Speed, Power, and Spin

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

Hi all. Im new to cycling, and looking for ways to improve my speed and uphill power, and some tips on SPINNING. I already do leg workouts and have pretty strong legs, so I’m looking for things I should practice on the bike. I own a Trek 820 mountain bike. I am 19 and weigh about 220 lbs. Also, whats a good gear to ride and cruise in to help me work towards my goals. Ive tried “spinning” in low gears, but its like my legs outpace the pedals, so it always seems like I’m comfortable in the higher gears (3:4) but I don’t know what it should it should feel like in the first place. I have no idea what gear I should be in when I ride, and am constantly shifting. Any tips you can offer would be good, Im quite the newbie.

Hi all. Im new to cycling, and looking for ways to improve my speed and uphill power, and some tips on SPINNING. I already do leg workouts and have pretty strong legs, so I’m looking for things I should practice on the bike. I own a Trek 820 mountain bike. I am 19 and weigh about 220 lbs. Also, whats a good gear to ride and cruise in to help me work towards my goals. Ive tried “spinning” in low gears, but its like my legs outpace the pedals, so it always seems like I’m comfortable in the higher gears (3:4) but I don’t know what it should it should feel like in the first place. I have no idea what gear I should be in when I ride, and am constantly shifting. Any tips you can offer would be good, Im quite the newbie.
I think I managed to part of my question using the search function and just reading the forums. Since power is not a problem for me, and my main goal right now is to lose weight, I am going to work on improving my cadence which should help my uphill abilities as well. Can you gain very much speed using the smaller gears? I always feel like in order to go fast i need to be in the biggest gear. I still need tips for improving my cadence, and finding a comfortable gear/what a comfortable gear should feel like.

I think I managed to part of my question using the search function and just reading the forums. Since power is not a problem for me, and my main goal right now is to lose weight, I am going to work on improving my cadence which should help my uphill abilities as well. Can you gain very much speed using the smaller gears? I always feel like in order to go fast i need to be in the biggest gear. I still need tips for improving my cadence, and finding a comfortable gear/what a comfortable gear should feel like.I think at this stage, the best thing is to ride your bike as much and as often as you can/enjoy. Pedalling sensations will improve with time on the bike and you will eventually feel like you are more at one with the bike.

Without getting technical, you may be confusing strength and power. You might be a strong lad but power is about sustainable speed on the bike. You don't actually need much strength to turn a crank. There are a lot of strong guys that are really slow on a bike.

Don't know how tall you are but I suspect that losing some weight would be the biggest factor in improving your uphill speed.