Cadence - how do you measure?

[LittleGreyCat]

Thanks for all the info - given the many (and often bewildering) functions on my current computer I now wonder if it should allow the entry of gear inches (or similar) of a chosen gear so you can get it to calculate your cadence for you. Then again they would probably rather sell you a more expensive model with a sensor.

Cheers

LGC

[byegad]

I very occasionally check my cadence by counting for 20 seconds then multiply by 3. I have a watch strapped to my fairing and the seconds figure is easily visible. I'm not obsessive about cadence but find that the occasional* check keeps me spinning rather than mashing.

*I probably check it once every few weeks.

[reohn2]

Here's a great trick for cadence,you find a gear that your legs are happy with or put another way,when you feel you're "on top of the gear" or "turning it over nicely".
That's your cadence,that is the happiness,the rhythm,for you it doesn't matter about anything else,numbers are meaningless.
The body tells you what it's happy with.
You then find a series of gears that keep you in happiness rhythm whatever the terrain.

[Vantage]

I couldn't care less what my cadence is. As long as the bike is moving forward and I'm not dying from exhaustion, that's good enough for me

[[XAP]Bob]

I use a cheap computer (Magnet on the LH crank, sensor on the dérailleur post (seat post equivalent location) - although I recently borrowed a Garmin as well (sensor on the boom - chainstay equivalent)

They agreed perfectly (as expected), but I like having the check available.

This morning I felt like I was about to stall out and was mashing - but when I glanced down I was still turning over at 90rpm, so I waited a little longer before dropping gears - and dropped at the rear, not the front.

[Mick F]

Here's a great trick for cadence,you find a gear that your legs are happy with or put another way,when you feel you're "on top of the gear" or "turning it over nicely".
That's your cadence,that is the happiness,the rhythm,for you it doesn't matter about anything else,numbers are meaningless.
The body tells you what it's happy with.
You then find a series of gears that keep you in happiness rhythm whatever the terrain.

+1
Exactly right.
Nicely put.

I couldn't care less what my cadence is. As long as the bike is moving forward and I'm not dying from exhaustion, that's good enough for me

+1 as well.

As it happens, I know the number that feels right for me ...... that's 67rpm.
I may not have known or even cared what it was before I knew it, but because I have the equipment now, I do know.

So what?
Dunno, but at least I can say what works for me rather than saying I don't know.

[AlbionLass]

Cadence sensor on my Cateye Strada double wireless, used this computer indoors on some cadence based training dvds over the winter which has given me a better ability to judge my cadence when I'm not using the sensor. My cadence 'sweet spot' is around 85-90.

[Mick F]

I rode that stupid Raleigh Chopper from JOG to LE a few years ago, and I had it fitted with all my Garmin stuff.

Even that bike had my average cadence for the whole journey at 65rpm.
Dunno why my HR was low from Golspie to Inverness. Maybe the strap wasn't making sufficient contact.

[Urticaria]

Fascinating. It looks as though you were match fit by day seven, and yet you were a frequent cyclist to start with. I'm a bit surprised that physiological changes can occur so rapidly.
It would be interesting to see similar data from a novice cyclist. What would a bum toughness sensor be composed of? With data from that, too, we could suggest how long it would take a beginner to start enjoying cycling.

[Grandma]

Cadence is the number of times the crank revolves a complete turn taken over a minute.
My old Dad taught me that every one has an individual pedalling comfort zone of so many strokes/minute, and the whole point of using the gears available was to maintain that comfort zone as far as possible. So as you ascend a hill you should try to maintain the same cadence for as long as possible, but obviously your forward speed over over the ground drops. He was doing long distance cycle trips and touring and at 87 is still riding.

[Vorpal]

I don't measure cadence. I know that my comfortable cadence is in the neighborhood of 90 - 100 rpm only because a friend occasionally matched my cadence & told me what it was.

[Brucey]

... wonder if it should allow the entry of gear inches (or similar) of a chosen gear so you can get it to calculate your cadence for you. ...

I may have misunderstood this (I'm not super- interested in bike computers ) but isn't that what shimano flightdeck and campag ergobrain computers were intended to do? Or did I dream that?

cheers

[reohn2]

Cadence is the number of times the crank revolves a complete turn taken over a minute.
My old Dad taught me that every one has an individual pedalling comfort zone of so many strokes/minute, and the whole point of using the gears available was to maintain that comfort zone as far as possible. So as you ascend a hill you should try to maintain the same cadence for as long as possible, but obviously your forward speed over over the ground drops. He was doing long distance cycle trips and touring and at 87 is still riding.

Your old Dad is spot on!

[karlt]

Doesn't work for me. I find my "natural" comfortable cadence drops as power requirement increases. Hence I can pedal quite fast going downhill or cruising on the flat, but if I want to get uphill quickly or maintain a high speed on the flat, the way for me is to drop the cadence and work a higher gear.

There are no hard and fast rules.

[reohn2]

Doesn't work for me. I find my "natural" comfortable cadence drops as power requirement increases. Hence I can pedal quite fast going downhill or cruising on the flat, but if I want to get uphill quickly or maintain a high speed on the flat, the way for me is to drop the cadence and work a higher gear.

There are no hard and fast rules.

Do you ride fixed?