How Can Changing Cadence Improve Cycling Speed?

Question

For years I have been biking at the same speed and have not been able to increase it. In what ways can I crank up the pedal and increase my cycling speed?

Answer 1

Changing your cadence can have a big effect on how fast you are. Da leg if someone has actual moved his foot up higher then he normally keeps and say his cadence of around 90 rpm, you moved back quite and say have 80 rpm cadence, how much power do you think you can get? That’s how it works; more lower as opposed to more leverage got more slow-twitch muscle fibers allowing for endurance while less injury over longer distances. Also, with adjusting your gear for that cadence you can keep or raise your speed. Always start by trying to feel for the right cadence rather than looking for it as it varies for each one thanks to several factors; beasts muscular fitness etc.

Comments

I have been experimenting for about three weeks with much lower cadences on a slightly harder gear and within two weeks I noticed that my HR between low and high cadence has not changed much at all (40 mile commute four days a week and the times overall are almost the same too). BUT, it does require a little bit of time to get adjusted to the higher torque/low cadence stuff (just don't go too low and too high of a gear or else you'll knees will have a word with you later, lol). In the end yeah, switch it up. Nothing wrong with a little bit of everything. Keep the body guessing, lol.

---

Thank you for this. I'm new to road cycling so this is very good information. I always thought pedaling faster results in higher speed... until I saw a dude on a racing bike pedaling like he's taking a sunday stroll but bro was gapping me like the Gulf of Mexico. Thanks

---

The equation for speed in the road apart from torque and cadence involves, sadly, the elephant in the room:
Total weight of the system and the air drag coefficient.

---

Surely if you slow your cadence down without losing speed you have to up the power so your heart rate would remain the same....I definitely think the most efficient pedalling is a lower cadence with higher power but it's all about balancing this out to whatever you feel comfortable....on my Club rides I invariably pedal slower than the other members but my speed is the same - also one benefit of this is just by upping the cadence a little it is easy to pass them - once passed change gear to a lower cadence level again but maintaining the same power.
One tip - keep in the large front chainring unless climbing up a mountain !
....I must an outlier as I'm an low cadence endurance cyclist

---

This all seems rather anecdotal to me based on limited data. Watching the clips of your riding, I can see why a lower cadence would work better for you. Your pedaling style is not smooth, you're bouncing around. I also wonder how much your thighs are hitting your stomach. All that makes pedaling at a slower cadence better. I don't think the discussion about slow/fast twitch muscles has any real bearing here either as that should have minimal impact except when surpassing lactate threshold. It's great that you have found a way to improve your cycling, I'm just not sure you've come to the correct conclusions on why it did.

---

Unless one learns to turn a cadence above 100rpm, you will never see top end speeds.  I try to stay on a 42 cog for roads speeds of up to 20 mph.

---

Local man discovers pedalling harder at the same cadence makes you go faster.

---

my friend all strength low cadence he's always on the hardest gear...still faster than me pedaling at a higher cadence

---

You can train to ride at a variety of cadences. Eddie Merxx had an ugly slower cadence, but was the GOAT. Axel Merxx, his son, had a smooth, faster cadence. Axel had a mediocre career. You're more of a high torque type rider stuck in junior gearing. Try a fixed gear bike.