Road vs MTB Cadence

[SwissVan]

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'

 

Yep, that basically sums it up perfectly

[Jewbacca]

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.

 

 

hehe... Guilty to say that was a facetious rhetorical question

 

But in a fun non aggressive way!

 

hahahaha

[jcza]

First thing cycling coaches do is to tell you to forget about the big ring and increase leg speed.

[Mike Bike]

First thing cycling coaches do is to tell you to forget about the big ring and increase leg speed.

a higher cadence is always going to conserve your energy

[Journosergio]

There is no specific cadence for MTB as its dependent on not only what suits you specifically, but the terrain you're on. It could fluctuate quite a lot as you're negotiating all kinds of obstacles and switching between climbs and downhills.

 

I find that, although a higher cadence and lower power output can conserve energy (proven?), my heart rate tends to be a lot higher and I get a little out of breath as opposed to being in a slightly higher gear and cranking slower.

[GoLefty!!]

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.

 

 

Whatever works for you on a one is what you should use on the other. An Engines power and torque profile is generally unchanged irrespective of the chassis its fitted to.

[LazyTrailRider]

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....

 

Exactly.

 

It's amazing what people commonly refer to as MTB riding these days.