Bouncing at high cadence

DaveB said:

I went out for my first longish ride on the Single Speed today. It's
only got a 39/18 combination partly for the hills but mainly because I
want to force myself to spin more. On the flat and downhill I was really
pumping but kept finding myself bouncing once I hit my highest cadence
levels. A couple of times I seemed to find myself in a bit of a zone
where I was spinning smoothly, but that only lasted 5 secs or so and
then I was bouncing again.

Is there anything to keep in mind to avoid this, or is it just a case of
practice at high cadence?

Concentrate on the top & bottom of your pedal stroke -
forget the push and don't lift (at high cadence you won't
have time to anyway). Imagine you're scraping gum or
dogshit off your shoes at 6pm, and pushing your toes into your
shoes at 12. Then, practice, practice, practice ...
You can also do core work - swissball/yoga/pilates/swimming/
kayaking etc to strengthen your hip stabilisers.

Some schools of thought would say that very high cadence,
while impressive to look at, don't make you a faster
cyclist, so don't get obsessed by it. It's only
juniors that have to whirr away at 150rpm.

DaveB said:

I went out for my first longish ride on the Single Speed today. It's
only got a 39/18 combination partly for the hills but mainly because I
want to force myself to spin more. On the flat and downhill I was really
pumping but kept finding myself bouncing once I hit my highest cadence
levels. A couple of times I seemed to find myself in a bit of a zone
where I was spinning smoothly, but that only lasted 5 secs or so and
then I was bouncing again.

Is there anything to keep in mind to avoid this, or is it just a case of
practice at high cadence?

DaveB "one day I'll be able to spin like TimC"

What sort of high cadence are you talking about? 130rpm or 180rpm?
I was cranking at 170rpm (39/16) last week at which point, the chain
started slapping the bottom of the chain stay. Of course, the only
racers you'll ever see turning cranks at that speed are track sprinters,
which I'm not, so I'm not worried about bouncing at that sort of speed.

Carl Brewer said:

Concentrate on the top & bottom of your pedal stroke -
forget the push and don't lift (at high cadence you won't
have time to anyway). Imagine you're scraping gum or
dogshit off your shoes at 6pm, and pushing your toes into your
shoes at 12. Then, practice, practice, practice ...
You can also do core work - swissball/yoga/pilates/swimming/
kayaking etc to strengthen your hip stabilisers.

Some schools of thought would say that very high cadence,
while impressive to look at, don't make you a faster
cyclist, so don't get obsessed by it. It's only
juniors that have to whirr away at 150rpm.

phffft! too much thinking involved!

the secret is DONT think.

youre 2-1 ratio is the usual and the whole reason its a SS is so you can wimp out (unlike us 'bruteish' people who ride fixed! 😄) going downhill.

It may simply be a position thing. Check your saddle height aint too high, and i find moving forward on the saddle marginally gives you 'room to spin' more.

i also find on the wide-barred mtb SS the wider hand position seems to promote hip-movement a bit more too which makes spinning harder too.

flyingdutch said:

youre 2-1 ratio is the usual and the whole reason its a SS is so you can wimp out (unlike us 'bruteish' people who ride fixed! 😄) going downhill.

Saw a Fuji track bike chained up at my train station yesterday..

Mmm.. bikes.. almost forgotten what they look like...

hippy

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Quoted message said:

BrettS said:

What sort of high cadence are you talking about? 130rpm or 180rpm?
I was cranking at 170rpm (39/16) last week at which point, the chain
started slapping the bottom of the chain stay. Of course, the only
racers you'll ever see turning cranks at that speed are track sprinters,
which I'm not, so I'm not worried about bouncing at that sort of speed.

Well I don't have a bike computer on this bike but I'd say around 130
which is high for me.

daveB

Get a smaller cog or a bigger chainring.......you know you want to!!!!

Someone at work told me that I needed to "be kind to your knees" when a
group of us were talking about SS bikes. Screw that!!! I have been away
with work too much lately and I am getting [censored] at being off of the bike
(not to mention getting fatter). I have decided now that for the next month
or two I am going to smash myself on the bike to and from work, as well as
concentrating on leg work in the gym. I am upping the ratio on the SS from
38/16 to 38/14 and will ride that to work at least twice a week and I am
going to go the long way on the other two bikes for the remaining days (30km
for mtb, and Burgandy St, Yarra Blvd for the roadie). I am also keen to get
in a couple of BRs and races. Time to get motivated!!!

Ride On,

Gags

Gags said:

Get a smaller cog or a bigger chainring.......you know you want to!!!!

Someone at work told me that I needed to "be kind to your knees" when a
group of us were talking about SS bikes. Screw that!!! I have been away
with work too much lately and I am getting [censored] at being off of the bike
(not to mention getting fatter). I have decided now that for the next month
or two I am going to smash myself on the bike to and from work, as well as
concentrating on leg work in the gym. I am upping the ratio on the SS from
38/16 to 38/14 and will ride that to work at least twice a week and I am
going to go the long way on the other two bikes for the remaining days (30km
for mtb, and Burgandy St, Yarra Blvd for the roadie). I am also keen to get
in a couple of BRs and races. Time to get motivated!!!

Ride On,

Gags

No, No, No! All BR riders must lose form, put on weight and generally be in such a state so that when my inevitable return comes I can keep up 😄
Oh, bugger that. go on then.

flyingdutch said:

Gags said:

(30km
for mtb, and Burgandy St, Yarra Blvd for the roadie). I am also keen
to get
in a couple of BRs and races. Time to get motivated!!!

Ride On,

Gags

No, No, No! All BR riders must lose form, put on weight and generally
be in such a state so that when my inevitable return comes I can keep
up 😄
Oh, bugger that. go on then.

No way Dutch, I'm on fire and next BR you are on you'll be eating my dust.

DaveB "conscious of having made similar idle threats in the past"

DaveB said:

No way Dutch, I'm on fire and next BR you are on you'll be eating my dust.

DaveB "conscious of having made similar idle threats in the past"

actually, youre recent times have me genuinely worried 🙁

on my return from Amsterdam/paris/NewYork I think my climb-trial time was... (cant clearly remember) but i think 16:45?

so if youre already doing sub 16's and with a few more months in difference i expect you to be approaching 15min and me scraping to beat 20min!

MUST get on windtrainer!