bikefoo

I have difficulty keeping my cadence over 70. I think Im happiest at 1pedal revolution per second. The faster I spin the faster I get winded and tire out with muscle and knee pain. Should i spin faster? Should i just start running in my low gears to break my habit? Or am i measuring my cadence wrong? If I count just one pedal and i rotate it 60 times in a minute this means my cadence is 60 correct?

rpenmanparker 

So just checking, you are going the same speed at the higher cadence as at the low, right? You are gearing down appropriately? 90-100 rpm is the road riding majority opinion for best overall cadence. It shouldn't matter all that much who you are. Higher cadence is much easier on your knees, so the knee pain thing doesn't make a lot of sense. We're not talking about 250 here. There is some evidence that the greater number of easy leg revolutions does require a bit more oxygen than fewer, harder ones. That should hit you in your cardiovascular system before it hits your legs. But to say winded is a little extreme an anything below very high power outputs. That is the general consensus about higher cadence. You really need to work on this.

e_guevara

Tip #1 : Get a computer with cadence. Cateye Double Strada (wired or wireless) is cheap.

Tip #2 : Learn to use low (light) gears. Spend most of the time on the smaller chainring and larger cogs at the back.

Tip #3 : Improve your aerobic capacity by spinning at a higher cadence (85-90 RPM) using #2 .

rpenmanparker 

Yeah, I forgot to mention that a bike computer with cadence is much more helpful than counting crank revolutions. You can get real time information about exactly how fast you are pedaling with no distractions.

howellhandmade

What is your age? A higher cadence *should* be easier on your knees, although, yes, you will need to use lower gears to achieve the higher cadence. 60 is pretty low; if you're grinding a big gear at that cadence I wonder that your knees don't hurt from that. If you want to change I would suggest a cycle computer with cadence. You won't go from 60 to 90 overnight, but if you can look at the number whenever you like you can nibble away at it with incremental increases in speed.

bikefoo

Thank you for the quick responses. I will work on staying in a low gear and see what happens.

For visual, I am 34 years old, sit all day at work, 5'10 and 190lbs with a poor diet - lots of red meat, beer, salt, soda, junk food. My diet is getting better as of late.

Carbonfiberboy 

It takes time and a good bit of concentration and just plain work. It will be harder at first, guaranteed. And you'll be slower. But you'll gradually get used to it and it will get much easier. Eventually you will hate having to pedal slowly when you run out of gears on a hill. Work toward 90 on the flat and 75-80 when climbing.

kingfishr

How often, how far and how fast do you ride? And have you done a bike fit? What kind of terrain are you riding on? Flat roads with no wind might allow you to get away with a lower cadence. Climbing will not. If you haven't done a bike-fit it might be worth it to check that you are properly positioned on the bicycle, before you get any lasting knee pain due to a change in your cadence. Raising your cadence to 80-90 will probably take a few months, so just try to increase a couple of RPM per week.

bikefoo

I ride 10 miles a day, 5 miles to and from work, a 800 foot hill (per phone gps) in the middle, so i get a 3-4% grade both ways for half my ride. One side of the hill has a 600 yard climb at about 7% with a short 100 foot section at about 16%. I ride a 2013 Tarmac, fitted by the LBS and average 24 minutes each way or about 12.6mph

Sometimes I throw in a bigger ride with more climbing on the way home. Saturday and Sunday is typically days off from the bike with an occasional ride like Glendora Mountain Road or the Beach or to the bar. I'll get a computer and see what happens with the cadence. Thanks all.

aramis

Just keep riding more and faster and you'll find you're cadence gets faster. You just won't be able to ride as fast or long at 60 rpm.

If you're just starting to ride, just keep riding and don't get too concerned with cadence and speed and all that.

Since you are climbing a lot and I'm guessing aren't sprinting up the hills, your cadence is going to be slow up the hills unless you have some really good gearing (like a 32T cassette in the back).

Awesome that you're riding every day to work. It'll get a lot easier quickly and if you improve your diet and lose a few pounds it will also make it easier.

Fiery

Relax and stop pushing. You want the pedals to feel light under your feet, offering little resistance. Ride slowly in your lightest gear, say 5mph, and notice how it feels - that's how much you should be pushing when going at a comfortable cruising speed, only your legs should be spinning faster. Don't focus on spinning though, focus on having that light pedaling feeling while keeping the same speed. After you get used to the feeling of spinning and staying on top of your gear, you'll be able to keep the high cadence even when pushing hard.

Machka 

Join a spinning class and go once or twice a week.

That'll give you a really good workout and get your cadence up into the high 80s or higher.

bruce19

Lots of good suggestions here. I would also suggest riding rollers. Very little load and you will be forced to pedal circles. Once you can do that I think you will find your cadence going up as well.

howellhandmade

Excellent! You have lots to throw overboard. It was on this forum that I heard of "Racing Weight" by Matt Fitzgerald, which helped me quite a bit. Simply improving your diet quality -- substituting water for soda, for instance, will make a difference in your weight. You don't say what kind of bike you have, but guessing that since you posted here it's not a beach cruiser. Some bikes and riding positions lend themselves more to a high cadence than others, but I reckon you have a good start.

hubcyclist

I had the benefit of working on this over the winter on a trainer. I originally got my hybrid in the fall and then the bluetooth cadence sensor over the holidays. I don't know if that's been the most important purchase I've made (in addition to a heart rate monitor) but it's pretty close. It did take some time to not feel like I was flailing at 90rpm, as I was used to being in the mid 60's, but you'll get there, what I did was focus on getting to different levels at first. Nowadays if I fall under 90rpm I feel like I'm mashing. Good luck, you'll get there!

seymour1910

howellhandmade

Yeah, sorry, hate these reading comprehension tests. "Racing Weight"
is still a good book.

Null66

knee pain?
seat height and position
proper fitting bike


winded, well get in better shape

Post a picture of you on your bike...

surgeonstone

Pedal faster.

BoSoxYacht

+1

/thread

digibud

At this stage you won't be able to pedal 90 so don't worry about that. +1 to a cadence unit if you can afford it but the bottom line, like most related issues (how can I ride faster? how can I ride longer..?) is practice it regularly. If your comfortable cadence is 60 today then be sure to spend some time at 65 or so for 10min of the ride if you can keep it up that long, and then do a few (one or two minutes) as fast as you can. You have to train your muscles to spin faster and it will take a long time. It's taken me a few years to move from 65 to 90. Previously I could not get to 100 for more than 10 seconds and now if I'm fresh and feeling good I can be at 100 without realizing it and I can stay at 95 for an hour or more but it took a lot of riding and conscious effort for that to happen.

RPK79

+2

This is what I do and it has worked with 100% success.

spdracr39

Get a heart rate monitor and cadence sensor. Find the gear and cadence that allows you to ride without getting your heart rate out of zone three. Ride extended rides at that cadence and gear as often as practical. Over time you will be able to spin faster without raising your heart rate. When your cadence gets up to 90 or so go up a gear and start over.

pavemen

I found that once I got my sensor and could track my cadence it just magically started to increase. Sort of a mental thing I guess.

Hammondc

This