I teach indoor cycling spinning classes. The club uses a Keiser M3 Indoor Spin Cycle Stationary Bike which includes a computer that calculate RPMs to track your cadence. I ride a road bike outside whenever possible and want to compare the cadence I use for various drills indoors to the actual cadence used uphill, downhill and on flats outdoors.
I've always simulated uphill climbs indoors by applying a lot of resistance. The cadence is usually somewhere between 50-65. I was surprised to find that when I use a high gear with little resistance outdoors, the cadence/RPMs are usually in the 80s. Outdoors, you can use less resistence and pedal faster or more resistence and pedal slower when climbing a hill. Your MPH may be similar. The difference is heart rate and energy efficiency. Using more resistence, you will probably need to get off the seat to use your weight on the downstroke. Sit and spin with less resistance and your heart rate will be lower. Seated, your legs will be in a position where you can use more quadraceps strength - like bench pressing. By monitoring your cadence and your heart rate, you can easily calculate this for yourself.
Inside, we simulate downhills with little resistance pedaling as fast as we can. Conversely, I found that cadence is a lot lower on the downhills on the road outside. Outside, you're using the most resistence and you don't need to pedal so fast. My cadence is often in the 40s or 50s downhill outside. I get a little scared once I exceed 32 MPH. In a split-second, you can go right over the handlebars.
I highly recommend monitoring your cadence and your heart rate whether you train on an indoor stationary spinning bike or outside on a road bike.
Read about my favorite indoor stationary cycling spinning bike.
Read more about the Garmin 705 Edge outdoor cycling computer with satellite maps, heart rate monitor and cadence monitor.
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