Gearing

Just under 91 for cadence on this one http://app.strava.com/rides/3146371

My average cadence used to be ~65, it certainly feels like I'm going faster with a higher cadence.

Also, I now want to change my fixed gearing of 50X18 to something a bit lower, to spend more time at a higher cadence around town.

I spent a lot of work last winter on the turbo and geared country jaunts getting my comfortable cadence up to 100rpm, only to be undone by grinding around town on my fixed. Not going to repeat that this year.

^^^I used to get a sad autistic thrill out of the fact that 67.5" (46x18) meant cadence was 5 x speed.

:)

I used to get sad thrills in other ways..

…comfort eating.

• Midget porn
  

Comforting midgets whilst watching food porn.

Southpark creme fraiche - YouTube

Unrelated to the discussion up there, I've now got a 19t on the back. My flat is cold and all my joints are suffering at the moment (my wrists and shoulders are as bad as my knees, so I don't think gearing is reponsible)

Also, on 84", cadence is approx 4 x speed (in mph) which I always enjoyed.

How are you finding it? Love how snappy it is when pulling away from lights.

I am slower and sweatier.

I definitely noticed being noticeably sweatier when I went spinny.

Agree with suggestions of a 66" to 72" fixed gear. But have a freewhell on the other side to handle mixed terrains with long or fast downhills. These can be unnecessary hard work just when you need a respite from the climbing and you want to relax, sit up a little and take in the landscape. Make sure your brakes are up to stopping you when that truck suddenly crosses your path!

I did my en vogue SST on 84.5" rather than 78.9" last night. Wanted to keep output levels the same, and what data I have (time, basically) shows that I did so; therefore I was stressing the force production side of the power equation more than the cadence side i.e. working on a weakness.

It meant an average cadence of 90rpm, and it felt pretty horrible. That was the intention, but despite milder temps, I still had to be mindful of my knees when grinding into 22mph gusts / the steady 12mph WSW / getting away from lights and junctions.

Just thought I'd give some feedback, seeing as I was riding The Stonehedge Ratio.

I did most of my Rapha 500 on coastal roads on 66GI and there was a wind above 18mph every day...no way I would have tried that on 84GI given the conditions that you had last night!

Valid point on lights and junctions too...

To be honest the main reason why I settled on 84 is that I happen to have odd numbered cogs from 13 to 19. Having 17 on the back was too easy for a bloke who struggles to spin above 90 and has only recently learned to manage that.

Hoping my time spent on the turbo doing spinning drills is going to pay off. In any event I plan to TT geared.

Why not do some work with your 17t? With a little practice, and after a few 'spin-ups' to above target cadence, you could try some 10 minute intervals at 100rpm (22mph). That's still a very functional cadence, even for a masher. Then the slight increase in power you'd want for competition can come from upping the gear - but you'd find your slower self-selecting cadence should feel even more comfortable than usual. I started my sweet-spot training campaign back in November, and was using a 74" for the first month (and managed to hang with the fast groups in Regents Park during the summer for a few laps on 74" on the Brompton - a little frantic, but good fun).

Riding the Danish flatlands on 85" and 80" (alternating between pushing and spinning on different weeks).

I'm pretty settled on around 66" for winter commuting in Leeds, mainly due to the horrible winds that make me want to cry when I'm going uphill. Also getting away from lights reasonably quickly is more important to me on a commute than being able to maintain a high top speed. I've no idea what my cadence is like but I suspect it's not that high, I'm not that fussed about whizzing about super fast everywhere though. And I like skidding on descents.

I'm looking to try 66" (48x19).

I'll probably go back to 70" in spring but right now it's about getting the slow miles covered, plenty of climbing, and slow, safe descents.

Cog Swap thread >>>

Rode on 89" on 55miles - some of the route here http://app.strava.com/rides/3552240

Remarkably pump in the quads during the evening afterwards.

I'm commuting at 63" now, which feels perfect to me.

Just switched up my 46x17 gearing to 48x17 and have noticed a drop in acceleration (as expected) but a much smoother cadence.
I found the old gearing too spinny
Might get a 15t for the summer too, 86" of glory
#ThighsOfSteel