Bike newbie question - why 90 cadence?

It's NOT a magic number, but a number in the range where most experienced cyclists achieve the highest efficiency. Typically the literature cites 85-95 rpm as the range. If it doesn't work for you don't use it, you're a human being and we're all different, you won't be cast aside as a non-conforming machine. Perhaps when you get to the point where you're riding more than 100 miles per month, you may find it to be a different story.

I have a cycling buddy, a little faster than me with more endurance as well. The other night we were cruising along at 22 mph; I was on my middle chainring, he was grinding on the big chainring and two cogs smaller than I, so you can imagine the difference in cadences. I guarantee you he could hold that speed on those gears longer than I could spinning where I was.

Crank length is primarily based on your femur length (size matters...ha ha ha) but honestly, just use the length that came standard on your bike frame szie and you'll be fine.  It's only the VERY avid cyclists that can notice a difference in performance beween a 172.5 and 175. (I consider myself an above average volume cyclist and I can't even notice the difference when riding on 172.5 cranks vs 175 cranks).

Point to note, however....if you're experiencing knee pain on your bike and ruled out more obvious reasons (like old running shoes or too much volume running and not enough rest) then visit your crank length as longer lengths, while giving you more leverage, put more stress on the knee than do shorter lengths.

Edited by Steve- 2006-01-06 10:43 PM

Another great reason 90rpm is beneficial esp. for triathletes is that it's great in helping your run turnover too...which incidentally is ideal at....

yep...you guessed it, 90 strides per minute!

Like the great Guiness commercials would say...BRILLIANT!!!

When I first started riding I could not keep 90 rpm for long either. I think Bear is right first time on the bike helps a lot... If your bike computer does not have a cadance sensor get one that does... It ia a BIG help. 90 RMP is way slower than I thought it was. next try seme drills like a one leg drill in a trainer and doing spin ups where you spin as fast as you can for say 30 seconds without your butt bouncing. over time you will develop the ability to easily spin 90+ RPM. Like anything it takes practice. I can easily spin 100RPM for a long period of time and hit 120+ in a spin up without bouncing.

While there are some people who can turn a big gear at 75 RPM all day my experiance tells me this is rare, and MOST people are faster and more efficient at 85 to 100RPM. Watch any bike race and the top pro's who can all put put more watage than most of us still turn 90ish RPM.

I would imagine rather than some sort of magic number to work up to, a cadence of 90 is probably a starting point for figuring out your ideal cadence.  A ballpark number.  I tried this last year where I worked to try to pedal at 90 after hearing the same thing and found 90 to be pretty hard to maintain, and my heart rate also would skyrocket when doing it for too long.  But at the same time I had also determined that I was mashing way too much and killing my legs when it was down around 75.  Eventually I settled in at a number somewhere around 83-85 that felt just about right. 

Still that 90 number that I initially tried got me moving in the right direction of pedaling with more cadence than when I had just ridden recreationally (when I tended to just mash in the highest gear) and it got me thinking about pedaling technique and efficiency.  As you ride more this may be the case where you become more efficient pedaling and your cadence naturally rises a bit as a result.

Yet... for most beginners... they ride too low of a cadence and increased cadence is more efficient.

When  I began riding a long time ago I was a real masher. Over time I got a decent spin from commuting. Never tried to "hit" any magic number.... but low and behold I find 90 to be quite comfortable for most everything. For me.. above 110 is a waste of my time, and it has to to be a stupid steep hill to get me below 70.

Now this is total opinion... but it seems to me most beginners brains equate speed with hard effort judging from the only thing they know... running. Seems most beginners I introduce to cycling figure out pretty quick that cadence does not equal effort, and once they figure out gearing, cadence naturally comes up.

^^this..

I kept trying to keep my cadence in the approved zones and it just never felt right.  I learned to just ignore what cadence my computer was reading, and go by what felt better which was lower than 90.  

Go by what feels right to your body,  do some bricks off the bike after different cadences, and judge for yourself

It takes me about 3-5 miles to get into a nice groove.  That is mid to high 80's for me.  I sometimes go higher, but only for a few miles.  last year I was so worried about the magic high number, I spent alot of time watching my meter. This year I ride by what feels right and look when I am done.  It seems to come back to the same number range and I can run better off the bike.

like someone else mentioned, when my but is bouncing, I shift up.

Joe