Cadence and Gears

Cadence - (The measure or beat of movement, as in dancing or marching). Or bike riding. When riding we pedal at a certain rate and that is our cadence. If you were riding a long distance in a serious type fashion you'd hit your cadence and stick to it. Shifting gears as your cadence slowed or as it quickened to help maintain that set pace. That is the joy and use of gears, you can pedal easily at your cadence while climbing slowly up a hill or while descending quickly down. Your rate of pedaling remains the same. So what happens when you don't have gears?

Many bicycles don't have changeable gearing. I rode one this afternoon, a 1946 CCM with coaster brakes. Coaster brakes are a brake in the rear hub that is activated when you pedal backwards. Remember pedaling backwards to stop when you were a kid? It was tough going pedaling up hill. Had to exert a lot of pressure on the pedals to keep moving. Pushing really hard like that can be hard on your knees, especially as we get older.

Fixies and single speeds also have no gear changing. A fixie is a fixed gear bike where the front chain wheel and pedals are directly connected to the rear sprocket, hub and wheel, so if you pedal backwards, you go backwards. You can't coast, if the bike is in motion, you are pedaling. Fixies are track bikes that are becoming very popular on the street. The fixies close cousin is the single speed. Riding a single speed, you can coast, there is a freewheel in the hub so you can pedal backwards without the rear wheel following the pedals. Both types of bikes have one gear.

A single gear bike makes it impossible for the rider to maintain a steady cadence. If you are going up hill you are pedaling slow and hard and down hill you are pedaling so fast your fillings are falling out. Fun, sure. A challenge, absolutely. People riding single speeds by choice are enjoying them, however gears just make it all easier and most would say more enjoyable. Give me gears and my cadence anytime.