Road vs MTB Cadence

[Erroli8a8]

HI All.

 

I have seen cadence being used around for a while now.

 

Best is around the 90 mark. my question is for MTB is this value the same? in my opinion it is not as I have tried but fail to get my cadence up to 80+ on my mountain bike during a ride or even during a race unless it is open road, even jeep track proves difficult.

 

Thanks.

[jcza]

I always thought 100 was optimal.

[jcmeyerSS]

Back in the day when I was riding a geared mtb and measured that kinda stuff. I would average 75-85 rpm terrain dependent.

[Gideondv]

I did the Argus on my MTB with knobblies in 3h32 & my average cadence was 88 , max 201

[Toon63]

[

I did the Argus on my MTB with knobblies in 3h32 & my average cadence was 88 , max 201

 

Jeepers your like a rotor engine

[rouxtjie]

I always thought 100 was optimal.

Thought so too, well that is where my poor little 0.1cc engine puts out the most torque.

 

but depends on terrain with mtb...train cardio mostly in 90-110, strength in 60-70(sitting)70-80(standing)

Edited March 13, 2014 by rouxtjie

[Erroli8a8]

Ya so +-90 for the road but what is the most efficient for off road mtb.

[rouxtjie]

Ya so +-90 for the road but what is the most efficient for off road mtb.

depends on terrain and power at given cadence...not an absolute

[Jewbacca]

Its a horses for courses thing.... Tony Martin has a far slower cadence than any other rider out there but his power transfere is immense...

 

Surely your fancy gizmos and computers cantell you your specific optimum power to cadence to gradient ratio on the road?

 

MTB or 'gravel road riding' is also probably an equation your computers and equatons can solve. For actual MTB the answer is, whatever gets you up or down the trails fastest....

[PeterF]

The same rule applies irrespective of whether you are on a road bike or a mtb. It is just easier to maintain a high cadence while in a higher gear on a road bike because of the terrain and the bikes dynamics.

[rouxtjie]

Its a horses for courses thing.... Tony Martin has a far slower cadence than any other rider out there but his power transfere is immense...

 

Surely your fancy gizmos and computers cantell you your specific optimum power to cadence to gradient ratio on the road?

 

MTB or 'gravel road riding' is also probably an equation your computers and equatons can solve. For actual MTB the answer is, whatever gets you up or down the trails fastest....

Boom...thats all you need. If all else fails, just go till you blow.

[SwissVan]

Ya so +-90 for the road but what is the most efficient for off road mtb.

 

He who spins wins....?

 

That being said, its purely individualistic and depends on the person and terrain. Some people can naturally ride at a high avg of say 100rpm and others at a lower avg say 70 rpm.

 

General consensus is that you save (use less muscle energy) your legs when riding at a higher cadence.

[RastaMan]

I prefer to keep mtb cadence on 80

And road between 95 and 105

[V12man]

 

Surely your fancy gizmos and computers cantell you your specific optimum power to cadence to gradient ratio on the road?

 

 

You can do it with a heart rate monitor, power meter and a cadence meter, BUT, it's a very long winded process... and I suspect, not all that accurate as compared to using oxygen uptake measuring devices to determine efficiency - because using heart rate as an efficiency measure has several problems associated with it.

[NotSoBigBen]

He who spins wins....?

 

That being said, its purely individualistic and depends on the person and terrain. Some people can naturally ride at a high avg of say 100rpm and others at a lower avg say 70 rpm.

 

General consensus is that you save (use less muscle energy) your legs when riding at a higher cadence.

 

The old timer road bikers when I started riding (those who would use a piece of steak where we have chammy today) always said 'he who spins in the first half will be the one riding the big gears at the end'

[Erroli8a8]

OK so I get it the ANSWER is "HTFU" to get up and over the hills