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Could I become an Olympian?

Old 01-16-18, 04:28 AM
  #26  
CliffordK
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Originally Posted by CuriousCyclist1
I've only ever done cycling for fun, so idk if I could consider myself a cyclist. I live near a velodrome and I've never ridden a race bike I'm in the16-20 age group thanks for your response!
If you wish to be competitive, I'd encourage you to get out and ride, rather than just going by gym stats. And, even in the gym, it is more than just cadence. You have cadence + TIME + resistance. The reason for the higher cadences is to increase power with the same force. But, you still need to apply significant force at the pedals.

You can ogle the £5,000 to £10,000 race bikes. But, you can get away with one that is significantly less expensive.

Hunt on Craigslist for a good used bike that is your size. With some more details, people here can help steer you in the right direction. You should be able to get a good bike, maybe 10 to 30 years old for < £500. That will make a good starter bike, and trainer bike. Then if you stop using it in the future, just clean it up and resell it.

Used bikes often require tune-ups, but again, it is important to start learning about your bike, so doing maintenance is part of bike ownership. And, it is always best to practice on a cheap bike.

Once you get the bike, start riding, join some cycling groups, and get some time on the road.
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Old 01-16-18, 09:50 AM
  #27  
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High RPM can be pretty useful - especially in events that have a limited top gear (i.e. 90 gear inches). Its pretty amazing to see a well trained athlete putting down high rpm and high power at speed then the gearing is limited.
(this applies even more to juniors as they more often are limited to allowable gearing in a race).
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Old 01-19-18, 08:09 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by taras0000
We ride bikes, not peoples dreams and passions.
Best Quote ever!

I have a question, thought it may be relevant as it has to do with cadence.
Outdoor track 450m
someone having a 57x14 gearing which equals 107 gear inches produces 120 rpm at roughly 40mph still managed to win, from the 200m line whilst other riders had 48x15 = 84.2 gear inches, how does cadence really play if you can push bigger gears at lower rpm.

My limited understanding is like driving off in 1st gear vs 4th gear but if the car with 4th gear has as strong enough engine to accelerate then what is the difference

also finally what is an 'olympic gear' for sprinting and endurance

Thanks
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Old 01-19-18, 08:41 AM
  #29  
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In the past decade or so, for both endurance and sprint disciplines, people have been using larger gears. And going faster, too.

But cadence matters; the ability to hit ultra-high RPMs might not have a direct race application (people don't usually get higher than ~145 rpm in a race), but could be a sign of suppleness required to race at an average of 110 or 115 rpm without having fatigue simply from moving your legs (whether or not you're putting much power down).

Olympic gears - gears well over 110" are common for world-class level sprinting.

For endurance, that's a bit harder to say, enduros don't talk about their gearing as much, but I'd say around 100", with more riders higher than lower.
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Old 01-19-18, 08:43 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by marginalgains
Best Quote ever!

I have a question, thought it may be relevant as it has to do with cadence.
Outdoor track 450m
someone having a 57x14 gearing which equals 107 gear inches produces 120 rpm at roughly 40mph still managed to win, from the 200m line whilst other riders had 48x15 = 84.2 gear inches, how does cadence really play if you can push bigger gears at lower rpm.

My limited understanding is like driving off in 1st gear vs 4th gear but if the car with 4th gear has as strong enough engine to accelerate then what is the difference

also finally what is an 'olympic gear' for sprinting and endurance

Thanks
Cadence is important because it works your leg speed and gets them used to spinning at high rpm, which is a fundamental part of track cycling since you're only on one gear - the larger your cadence range, and especially max functional rpm, the wider variety of speeds you can maintain on a single gear. The second bit is that as you get stronger, the same gear gets a bit easier, so if you've only ever trained at 120 rpm, you won't be able to take that gear upto 140 rpm. On lower levels, you might be able to get away with grinding out a big gear on brute strength but elites are all capable of spinning those big gears at 130+ rpm. I might catch flak for this but the old school style of sprints occurring at 160-180 rpm is dying out as most people's power sweet spot is between 125-140 rpm, so that's the range most sprints occur in these days. Endurance wise, grinding a big gear wears your legs out sooner, and makes it harder to keep up with surges during the race, which is why riding a reasonable gear with a wide range of cadence zones helps.

107 v 84 is a massive difference and I haven't seen anything that dramatic in races (mostly because 84 is more of a warmup gear than a race one) so presumably, very few people have the leg speed to rev such a small gear up to 60kph. Generally though, a smaller gear is easier to jump with, and it'll allow you to accelerate faster than someone on a big gear and possibly break away before they can get on top of their gear, although even this is relative as the sprint is slowly turning more and more into a drag race where people just wind up a big gear from earlier.

Endurance racers usually have something in the 92-100" range, and sprints are usually between 100 and 120". Keirin will then be in the 108"+ range, but again, it's all relative. Ed Dawkins rode a 130" in qualifying and I've got a friend whose strategy is to wind up 124" over the course of three laps and is riding low 10's.
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Old 01-19-18, 10:03 AM
  #31  
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Queerpunk and SyntaxMonstr

Thank you for the helpful insight, makes so much more sense now.
130 geared inches is certainly no joke...
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Old 01-19-18, 01:48 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by spartanKid
Also keep in mind that even if riders are qualifying on massive gears with 60+ tooth chainrings, no one rides gears that big in the match sprint rounds, they'll ride more in the 105-115 range for actual match sprints.

Ok, got it.

So tell me, what is the 'best gear' to train on for endurance and or sprint?
Some coaches have said it makes no sense to train on big chain rings for either as you won't develop I believe it was twitch? muscles to spin up, so I keep hearing the magic number of 90ish for GearInches.

If the latter to be correct how would one get enough muscle to crank 120 gearInches

Is there a procedure to incrementally increase teeth or something along the likes?

Thanks
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Old 01-19-18, 01:52 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by marginalgains
So tell me, what is the 'best gear' to train on for endurance and or sprint?
How long is a piece of string?

There are too many factors in play for someone to say what the "best" gear is....even for one person. This is why it's common for riders to have 4-6 chainrings and 5 cogs for use in training and racing.
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Old 01-19-18, 04:51 PM
  #34  
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Originally Posted by marginalgains
So tell me, what is the 'best gear' to train on for endurance and or sprint?
All of them.
For sprinting, over-gear (110+) for strength, undergear (80-90) for leg speed, and everything in between for acceleration. And that's dumbing it down- a lot. If you're a beginner, just throw an 88 on there and have fun. As you get more "advanced" (or just older, as in my case), you'll want to change it up and vary your workouts, hitting different cadence ranges for specific aspects of the sprint.
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Old 01-19-18, 05:03 PM
  #35  
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you could be a contender ,, aye yoe Adrienn,, Adrienn,,, yoe, ( Insert the song Eye of the Tiger from the movie Rocky , and start training)
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Old 02-18-18, 04:29 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by CuriousCyclist1
Okay this is a far fetched thread but I'm new here and I'm curious so here goes.

Basically I was on a gym bike and I was really going at it and I managed to reach 196rpm, I read somewhere that Victoria Pendleton gets up to 200rpm, now I have NO clue what Olympic standard for females is but I'm curious so,.....do you think I could make it to the olympics?
Well u are asking me. I vote nope
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Old 02-19-18, 03:53 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by thehammerdog
Well u are asking me. I vote nope
See above!
Originally Posted by taras0000
We ride bikes, not peoples dreams and passions.
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Old 02-19-18, 07:14 PM
  #38  
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Have you thought about moving to Olympia, Washington?
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