Gearing and muscle development

i ride 20-30 miles everyday plus time fucking around in carparks, and im 6' and rake thin. ive been riding with 52-17 SS for about three years, its the only bike ive owned scince an 80s bmx as a kid.

ive never really noticed much change in th muscle development of my legs, theyve always just been thin. last month i changed to 52-13 SS and have seen a massive change, my legs are getting bigger by the week, its really noticable.

i am finding riding in this gearing difficult, alougth it has got alot easier, but its certainly not practical. everything is alot harder to deal with, even flats where i would normally just spin faster are difficult.

what im wondering is if this is worth it, the idea being that i ride with a hard gear for a while to get bigger muscles, then switch back and take advantage of the new muscle. however i dont know if its more benificial to have faster legs as opposed to strong.

what you reckon?

lots of different issues.

thin legs = slow twitch muscle = less fatigue over longer distances
fatter legs = fast twich muscle = faster, more explosive power, but tires quicker, and require more oxygen/food.

i dunno, maybe pick a middle ground in gearing, and just eat more protein!

why do you want bigger muscles anyway, not from a racing point of view i take it?

sounds like you'll shag your knees up. 108 odd gear inches on the road is quite ridiculous. Chris Hoy uses 98 for 200m sprints.

you need to spin to build the muscles initially, then you can bulk up with occasional higher geared rides and weight training.

if your 20-30 miles a day is a commute, in traffic with lots of stop-starting then it's trash mileage. you need to do long rides without too many interruptions. In the cuntryside, round a large park or even on rollers or turbo trainer.

I don't think that pushing a huge gear around the road has ever been recommended for building muscles or any other kind of training.

Do you get enough protein? I mean really enough?

If so do some squats, deadlifts and step ups.

go back to a normal gear but vary the terrain to more hilly riding this means you push hard up a few hills (muscle) and spin (souplesse, cardio).
I'm wafer-thin and while my muscle definition has changed i'm never going to have sprinters legs but i'm not really bothered about that.
you would probably benefit more from having a days rest then riding 50-60 miles in one day as this would be of more benefit to you than 20-30 every day.

Like Mr Smith says surely its not about size its about speed and duration. Light and strong.

You'll never forget how to pedal fast if you learn that in the first instance, However if you spend too much time on big gears then you'll struggle to apply the power quick enough when you get up to "race" cadence(145rpm+).

YouTube - Craig McClean Rollapaluza Record

Like Mr Smith says surely its not about size its about speed and duration. Light and strong.

Epic Reality Fail.

It's all about big and fast.

:P

ive never really noticed much change in th muscle development of my legs, theyve always just been thin. last month i changed to 52-13 SS and have seen a massive change, my legs are getting bigger by the week, its really noticable.

Have you actually taken a tape measure to your legs? If you are looking at them after a big ride in a heavy gear they will be swollen, loaded with life juice or blood or something.
Measure them the day after and see if you're not hallucinating. I'd eliminate magic mushrooms from the equation before debating muscle mass questions. ;)

Big and stoned... roll another doobie hippy.

"Epic Reality Fail.

It's all about big and fast.

:P"

it's all about lean and mean, and putting the pain on aero helmet wearing tubby time triallers round richmond park.

fixed.

I wanna do richmond park... only done it once years ago on the old geared. Love to give it a go on the old shirley.

when andy gets his condor you can join us for a nice easy 5 laps.

don't get many fixed riders in there although i did see one there yesterday (could have been freewheel?)

I wanna do richmond park... only done it once years ago on the old geared. Love to give it a go on the old shirley.
Friday night RP laps?

i do feel i ride with more power now, alough i wonder if it just feels that way after using a heavy gear.

ive never suffured with my knees, but i also so ride SS so i think this is less of a problem.

it is mainly a commute, but i dont really have to stop anywhere along the way.

i want stronger legs so i can be faster uphill, ive got some mental hills around here that make my rides tough.

when andy gets his condor you can join us for a nice easy 5 laps.

don't get many fixed riders in there although i did see one there yesterday (could have been freewheel?)

yeah saw him while he was filling in the various forms involved in getting the ride to dork scheme... his application was successful.

I wanna do richmond park... only done it once years ago on the old geared. Love to give it a go on the old shirley.

I'd be up for that Shins.. anti-clockwise to start though eh?

the last forum ride round the park was quite funny. one flying lap then off to the pub.

the thing is to not allow yourself a coffee stop until 3 laps which is an hour. unless it's just posing then you can just drive there and sit outside the cafe, you need at least one item of assos or rapha though.

"Epic Reality Fail.
It's all about big and fast.
:P"
it's all about lean and mean, and putting the pain on aero helmet wearing tubby time triallers round richmond park.
fixed.

Wanna race skinny man? :P
I'll let you wear the funny hat though.

Make sure you get there before the cars if on a weekend morning (ie be finished by 10am) unless you just want to pootle round.

But to being this back on topic, I've recently upped my gearing from roughly 70" to around 80" - precisely because I have no hills on my daily route.
A less extreme example than the OP but I feel a lot stronger for it as it's still low enough to really open up and sprint. I'll change back for hillier rides, but think it's a nice balance.

Yeah at that GI too you need a few straights or a good few run of lights. To make it worth while switching to a higher GI... My old commute 4-5 miles takes less time than my shitty short run commute due to the roads im on ie aldgate, fenchurch st.

Wanna race skinny man? :P
I'll let you wear the funny hat though.

no. but let me know when you are riding there.

I hate RP.. so I rarely ride there.

As for bigger gear training, might I suggest the "fucking early morning start" method.

No cars = loads more time to push a big gear at speed without worrying about some fucker killing you. It's also a good technique for beating your commute record ;)

the last forum ride round the park was quite funny. one flying lap then off to the pub.

the thing is to not allow yourself a coffee stop until 3 laps which is an hour. unless it's just posing then you can just drive there and sit outside the cafe, you need at least one item of assos or rapha though.

Ha! I remember that one... because I'm also sad.