Spin vs. Mash ?

[Beegard]

Question to the seasoned veterans who do this all the time....When climbing fireroads such as Blackstar or Harding, do you spin or mash (not SS) ? Also, what gear are you in when doing so?

Just curious as I'm trying to improve my climbing abilities. I don't have a cadence sensor, but have been doing it in my middle ring /2nd gear on a 26" bike and it's more of a mash. My guess is that spinning is 80+ rpm.

Thx

[GeorgiaOfTheJungle]

Spinning at 80+ on those steep climbs isn't necessarily mashing. I consider myself more of a spinner, and keep my cadence at 70-80 on steady climbs, some STEEP things (like the seven sisters in Laguna) can get me below 50.

The theory is that when you spin, you use more of your cardiovascular system, which will last for a longer period of time than the bigger muscles in the legs. There have been times when I could pass a masher in a harder gear, due to their muscle fatigue.

However, I know plenty of mashers who are faster than me, and most others. I think a great deal of people combine the two on substantially longer climbs, standing for a few pedal strokes, then spinning again. Try both, see how you it works for you.

And, most of all, remember that I'm not really a climber
**when training, I do have different times when I would work on long sustained climbs and others when I worked on "mashing"

[Zippy]

Spin to win, mash for cash.

Seriously, Georgia nailed it; you can pedal for longer at a cadence of about 90 RPMs (3 pedal strokes per second) compared to a lower cadence and that's where I find my cadence gravitating the stronger I get.


You should incorporate high AND low cadence riding in your training as it broadens the range of cadences where you can pedal and still remain aerobic, thus delaying fatigue.

Not training? Pedal where you're comfortable and don't worry about it.

[tweasol]

What they said. Also, for me, spinning was the difference between extreme knee pain and feeling good. Mashing ruins my knees...and once I learned to spin it made all the difference in the world. Makes you faster too!

[kanga]

I always feel like I'm not going anywhere when I spin, so I guess I tend towards the masher category. I'll push the biggest gear I can and stand up for the entire length of a 3 - 4 mile fire road climb sometimes. Other times I'll sit down and try to spin a lower gear, and as mentioned previously, most climbs I'll do periods of both.

For me it also depends on the length of the ride I'm doing. If I know I'm only going out 20 miles or so, I'll push a bigger gear. If I have much more mileage than that, or know that there's a killer climb ahead, I'll spin more to conserve energy for what's ahead.

But that's me. And yes, my knees have suffered for it (like last weekend at Palm Canyon, after doing a road century).