Cadence, Train to Stregth or Weakness

[cummins cyclist]

For my cruise speed on my MTB I'm around about 12-13 mph. (195lbs, 45lb bike, MTB tires etc) and i'm at around 60rpm, maybe even lower. When I go up hills, I probably hit about 80 rpm.

 

[swampy1970]

Hmmm. That was written in 1999? I'm not sure how many many power meter data files the author had examined before writing that but I'm guessing it wasn't a lot.

A fun comment made at the end of that article: "Touring bicycles have a wide range of gears and big changes between individual gear sizes, where racing bikes have the so-called corncob or pinecone cogsets, with cogs varying by 1 or perhaps two teeth throughout the whole range of the stack. The former works very well for terrains with lots of variation, and the latter gives the highest speed for any given power setting, in one instance of terrain." ... I wonder what he'd make of Tony Martin's decision to use an 11-32 cassette for his recent Tour de France TT win. The thought of going full gas and going from the 13 to an 11 sprocket and feeling like you'd just started to pedal through molasses.

 

[RChung]

Originally Posted by swampy1970


A fun comment made at the end of that article:

"[...] and the latter gives the highest speed for any given power setting, in one instance of terrain."

IOW, 250 watts using a corncob cassette is faster than 250 watts on a touring cassette.

 

[swampy1970]

IOW, 250 watts using a corncob cassette is faster than 250 watts on a touring cassette.

Omg! Martin would have put 27 minutes into the other guys if he'd used a corncob rather than going touring! 250 watts. It's what happens when Tony Martin flexes a big toe...