When to shift?

I have been riding for more than 30 years as an adult. I shift up when it feels too easy and shift down when it seems too hard. A lot of guesswork.

Recently, after a discussion about cadence speed I changed.

I have a pedal speed of about two revolutions per second, more or less. Now, I shift when that speed declines or increases. I can measure it (one-one-thousand-two) for accuracy, and I seem to stay in the same gears longer while cruising. This also takes pressure off of my back (scoliosis), and I feel better at the end of a ride.

Does anyone else do this? Is there another way?

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Permalink Reply by ad on June 21, 2017 at 11:35am

Shifting based on maintaining a steady cadence is how I ride most days. A few years ago, I put a computer that can measure cadence on my road bike, and started to shoot for a cadence in the low-90s RPM. For me, that keeps my speed around 20 mph or so depending on wind conditions, which is fast enough for the rides I'm on.

Adopting a higher cadence has definitely helped me ride longer with less fatigue, and I generally recover from a long ride faster. If you spend some time focusing on getting your legs trained to a certain cadence, your body definitely starts doing it pretty naturally through muscle memory, and now I find that I don't really have to rely on the computer to stay consistent.