Cadence on an eBike

[hoit]

As an occasional recreational rider on a Bike over the last 30 years I reckon I have pedaled in the typical 50 - 60 rpm range. When I first got my eBike I did the same for first several weeks. Now I'm finding myself more comfortable in the 60 - 70 rpm range.

There has been studies for conventional Bikes but I haven't seen anything on the optimal cadence on an eBike. The primary purpose of my eBike is to commute to work in casual clothes and arrive sweat free.

I'm never going to achieve the road bike cadence of 90 - 100 rpm but should I look to increase my cadence to 70 - 80 rpm to improve my efficiency. Or should I ride at whatever cadence feels good and just enjoy the fun ride into work.

 

[christob]

My totally non-scientific answer would be the latter... pedal at what's comfortable and enjoyable (and keeps the commute-in sweat-free)!

 

[Alaskan]

I find that the Bosch mid drive becomes more lively and responsive when I hit a cadence of 80-85. I put out less effort and sweat at the higher cadence as that seems to be more in my power band as well as that of the bike. It has taken me a while to get comfortable with this cadence but now I feel sluggish at anything much less.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I haven't seen anything on the optimal cadence on an eBike.

There is optimal for the rider, and optimal for the motor. In my case, my Yamaha PW motor prefers a slower cadence than what I am used to. Now, if my goal was to not sweat (which is impossible for me), I would indeed slow down my cadence and let the motor do more of the work. But since I only ride for fitness, I sweat buckets.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

There are multiple independent studies worldwide about optimum cadence. Most competitive road cyclists prefer to spin above 80 rpm (80-110 rpm). To the contrary, many leisure riders and mountain bikers prefer to pedal at 60-70 rpm.

Before ebikes were even popular, Bosch already did enormous research and development of their ebike motor to suit these parameters and positioned the motor's peak efficiency at the cadence right where most cyclists (including competition road cyclists) would pedal.

https://www.electricbike.com/bosch-cannondale/

 

[J Miller]

There are multiple independent studies worldwide about optimum cadence. Most competitive road cyclists prefer to spin above 80 rpm (80-110 rpm). To the contrary, many leisure riders and mountain bikers prefer to pedal at 60-70 rpm.

Interesting! I'd only ever heard the 80+rpm number before, and always felt that was far too high for me.

I didn't realize it was known that mountain bikers prefer a lower cadence - I always ride mountain or hybrid style bikes (never road bikes), and the 60-70rpm cadence has always felt much more natural to me even when putting out a lot of power.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

Interesting! I'd only ever heard the 80+rpm number before, and always felt that was far too high for me.

I didn't realize it was known that mountain bikers prefer a lower cadence - I always ride mountain or hybrid style bikes (never road bikes), and the 60-70rpm cadence has always felt much more natural to me even when putting out a lot of power.

Look at the left lower corner, that's the cadence by a road cyclist.

Many road cyclists also has the heart rate monitor and power meter and they use those measurements to efficiently extract the most power from their legs. That's how they arrived at higher cadence.

 

[john peck]

My avg. cadence, 50/70, but I train in bad weather & at night on an old stationary. There I work on high cadence at low
resistance typically 85 with sprints to 110. It's handy practice for taking a run at the hills around here. I shot past a guy
walkng his road bike uphill today. Yeah....it's not fair

 

[Trail Cruiser]

That explains why those high cadence road cyclists are so skinny.