Recommend RPM for Climbing

Climbing is personal. Do what cadence suits you, not what suits someone else.

f1943r said:

Is there a recommended RPM when climbing? I spend 90% of the climb in the saddle and try and hold 70 to 75 RPM’s. My computer has a cadence feature so I know what my RPM’s are.
Thank you

It depends on physics and physiology. Your cadence is a function of the grade you're riding up, your fitness, and the grearing you have available.

I wouldn't worry about your cadence, just concentrate on improving your power output.

ric

If I could spin 90+ rpms up every hill, I would, but I'm not willing to sacrifice the gear spacing on the other end to do it. So until I am powerful enough to do that......

I would say I probably end up in the mid 70's rpms on steady climbs. Anything lower than 70 and I'm standing. Less than 60 and it's pretty painful and is probably 12+% grade.

cadence is very self selected ride at the cadence which helps you produce the most power. However I also think you need to learn to ride slightly higher cadences or atleast learn to accelerate very quickly off big gears. Often being able to accelerate uphill can be the difference of a win and a top 10 finish.

I'm a recreational rider right now 2.65 watt/kg FT and I have a 24 tooth granny for long climbs (8 minutes or more). I like 50rpm out of the saddle and 70rpm or more spinning. If its a short hill I stay in the middle ring 38 teeth and hurt a little out of the saddle 35rpm or more looking forward to the descent on the other side.

wiredued said:

I'm a recreational rider right now 2.65 watt/kg FT and I have a 24 tooth granny for long climbs (8 minutes or more). I like 50rpm out of the saddle and 70rpm or more spinning. If its a short hill I stay in the middle ring 38 teeth and hurt a little out of the saddle 35rpm or more looking forward to the descent on the other side.

Sorry wiredued, but " 8' "is not a long climb🙄 ,here in the Cascades mountaines are avg. climbs are about 6 to 8 miles with avg. grades of 6% to 11% & + :eek:
Long climbs are 10 + miles ,over 1 hour of hard climbing for some😄 ,Musher

LOL I think I said 8 "or more"🙂 ....I just wanted to make the point that I settle in to a sustainable pace close to 105% FTP if it's going to take 8 "or more" minutes to reach the top. The highest Mt auto road I can ride my bike to here in New England took me 29 minutes last year but I'm not a great climber if I was it would be more like 20. My Dad wants to climb Mt Rainer next year (not on his bike) so I have been making comparisons like that you are in a great area to grow as a cyclist hills are your friend.

musher said:

Sorry wiredued, but " 8' "is not a long climb🙄 ,here in the Cascades mountaines are avg. climbs are about 6 to 8 miles with avg. grades of 6% to 11% & + :eek:
Long climbs are 10 + miles ,over 1 hour of hard climbing for some😄 ,Musher

ric_stern/RST said:

It depends on physics and physiology. Your cadence is a function of the grade you're riding up, your fitness, and the grearing you have available.

I wouldn't worry about your cadence, just concentrate on improving your power output.

ric

How do you improve your power output?

f1943r said:

How do you improve your power output?

Sorry, just found a lot of threads on power output training. Thank you

f1943r said:

Is there a recommended RPM when climbing? I spend 90% of the climb in the saddle and try and hold 70 to 75 RPM’s. My computer has a cadence feature so I know what my RPM’s are.
Thank you

I try to balance 3 things: RPM, MPH and HR. No mattter how steep, iI do not let myself drop below 4 mph, or below 60 rpm. I also keep the heart rate in the zone I am working in, and when those 3 indicators start to move off the numbers I want, I then shift gears.
So I might let RPMs and speed drop if I want to go anarobic sa the hill rises, or on another hill I might keep the speed I want and adjust the gears and rpm to get there.
Its all a question of what you are riding for at the time.
I try to stay out of the granny gear until as high into the hill as possible.