Spinning versus grinding: How much does cadence affect endurance?

There are lots of factors to consider when honing your pedalling technique, but cadence is one of the most important. Cadence is a measurement of how quickly the cranks are rotating or, more simply put, how fast you are pedalling.

It’s something that can vary greatly among cyclists, from those who grind out a low cadence in a hard gear, to those who spin away at a higher cadence in an easier gear.

We’ve covered the benefits of spinning versus grinding on multiple occasions and the general consensus has been that spinning is the more efficient way to ride. However, the cadence you ride at could have a longer-reaching impact on your rides by affecting your endurance capabilities too.

Read more: How to train for endurance cycling

Endurance is an important part of cycling that impacts every type of cyclist. It’s all about your body’s ability to manage and sustain fatigue, also known as ‘fatigue resistance’. The better your endurance engine is, the further and faster you will be able to ride.

Endurance and fatigue resistance can be trained over time, but how fresh you feel at the end of the ride will also be influenced by your riding style. If you are constantly sprinting for street signs rather than sticking to a steady pace, you’re going to build up fatigue much faster, which could lead to plenty of suffering later during a ride. The cadence you ride at could have a similar effect.

It’s widely believed that spinning allows you to stay fresher for longer by minimising muscle stress. Excessively grinding has the opposite effect, stressing the muscles and in turn leading to more fatigue. But how true is this and how much of an impact does cadence have on fatigue resistance during a ride?

To find out, GCN’s Conor Dunne decided to call upon his past in the pro peloton to conduct a test. It involves riding all-out for five minutes, followed by 60 minutes at 90% of functional threshold power (FTP). The test then ends with one final five-minute, all-out effort and it is this segment that is important, as it can be compared to the first five-minute effort to find out how much impact fatigue has had.

It’s a condensed version of a test many pro riders conduct to gauge their fatigue resistance. Conor wasn’t interested specifically on his fatigue resistance though, but how that resistance changes depending on cadence. That’s why he conducted the test twice, using a low 60rpm cadence for the first 60-minute effort before moving to a much more sprightly 105rpm for the second.

How much difference would there be in his five-minute efforts after riding at the different cadences? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

For more riding skills and know-how check out our dedicated section on the GCN website.

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