Why We Pedal So Fast

One of the reasons for the excessive cadences indoors is the mechanics of an indoor bike. It's easy to pedal fast indoors! Most typical indoor cycling bikes are fixed-gear systems with weighted flywheels. The flywheels can be as heavy as 45 pounds and are often weighted on the circumference. This gives them inertia, and is responsible for the smooth feel as you pedal.

 

While there are benefits to this, there are also implications on how fast you can, or should pedal, and whether or not that fast pedaling will improve your neuromuscular abilities and translate to faster cadences outdoors. As a cyclist, you have probably noticed that you can maintain a much higher cadence indoors than you can on your outdoor bike. The reason is because of that weighted flywheel. In reality, it is cheating!