When I cycle into town on my commuting bike, my cadence falls to about 50-60. It is really low. But, often it is a faster cadence than other people cycling around time. It seems that people cycling shorter distances naturally veer towards a very low cadence. Sometimes you see someone pushing such a big gear and barely moving at 10mph. You almost feel tempted to go up to them and tell them to change gear.
For road racing, optimal cadence levels are suggested to be around 90-110. For many new cyclists, it takes practice to be comfortable riding at these kind of cadences. This kind of cadence level was, of course, popularised by Lance Armstrong, seeing him pedal fast up apline passes definitely inspired more to push a lower gear and faster cadence. But, despite his success many remain unconvinced. Sometimes I race against Nik Bowdler who pushes a proverbial dinner plate (outer ring of over 60 + – it keeps increasing). He finds more power by pushing a big ring. Many time trialists feel pushing a big gear helps them go faster.
Then a roadie will come in and say it is ridiculous to push such huge gears. A roadie needs greater flexibility to deal with changes of pace.
Someone riding the track will pedal an even faster cadence, in track sprints, riders can be pedalling over 150 rpm.
It seems that the optimal cadence clearly depends on the type of cycling you are doing.
For long mileages, a higher cadence helps prevent muscle fatigue, it places more stress on the heart rather than the muscles.
For lower mileages or time trials which require constant effort, lower rpm seem to work better.
In a road race, you need a higher cadence so you can have more flexibility to deal with changes of pace. This flexibility you don’t need in a time trial.
A couple of seasons ago I made a conscious effort to practise pedalling at a faster cadence. I aimed to increase the rpm to 90 -100 in training and racing.
A time triallist like Michael Hutchinson will generally use a lower cadence than for road racing.
However, for time trials I have never converted this practise into faster pedalling. I prefer to pedal at a lower cadence of 70-80. To be honest I’ve stopped measuring it. I just ride at the cadence which seems intuitive. I don’t know whether increasing or decreasing it would change anything.
It’s certainly one of those topics where everyone seems to have their own opinion!
Cadence for World Hour Record Attempt
For breaking the World Hour record, most riders have used a cadence of around 103-105.
For example,
- 25.10.1972 Eddy Merckx BEL set 49.431 Km – 52×14 using a cadence of 103,9
- 23.01.1984- Francesco Moser ITA set 51.151 – 57×15 using a cadence of 103,1
Graeme Obree preferred a lower cadence, pushing a bigger gear
- 17.07.199 – 51.596 Graeme Obree GBR used 52×12- using a cadence of 93,0
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