum actions > edit profile > edit signature.

That won't make you pedal more, though.

pallen

haha - perfect

zencalm

Wait! What's the problem with coasting? I think of it as my reward for pedaling long and hard. Plus, it's fun. I never realized it could be a problem.....

CraigB

Coasting is not allowed among those who believe rides should be "sufferfests."

Rion

I agree. with a single speed you get use to your cadence and can stick with it. if you're inexperienced with shifting, your cadence will change constantly and it will burn you out. I kinda have the same problem and I'm fixing it by humming a tune in my head that I know is within my ideal cadence. A down stroke on the pedals equals to a downbeat in the song. if the song in my head is too slow, I shift down. if it's too fast, I shift up. although having it as part of a cyclocomputer would definitely be a plus.

Mithrandir

I climbed 1000 feet of ascent (one cat 5 climb too!) in around 13 miles this morning. I considered that a sufferfest. For the first time ever I had completely soaked up every inch of real estate on my shirt. I actually thought it was raining at one point because I kept feeling water drops hitting my legs, but was confused because of the blue skies all around. Turned out to be sweat falling fast and furiously from my face.

I coasted down the 1000 feet I climbed over the next 12 miles. There was no way my legs were going to do any more significant pedaling at that point. At some places it wouldn't have been possible anyway, was hitting 35mph and my gearing maxes out at ~30mph.

goldfinch

Ah gee Mirth, you should have weighed yourself at the end of the ride. You had to be down that pound you've been looking for.

What a ride!

JusticeZero

Spin to the music, spin fast and barely push the pedals, use the shifter to make it happen. Ever since I got used to unicycling, I have a hard time not spinning. I miss my unicycle, but broken roads gave me trouble on it and the roads here look like something you'd find in a third world country immediately following a civil war.

Mithrandir

I used to spin to the music, but then I realised that was artificially keeping my cadence down in the 60-70 range. A lot of music doesn't have beats up in the 90-100 range.

zencalm

Ahhhh.....I see. I will continue coasting away, then.

Rion

a lot of the music I listen to are 120-200bmp. you just need faster music

Jim from Boston

I often think the same thing when I find myself coasting, and as also posted above, using a cadence meter is a good motivator to keep pedaling. Furthermore if you track your average speed for a ride, pedaling downhill is an easy way to bump up the average.

As far as feeling "guilty" about coasting, I think to myself that I did have to pedal up the hill to be able to coast down, and maybe the respite is good for recovery. A saying of Ronald Reagan from the 1980 presidential campaign strangely comes to mind as I coast. RR said, "I paid for this microphone, Mr. Breen."

I paid for this hill.

irwin7638

I think you've been misinformed. You can't coasttoo much, whatever you can do is the right amount. If you really wanted to work you wouldn't be using a machine.

Marc

sillygolem

Not sure about where you live, but if it's hilly you coast quite a bit more on a single speed because you'll end up going faster downhill than you can spin. On the other hand, you really have to stomp to get up those hills.

I'm finding this out the hard way as I've just switched back to a geared bike and pedaling constantly absolutely kills me.