What Gives More Heat: Lower Gear/Faster Pedal or Higher Gear/Slower Pedal?

After stopping in the winter to take a photo I typically try to warm back up by spinning quickly. Yesterday, I stopped for a mechanical issue and decided to pedal in a larger gear to get to work quicker. Surprisingly, I stayed just as warm.

So this begs the question: What generates more heat to keep you warm in winter, lower gear (higher cog) faster pedal or higher gear (smaller cog) slower pedal?

Anyone know this from experience or a study?

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Permalink Reply by millenial removing Bernie tattoo on January 15, 2013 at 5:54am

As long as you are generating the same amount of power, I don't think it matters what gear you put it in.

Permalink Reply by Mike Zumwalt on January 15, 2013 at 6:15am

It evens out with the wind chill in the Winter though I ride single speed/fixed so unless you want leg burn(higher) or leg fatigue(lower) staying warm is an issue of layering.

Permalink Reply by Tony Adams on January 15, 2013 at 6:26am

I love this question. My hunch is that envane is correct. Gene's experience seems to support the theory.

Permalink Reply by Casey Carnes on January 15, 2013 at 7:44am

My 2 cents...

Power is a calculation of torque AND speed.  Heat is generated by burning calories i.e. using power. 

If you are on the same road, going the same speed, your power output is practically the same regardless of what gear you are in, within reason.  70-110 RPM cadence is within reason for most cyclists.  There are some frictional losses that occur at higher rotational speeds, but these are minimal.  Cadence is more a question of muscle development and personal preference.

 

I also found this nifty calculator while thinking about this...

http://www.kreuzotter.de/english/espeed.htm 

 

Permalink Reply by Adam Herstein on January 15, 2013 at 9:04am

Cue the "I ride fixed gear so this question is moot" crowd.

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 15, 2013 at 9:13am

No it's not, swap a cog or chain ring and you can spin to your hearts content.  When I had a fixed gear I swapped to a larger cog in the winter because I felt more in control with it.

Adam Herstein (5.5 mi) said:

Cue the "I ride fixed gear so this question is moot" crowd.

Permalink Reply by David of the North (David606xx) on January 30, 2013 at 10:21am

On the biology side--I always assumed that the heat benefit from spinning faster was due to increased circulation to the extremities. Might be a myth, but it's one that I've lived by...

Permalink Reply by S on January 31, 2013 at 10:16am

The generally accepted rule of thumb is that gear mashing puts more strain on your quads and their strength while spinning at high cadence puts more strain on your cardiovascular system.  

kiltedcelt said:

My knees and quads protest too much if I push too high of a gear without having sufficiently high cadence. I tend to watch my cadence more than anything else. I don't feel comfortable unless I'm riding around 93 rpm or higher, so I tend to spin at a pretty high rate most of the time. I imagine the power output is probably pretty similar for high spinning or gear mashing. Gear mashing just seems to tear my legs up. Conditions being good (ie. no headwind), I typically ride along at about 15-16 mph. Some days I get lucky and have a little bit of a tail wind or its calm enough that I can tear it up at a whopping 17-18 mph. Seems to be plenty fast to keep me warmed up and sweating pretty good most of the time.

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on December 10, 2014 at 8:41am
http://www.active.com/cycling/articles/why-fast-pedaling-makes-cycl...

In winter, I believe a more spinning cadence in a lower gear feels to be generating more heating on a cold startup. The study in this article states that slower pedaling (~50rpm) is less efficient than a faster cadence of (80-85rpm) although this may not be definitive for heat generation. It may just feel that way for me in the cold. Personal preference I guess. Still searching for other studies.
Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 10, 2014 at 8:51am

I would agree with that.

Mike Zumwalt said:

It evens out with the wind chill in the Winter though I ride single speed/fixed so unless you want leg burn(higher) or leg fatigue(lower) staying warm is an issue of layering.

Permalink Reply by David Lieb on December 11, 2014 at 2:55am

As Tom points out, spinning is more efficient. IMHO, this means that the higher torque of pushing a taller gear is going to be more wasteful and result in more heat being generated. Since this is the effect you want, drop your cadence and up your torque.

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on December 11, 2014 at 10:26am

LOL

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