Bykefitting System

Buceando por la red, encuentro esta página muy interesante.
Aunque está en inglés, se entiende bastante bien todo.
 http://www.bikefitting.com
Os copio algunas curiosidades.

CADENCE

(Dedicado a Cabezas)

The pedaling frequency is the number of rotations of the pedal per minute. Research into the optimal pedaling frequency has been extensive. Already in 1929, Hartree and Hill indicated that there had to be an optimal pedaling frequency. When a cyclist pedals too slowly, energy is taken away from both power, as well as duration of contraction. On the other hand, if a cyclist pedals too quickly, energy is lost to overcoming internal resistance in the muscle. So there has to be an optimum; however, Hartree and Hill failed to indicate where this optimum was to be found.
In other surveys, the lowest level of oxygen intake was used as a criterion. Gregor (1986) presented an overview of these studies. In most instances, the result was somewhere between 33 and 80 rotations per minute (rpm); however, in reality, most cyclists invariably choose a frequency that lies between 90 and 110 rpm. At first it was believed that this difference could be explained by the effect of training, but this hypothesis lost ground as a result of tests conducted by Boning and associates (1986). He tested both trained as well as untrained test persons and came to the conclusion that, in spite of the greater effort that untrained test persons experienced when resistance increased, the optimal pedaling frequencies did not change.
A few years earlier, however, Hagberg (1981) made an interesting discovery. He noticed that, when deducting oxygen usage in cycling without resistance from the oxygen usage in cycling with resistance, the optimal pedaling frequency shifted towards 100 rpm.
Redfield and Hull (1986) had an explanation. They used the sum of the torques in ankle, knee and hip as a criterion (Cost function, see diagram). This was calculated in the function of the pedaling frequency, and it appeared that it was the lowest between 90 and 100 rpm. This corresponds quite well with the pedaling frequency of cyclists in everyday reality.

In other research, Hull (1988) looked into pedaling frequency in more depth. He made use of a combination of joint torques and tension in the muscles in relation to the pedaling frequency. In this survey an optimum was also found at a frequency between 90 and 100 rpm. Apparently, the tension that arises in the leg muscles during cycling is the most decisive factor for the pedaling frequency. This shows that already in 1929 Hartree and Hill came very close to explaining why lower pedaling frequencies were far from ideal.

Si alguno tiene mucha curiosidad no me importa traducirselo.

Cadence in real live: (cadencia en la vida real)
The list, below, with all the postwar world hour records illustrates that for this specific aspect of the cycling sport a somewhat higher pedaling frequency is preferred; the average here is 103 rpm
(Lista de los record de la hora, con sus cadencias medias. La media de todos 103rpm)

Year	Name	KM	RPM
1956	Jacques Anquetil	46.159	104.0
1956	Ercole Baldini	46.393	?
1957	Roger Riviere	46.924	105.7
1958	Roger Riviere	47.346	104.7
1967	Ferdinand Bracke	48.093	106.3
1968	Ole Ritter	48.653	105.4
1972	Eddy Merckx	49.431	103.9
1984	Francesco Moser	50.808	104.3
1984	Francesco Moser	51.151	103.1
1993	Graeme Obree	51.596	93.0
1993	Chris Boardman	52.270	101.8
1994	Graeme Obree	52.713	?
1994	Miguel Indurain	53.040	100.9
1994	Tony Rominger	53.832	101.4
1994	Tony Rominger	55.291	102.2
1996	Chris Boardman	56.375	105.0