Why Your Cadence Is Slowing You Down

Podcast

April 10, 2024

There's no single best cycling cadence. Training a wider range and changing gear far more often will make you faster for the same fitness.

Get Fast Podcast, Ep 229, with Gerard and Jordan Donnelly

There is no single optimal cadence for every cyclist. What slows most riders down is how they use their gears. Riders who change gear constantly keep their cadence and power steady, hold momentum and go faster for the same fitness.

Is there an optimal cycling cadence?

No. Jordan says the research doesn't show that 85 RPM is more efficient than 95 or 105 for everyone. Each rider might have their own most efficient cadence, but it varies with physiology, height, weight and riding background.

The common view is that your go-to cadence is probably your most efficient, because it's the one you train most. The Donnellys don't fully accept that. If you started riding at 83 RPM and never trained at 90, 95 or 70, you can't know what suits you best. Higher cadences feel uncomfortable the first time, so many riders try once and never go back.

When athletes ask Gerard what cadence to ride, he asks them what their go-to cadence is. If that's stopping them riding faster, they work on it.

How does Gerard choose his own cadence?

He has tried 75, 80, 85 and 90 RPM in time trials on flat courses to find what he could hold and what was fastest. In most time trials he ends up around 87 RPM. On a long, flat course he drops to about 84 or 85. Once there are undulations, he rides a little higher.

His form matters too. If his legs aren't strong enough to carry a lower cadence, he tires and his power drops.

Why train a range of cadences?

The terrain often decides your cadence for you. A gradient or headwind might need a cadence five or seven RPM away from your usual one to keep your power in range. If you've only ever ridden 85 RPM in training, you have no options on race day. Gerard compares it to nutrition: don't try something for the first time in a race.

The squad builds cadence work into sessions. Athletes practise 95 to 105 RPM because it's uncomfortable for riders used to pushing big gears. Once they're comfortable there, dropping back to their usual cadence feels easier. Some recovery rides are done at about 100 watts while holding 100 or 105 RPM.

A higher cadence does raise your breathing and heart rate. Jordan says that doesn't make it less efficient. Once you adapt, you can ride almost any cadence comfortably.

What are riders getting wrong with their gears?

Gerard says many riders ride as though their bike has one gear. When he started racing, he had six gears at the back and two at the front. Bikes now have up to 12 at the back, yet people seem to use fewer of them.

On one 70 km ride, his Garmin showed he had changed gear 2,300 times. He sees other riders change fewer than 50 times on a ride. The moment he feels the gear get harder or easier, he changes. In 50 metres he might change twice.

Using your gears this way keeps two things where you want them: your cadence and your power.

How should you use your gears in a time trial?

Your goal in a time trial is to keep your power in range from start to finish, and ideally finish a little stronger. Pressure on the pedals keeps the bike's momentum going. On-off pressure means faster-slower speed.

Change gear at the base of a hill, not 50 metres into it. If you're riding 200 watts, drop to an easier gear before you see 220 on your screen. Your power might dip to 190 for a second, then the gradient brings it back to 200.
Change again whenever the pressure changes, whether the hill steepens or eases.
Change up over the crest as the bike speeds up, so the pressure stays on.

Leave it late and you'll panic, jump through gears, lose your pedal stroke and spend 5 to 15 seconds rebuilding momentum.

How much speed can poor gear changes cost?

Gerard once drove behind one of his riders in a time trial on an undulating course. Watching his legs, you couldn't tell whether he was going uphill or downhill, because he kept changing gear to hold the same cadence. He averaged 44.5 km/h. Another rider Gerard followed was grinding up the hills and averaged 32 km/h.

Each slow gear change might cost you 10 metres. Over 90 km, Gerard says, that could add up to 2 km. At 30 km/h, 2 km is four minutes. All of that without any change in fitness.

Jordan describes the yo-yo effect. A rider who grinds up hills pushes too much power, then eases off over the top in the wrong gear and loses momentum on the descent. The rider who stays even passes them over the crest and keeps pulling away.

How do you make it automatic?

Practise it on every ride. Gerard keeps steady pressure even on easy zone two rides. If someone surges up a hill beside him, he holds his tempo, then puts 20 metres into them over the crest and down the other side. As Jordan puts it, how you train is how you race.

Once gear changes are automatic, you can think about other race-day priorities: your aero position, your drinking, your heart rate and the wind.

Keep your hands where you can change gear without moving:

Time trial bikes: keep your fingers on the levers or buttons at the end of the extensions.
Road bikes: rest your hands on the hoods so you can brake or change gear straight away.

If changing gear means moving your hands, you'll end up staying in the wrong gear.