What’s your preferred cadence?

[BEC111]

I regularly ride with a group of my fellow seniors. We range in age from 65 to 80. Most of them ride at about 50 rpm. A few of us preferring to grind it out. I prefer to rode at between 80 and 90 RPM. Several of us are on road bikes. Others are riding various other bike types. I’m the only one on an e-bike, I enjoy being able to ride at my cadence at most any speed the group members prefer Because of the gearing and the motor.

At what cadences do you ride?

 

[Roamers]

90-95

 

[PCeBiker]

Zero, because I have a throttle a motor, and two Big batteries.

I don't even need have a ghost pedal it for me.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

In my youth, way back in the Late Bronze Age, I naturally gravitated to 90-95 rpm and still do today at 77. Seems to be baked in.

Now my creaky old knees demand at least 75 rpm for any significant pedal force but are also happiest at 90-95 rpm. And my mid-drive motor's happiest there, too, so win-win-win!

I enjoy being able to ride at my cadence at most any speed the group members prefer Because of the gearing and the motor.

Exactly. Thanks to my Vado SL 1's light weight and reduced chainring (44 to 40t), I can keep my knees happy on nearly all local hills and can usually keep 90-95 rpm. Without that help and flexibilty, many of the best rides in this hilly terrain would be off-limits on cadence alone.

Per Wilson & Schmidt, Cycling Science, your personal self-selected cadence (SSC) — the one you gravitate to without thinking about it — tends to be near your body's own max efficiency and max power cadences.

So when riding unassisted, best to listen to your body and use your gears to give it the cadence it wants. Since hub motor efficiency depends only on wheel speed, not cadence, that strategy also works well on a hub-drive, and the assist makes easier to carry out.

But cadence does control mid-drive efficiency — and usually the higher, the better. If your SSC lies well below your mid-drive motor's cadence happy place, a compromise might be in order — especially on rides where you need to conserve battery without slowing down.

 

[RunForTheHills]

About 90 is where I am usually at.

 

[Darth_Vado]

Mid 80's to low 90's...much like this weeks weather forecast

 

[Stefan Mikes]

My natural cadence is 77. However, I've learned riding 80..90 for obvious reasons.

 

[fooferdoggie]

with the acoustic I could get my rpms a little higher then I averted on my trek that was around 75 now I can average 80 it seems easier to get it up there. but thats on the commute so lots of stopping and starting. but I can spin close to 90 on it thats harder to do on the trek. my acoustic is geared really low so its easier too. I cant believe how many calories I burn as slow as I am. though today I was a bit faster and got my power up a bit.

 

[gromike]

No way am I going to do 90 rpm, Probably about mid-seventy is my top end.

 

[mschwett]

I tend to spin a little slower than most. I pretty consistently average 75 on a flat cruise.

 

[DPC18RI]

Maybe something is wrong or perhaps with me at age 69. Maybe my E-bike display is not showing the correct cadence but according to the display, i like around 60 a 65 max 70rpm with a Bafang M410 mid-drive motor driving mostly in ECO mode.

 

[Aushiker]

Ideally, I like to average 90, reality is somewhere between 80 and 100. That said I tend to focus more on heart rate and keeping it in zone 2.

 

[Roamers]

Another data point for knee health: my wife is a natural 50-60. When she mentions knees, I coach her up to 80 and the pain goes away.

 

[Chargeride]

Get on your bike and hold it up against a wall, take the chain off and pedal at 90...you'll soon be tired without going anywhere.

 

[stompandgo]

80-120

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

80-120

That 120 rpm is impressive, but I think it's pretty common among racers, no? I'm still pedaling reasonably smoothly and producing useful torque at ~100 rpm, but my pedaling coordination completely falls apart at ~105 rpm.

 

[teskow]

I have wondered if anyone has done any testing on how much energy is wasted on spinning fast verses a slower rate. It just seems to me that fast spinning would use and waste considerable energy just keeping the spin fast.

 

[Chargeride]

There are many factors..obviously

High Cadence Cycling Might Actually Be Slowing You Down

Will forcing yourself to pedal faster actually make you ride more efficiently?

www.bicycling.com

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Get on your bike and hold it up against a wall, take the chain off and pedal at 90...you'll soon be tired without going anywhere.

Pedalling an e-bike at the cadence of 90 is not tiresome at all once you have got used to is. The leg power delivered to the bike is (simplifying) torque (how hard you are pushing the pedals) times crankset rotational speed (cadence). You may mash your pedals at low speed (like those roadies who stand on the pedals on steep climbs) or spin the cranks with a way less torque.

High cadence:

• Knees are not strained
• Blood circulation is better
• The drivetrain is not stressed that much
• The motor is a way more efficient: a longer battery range
• Building certain types of leg muscles
• Easy to accelerate
• Easy to climb

With the regards of acceleration, I often demonstrate this to my riding buddies: I ride in ECO and keep my fingers far from the handlebar remote. I downshift and then start really spinning the cranks. Momentarily, my mates are left in the dust The point is, it is easy for me to produce my peak leg power at a high cadence. Regarding the climbing: I dramatically downshift and then start spinning. My e-bike carries me uphill like it were a lift!

Now I may understand Chris why you so often ride in Turbo and use so much battery on your rides...

I have wondered if anyone has done any testing on how much energy is wasted on spinning fast verses a slower rate. It just seems to me that fast spinning would use and waste considerable energy just keeping the spin fast.

There are many factors..obviously

High Cadence Cycling Might Actually Be Slowing You Down

Will forcing yourself to pedal faster actually make you ride more efficiently?

www.bicycling.com

I'm sure @stompandgo will explain why the pros ride at high cadence but I just need to mention the first pro cyclist to demonstrate the benefits of spinning was one L. Armstrong (forget his doping: we ride e-bikes)

 

[mrgold35]

I seems to feel the best with longest endurance at around 60-65 rpms to maintain a speed of 16-18 mph. I keep the same rpms with my rear hub or mid-drive ebikes. I pick a gear that gives me that rpms with any speed change.