Cycling cadence: does it actually matter? What the science says

Ever since a certain seven-time-stripped Tour winner spun his way up climbs at 100 rpm, cyclists have argued about cadence like it's religion. One camp insists high cadence is "souplesse" and mashing is a sin; another points out that plenty of greats won everything pushing huge gears slowly. So does cadence actually matter? The research gives a satisfyingly unfashionable answer: less than the arguments suggest — but not zero, and the places it does matter are specific and trainable.

What the science actually says

Lab studies have chased the "metabolically optimal" cadence for decades, and the awkward finding keeps repeating: at low power, slower is more efficient (around 60 rpm burns the least oxygen for the watts), yet trained cyclists voluntarily ride faster than that — and they're not wrong to. As power rises toward race intensities, the most economical cadence rises with it, and the gap between what riders choose and what's optimal largely closes. The consistent conclusion across this literature: experienced riders self-select a cadence that's near-optimal for the whole system — not just oxygen cost, but muscle force, fatigue and comfort together. Your body has been running this experiment on every ride you've ever done, and it's good at it.

That's worth sitting with, because it means the popular framing is backwards. Cadence isn't a dial you've been setting wrong; it's an output of your physiology, terrain and fatigue. Novices do tend to grind at lower cadences than experienced riders — but that gap closes with fitness and riding time, not with staring at the number.

The real trade-off: muscles vs cardio

Power is force times leg speed, which gives you two ways to make the same watts. Push harder, slower — big gear, low rpm — and each pedal stroke demands more muscular force: more fibre recruitment, more strain through the knees, legs that fill and fatigue locally. Push lighter, faster — small gear, high rpm — and the force per stroke drops, but the repetition cost rises: heart rate and breathing climb for the same power. Neither option creates free speed; you're choosing which system pays.

That's the practical lens for the whole debate. Strong legs and a modest engine? A slightly lower cadence plays to your strengths. Big aerobic engine, legs that cramp late? Spinning shifts the bill to the system you have surplus in. And it's why cadence drifts across a long day — as leg muscles accumulate damage, many riders naturally spin a touch faster to protect them, or grind slower as the cardio fatigue dominates. Both are your body renegotiating the same trade.

Typical ranges by situation

These are descriptive, not prescriptive — roughly where trained riders land, with plenty of individual spread either side. If you're consistently far outside a band and struggling, that's a clue worth exploring; if you're outside it and fine, you're fine.

All figures approximate. Track sprinters exceed 150 rpm; some excellent climbers live below 70. The spread among successful riders is the point.

Where deliberate cadence work actually helps

If self-selected is near-optimal, why train cadence at all? Because drills aren't about finding a better number to ride at — they're about widening the range you can produce power across and building specific qualities. Terrain doesn't always offer your preferred gear: a 12% wall, a hairpin exit, or a surge in the group all force you off your happy rpm, and the rider with a wider comfortable range wastes less there. All four of these fit inside an easy indoor hour:

The trainer is the natural home for all of these — no junctions, no gradient changes stealing the drill, and in ERG mode the power holds steady while you change nothing but leg speed, which isolates exactly the variable you're training. If you want somewhere to do them, Moveee Indoor runs in your browser, pairs with your trainer over Bluetooth, and lets an easy drill hour double as a ride down a road you actually care about.

Stop staring at one number

Here's the closing honesty: of all the numbers on your head unit, cadence deserves the least worship. Power tells you what you're producing; heart rate tells you what it costs; cadence mostly tells you how you happen to be producing it — and your body already chose that reasonably well. Use drills to widen your range and build climbing strength, notice the late-ride grind and correct it, and otherwise let comfort and power output make the decision. If the watts are there and the legs feel sustainable, your cadence is right — whatever the number says.