Is Spinning Gears Really Faster?

🤔 Do you prefer to spin to win or to slow things down and grind it out up those hills?

He should do another ride with his preferred cadence and then compare the drop-off

Used to be a grinder, got old got bad knees, learned to spin. Comfortable cadence is 80-90, a lot better on the knees… 😂

always look forward to the yearly gcn spin v grinding video

Back in the ‘90s (80s?) I read an interview in which someone asked Guido Bontempi if he liked to spin a small gear or push a big gear. He replied, “ I like to spin a big gear!”

Due to GCN cut backs , Connor now has to do his own sound and editing effects . Cracked me up

Preferred cadence is the key. And finding the sweet spot for how you feel on any particular day. Your strength will grow the more you build it, but you don't have to push yourself so hard to increase your strength and stamina, in fact you're more likely to go out riding more if you really enjoy the rides that you do. Ride for yourself, not for strava, or an audience. Just go out and enjoy it.

Here is the best piece of advice I was given when I started riding: High cadence saves your legs but taxes your heart. Low cadence taxes the legs but saves the heart. So if you're just starting out and your fitness needs a lot of work, a slower cadence is probably going to work better for you. As your fitness improves, you can work on increasing your cadence. To be fair though, no one cadence works for everyone. There are Tour pros who grind big gears and have a lot of success. Find what works for you and stick to it. The most important thing after all is that you enjoy riding your bike. It's supposed to be fun.

Generally do find keeping cadence high does preserve legs for later in the ride. However there can be a tradeoff with saddle comfort - spinning faster can cause you to bounce in the saddle and also reduces the amount of your weight put through the pedals, meaning more through the saddle, which can further impact saddle comfort.

On a bit of a tangent. When I set of on a multi week tour, I have a mantra for the first three days "spin don't grind" ! It gives my fitness a chance to catch up with a loaded bike.

Lungs will recover faster than legs.

Raised my avg cadence from about 85 to 95 over the last year or so and it has made a difference for sure. Less power loss and easier to ride long multiple days in a row.

Nice video Connor. A decent look at an interesting topic and good to see something of substance again.

I just looked at my cadence in my last triathlon and it was 99 rpm (Olympic distance, so 40 Km ride). I don't look at the numbers when racing, so that is what feels most comfortable for me. Considering that afterwards I still have a run to do, I can positively say that the higher cadence saves my legs.

It's all about pedaling efficiently. Good video Conner. 😃👍

I used to ride a low cadence in the early 80s the same as many people at the time, then I did quite a bit of training on a low fixed, and learnt to spin, my results changed dramatically for the better. I found that when I used a high cadence, I tired much less than other competitors over multiple stage events. Everyone was telling me to use higher gears, 13-18, 13-21 blocks were often used at the time, but I was only using similar cadence to what modern riders are using today, it just made more sense. i went from a third cat rider to first category in the space of a few months mainly by changing my cadence.

My prefered cadence when climbing is to grind, though I know why, I came to gravel/road from riding BMX bikes everywhere, there's no other option when you have one gear, and so slow and steady was the way to go. I also ONLY ride for fun or transportation, not for speed, so when you lose that motivation it really is whatever makes you comfortable. Likely also contributing to this is, I have better legs then lungs, I often break for air more then for aches or sore muscles. May we all enjoy how we ride! Great video! .

Super fascinating content Conor and gcn! Love the gcn does science videos! Surprised as I usually like aslower cadence (I have massive quads) but now I will try and up the cadence. 'Duracell Giraffe' had me rolling on the floor! Right up there with 'Platypus Unleashed'! Great content! More please!

Thank you, Conor, for a salutary reminder and encouragement for me to up my cadence, generally.

How many times did we have this video, two, three times? I think, the TLDR is: There is no right or wrong answer and it depends on your physique, type of riding and probably even the situation and your current condition during the ride. When your legs are totally shot or you bonk, I find it even harder to grind or get out of the saddle (sore muscles don't like the added strain), when not, I actually like it to mix it up and vary the load, get out of the saddle, change position - or just avoid shifting to the small chainring to push over a small crest. Same goes for staying in a higher gear. Less "cycling rules", more personal preference and intuition. Part of the fun is finding your own way, figuring things out.