# Age & cadence



## rochrunner (Jul 11, 2006)

I was just reading another thread here that had some good information and recommendations about cadence. I can see from that discussion that I need to change what I'm doing, as I am riding in the low 60s right now at best and tend to take hills in too high of a gear. I have a cadence sensor for my F305 that I'll have to put on my road bike to monitor this more closely.

But my question here is if there is any age-adjusted cadence target that I should consider. Basically, I'm 60 years old and am generally not going to be keeping up with you young guns. I'm a distance runner who has done marathons within the past 10 years so am in way better condition than average for my age, but I'm wondering how much I should expect to slow down in cadence and/or speed.


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## JCavilia (Sep 12, 2005)

*There's really no "target"*

Basically, you're going to be most efficient at the fastest cadence you're comfortable with. It takes some training to find that, and it varies from one person to the next, probably depending on muscle-type balance, cross-training effects, etc. Some people are "spinners", some are "mashers," but I've never seen any suggestion that that would change with age. You'll get slower with age as you lose strength, but you should gear down and keep spinning a similar cadence.

That said, if you're riding in the low 60's most of the time, you're WAY over-geared. "Mashers" like Jan Ulrich may cruise on the flats at 80-85 rpm. "Spinners" like Lance Armstrong will do 100-105 for long stretches in a time trial. You don't really need a cadence sensor to re-train; just gear down. I'd suggest riding for a few weeks in the small ring (or middle if you're using a triple). At first it may feel like your legs are flailing wildly and you're going really slow, but it will get more natural and you'll start to realize you stay fresher with the faster cadence.

You could try a fixed-gear in moderately hilly terrain -- that way your masher side and your spinner side both get to play. On a ride last weekend I picked the wrong street at one point and probably bogged down to about 25 rpm climbing the hill. Coming down I think I hit about 145.


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## Allez Rouge (Jan 1, 1970)

+1 on what JCalvilia said. Also, FWIW, I'm nearly 54 and while I can ride centuries and such without too much trouble, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm in really good shape. Still, I routinely pedal at 95-100 on the flats; at 105 and above I'm prone to start bouncing in the saddle but it depends on the day, sometimes I can hit 110 for short spells without a problem.

When climbing, I try to stay above 80 rpm but since I'm a perfectly lousy climber I can't always do it and often end up down around the low 70s. Rarely lower than that, though. When I get down into the 60s, usually because I'm tired and being inattentive, I immediately notice that I'm mashing and downshift accordingly.


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## brianmcg (Oct 12, 2002)

Think of your cadence like RPMs on a car with a manual transmission. You want the engine to be in the best RPM range. You don't take turns at 20mph with the car in 5th gear. The engine would bog down and could stall. Its the same thing on a bike. If you up you cadence some you will have more available power.


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## JayTee (Feb 3, 2004)

Age should not influence cadence, so that sensor should help you get into a reasonable range (80-90) by causing you to gear down sufficiently. Your knees will thank you.


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## Cory (Jan 29, 2004)

*I'm an ex-runner about your age, and...*

I'm 61, and switched from running to cycling in my late 40s when I realized my knees had hurt every day for 10 years. I'm apparently a natural spinner, because I was always comfortable at 90-100 rpm. I still am, and ride that way most of the time, but my speed is down because I'm a gear or two lower than I used to be.
Part of it is certainly conditioning--we're getting our old house ready to sell, so I'm only doing about a third of the miles I did last year. But I'm cruising at 16.5-17mph on the flat, where I used to do 20-21. I've lost even more on hills, but I think most of that is the 20 pounds I've gained since last fall..For what it's worth, I feel like I COULD get back into shape--I'm not maxed out or anything, I'm just fat and slow. I told my wife last night that I'm going to pay people to do some work I could do myself--I have more dollars than I have riding weekends left in my life, and I'm not going to waste any more of the summer.
So gear down a little and don't worry about it. I put a 46-36-26 triple on my bike instead of a 53-39 double, and I'm riding longer AND enjoying it more.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Relationship*



rochrunner said:


> But my question here is if there is any age-adjusted cadence target that I should consider.


Yes, as you get older, your joints (particularly your knees) are more susceptible to over stress injuries, such as those caused by a too-low cadence. Work on getting your RPMs up to protect your knees.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

I'm 63 & I'm a big guy...6'3" & 200 lbs. I normally spin at about 85-95 rpm. Slower on steep hills, but that's mainly because I'm still riding with a cassette that looks like a roll of dimes.


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## MR_GRUMPY (Aug 21, 2002)

Some advise. Once you hit 60 years old, try to to spin over 150 rpm. Keep it below 130.
Practice, practice, practice.


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## 53T (Jul 20, 2002)

I think the formula for max cadence is 220-age.


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## moab63 (Aug 7, 2006)

*Thats close sir but is actually*



53T said:


> I think the formula for max cadence is 220-age.


220-age squared:thumbsup:


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## msohio (Feb 23, 2004)

*Keep It High*

I'm 65, 5' 9", 145# and ride about 120 miles a week with an average cadence for a 2-3 hour ride of about 77-80 and that would include somewhere around 1,500 feet of climbing total acording to my Mr. Garmin. 

I think it gets easier to raise you cadence as you get older, all ya gotta do is shift down a gear!!

Seriously, I see not reason to spin slower. A slow cadence is harder on the back and knees.


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## rochrunner (Jul 11, 2006)

As a follow-up, I finally got around to installing my Shimano Flightdeck system (a real PITA to install, but a cool gadget), and on my first ride with it discovered that my normal, comfortable road cadence is actually in the 75-85 range. So I guess that I am not slowing down that much, at least in the spinning sense.


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## Mikael_nr1 (Aug 11, 2006)

Try to maintain the highest possible cadence you can without feeling a waste of energy. Up to 90 rpm is recommended, I´m 16 but my normal cadence is about 80, but i´m trying to raise it up to 90 and it´s actually working, now i´m about 85-88.


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