Are You a Masher or a Spinner?

Are you a masher or a spinner?

  • Masher

    Votes: 12 28.6%

  • Spinner

    Votes: 14 33.3%

  • I just pedal my bike

    Votes: 13 31.0%

  • I ride SS I do both

    Votes: 3 7.1%
  • Total voters
    42
Used to be a spinner for sure but I think I’m slowly transforming into a masher. Strava times haven’t changed much but I’m pretty sure spinning slower in a bigger gear keeps my heart rate lower and saves some for the longer days. Not giving up the mega low granny yet though cause pedaling up stupid steep stuff is fun and always beats walking.
 
Voodoo Tom said:
Used to be a spinner for sure but I think I’m slowly transforming into a masher. Strava times haven’t changed much but I’m pretty sure spinning slower in a bigger gear keeps my heart rate lower and saves some for the longer days. Not giving up the mega low granny yet though cause pedaling up stupid steep stuff is fun and always beats walking.
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Similar to how I ride but I wouldnt call that mashing. Its somewhere in the middle.
 
I mash on the climbs.....spin spin spin on the flats and DH's......on the SS.

I mash on the climbs....mash on the flats and DH's....on the HT.

I've tried to be a small gear spinner....but I couldn't do it. Cannot turn high RPM's.....shoots my heart rate up to quickly and I blow up. However I can mash a big gear all day long.
 
mtnbikej said:
I mash on the climbs.....spin spin spin on the flats and DH's......on the SS.

I mash on the climbs....mash on the flats and DH's....on the HT.

I've tried to be a small gear spinner....but I couldn't do it. Cannot turn high RPM's.....shoots my heart rate up to quickly and I blow up. However I can mash a big gear all day long.
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mtnbikej said:
I've ridden behind you on climbs......with that 400t cog you have on the HT.....you are surely not mashing. :rolleyes:
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Well interestingly enough, I consider myself a masher.

May be time to define the two better.
Mikie Definitions:
Spinner: A person who typically runs a higher cadence gearing spinning pedals faster as oppose to running taller gears that requires heavier pedal pressure. Cyclist who use clipless pedal that spin often pull up on the backside of their pedal revolution to add additional tourque. Often the counterbalance on the backside pull gives spinners a much smoother pedal cadence with more consistent power applied to the rear wheel. Mikie’s observation is that spinners are typically longer distance riders, run a higher heart rate, and have calf muscles that resemble marathoners.

Mashers: A person who choose taller gears and apply heavier pressure per pedal stroke. If clipped in, they still often pull up on the backside of the pedal stroke but rely heavily on power applied to the front. Mikie’s observation is that Mashers typically drive the pedal via leg muscle as oppose to spinning leverage and pedal speed, have heftier calf muscles more like a weight lifter and do not typically have the distance endurance that spinners can achieve.

All my life I have been a masher wishing to become a spinner. But like J, it elevates my heart rate too much and I blow up.

Interestingly I find bikes can force you one way or the other. For example my Yeti encouraged me to continue to be a masher. It’s now a 1x11 and even still I find it climbs much better if I mash the pedals.

My Hightower is a toad on climbs. Even though it is a 1X12, the plus tires and heavier bike forces me to spin it more then mash it as it will wear me down quickly if I try to ride it like my Yeti, just like J has observed.

My mountain bike trainer was constantly trying to convert me to a spinner in my racing days, but it would exhaust and then blow me up during a race, so I stuck to a combo of heavy pedal and a higher heart rate to do well in the climb sections of races. It seemed my heart rate was okay with intense mashing as oppose to intense spinning. Best I can explain it.
 
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Mikie said:
Well interestingly enough, I consider myself a masher.

May be time to define the two better.
Mikie Definitions:
Spinner: A person who typically runs a higher cadence gearing spinning pedals faster as oppose to running taller gears that requires heavier pedal pressure. Cyclist who use clipless pedal that spin often pull up on the backside of their pedal revolution to add additional tourque. Often the counterbalance on the backside pull gives spinners a much smoother pedal cadence with more consistent power applied to the rear wheel. Mikie’s observation is that spinners are typically longer distance riders, run a higher heart rate, and have calf muscles that resemble marathoners.

Mashers: A person who choose taller gears and apply heavier pressure per pedal stroke. If clipped in, they still often pull up on the backside of the pedal stroke but rely heavily on power applied to the front. Mikie’s observation is that Mashers typically drive the pedal via leg muscle as oppose to spinning leverage and pedal speed, have heftier calf muscles more like a weight lifter and do not typically have the distance endurance that spinners can achieve.

All my life I have been a masher wishing to become a spinner. But like J, it elevates my heart rate too much and I blow up.

Interestingly I find bikes can force you one way or the other. For example my Yeti encouraged me to continue to be a masher. It’s now a 1x11 and even still I find it climbs much better if I mash the pedals.

My Hightower is a toad on climbs. Even though it is a 1X12, the plus tires and heavier bike forces me to spin it more then mash it as it will wear me down quickly if I try to ride it like my Yeti, just like J has observed.

My mountain bike trainer was constantly trying to convert me to a spinner in my racing days, but it would exhaust and then blow me up during a race, so I stuck to a combo of heavy pedal and a higher heart rate to do well in the climb sections of races. It seemed my heart rate was okay with intense mashing as oppose to intense spinning. Best I can explain it.
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Interesting.....I've always just considered easy gear / high RPM pedalers spinners. Those pushing big gears / low RPM pedalers mashers.
 
When I had a SS I found I was spinning too fast on flat ground (to keep up with geared riders) and too slow on the climbs (mashing to keep from coming to a stop). Not the worst thing, though..rode a fixed gear bike (with cleats) from Downey to Vista once, and those downhills through Pendleton had me spinning like a buzz saw (160-180rpm?). Needed the climbs to recover on.

With gears I shoot for 90 rpm on average.
 
Mikie said:
Well interestingly enough, I consider myself a masher.

May be time to define the two better.
Mikie Definitions:
Spinner: A person who typically runs a higher cadence gearing spinning pedals faster as oppose to running taller gears that requires heavier pedal pressure. Cyclist who use clipless pedal that spin often pull up on the backside of their pedal revolution to add additional tourque. Often the counterbalance on the backside pull gives spinners a much smoother pedal cadence with more consistent power applied to the rear wheel. Mikie’s observation is that spinners are typically longer distance riders, run a higher heart rate, and have calf muscles that resemble marathoners.

Mashers: A person who choose taller gears and apply heavier pressure per pedal stroke. If clipped in, they still often pull up on the backside of the pedal stroke but rely heavily on power applied to the front. Mikie’s observation is that Mashers typically drive the pedal via leg muscle as oppose to spinning leverage and pedal speed, have heftier calf muscles more like a weight lifter and do not typically have the distance endurance that spinners can achieve.

All my life I have been a masher wishing to become a spinner. But like J, it elevates my heart rate too much and I blow up.

Interestingly I find bikes can force you one way or the other. For example my Yeti encouraged me to continue to be a masher. It’s now a 1x11 and even still I find it climbs much better if I mash the pedals.

My Hightower is a toad on climbs. Even though it is a 1X12, the plus tires and heavier bike forces me to spin it more then mash it as it will wear me down quickly if I try to ride it like my Yeti, just like J has observed.

My mountain bike trainer was constantly trying to convert me to a spinner in my racing days, but it would exhaust and then blow me up during a race, so I stuck to a combo of heavy pedal and a higher heart rate to do well in the climb sections of races. It seemed my heart rate was okay with intense mashing as oppose to intense spinning. Best I can explain it.
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Not sure I can agree with you here, Boss.

To me, a spinner is a seated pedaler and a masher is a standing pedaler. Those who pedal a harder gear at a slower cadence while seated are known as PUSHERS.

In the end, there is three types...

To further the definition of a MASHER, the rider is standing and spinning the cranks FAST. Mega-power!

We dont mash potatoes spinning a tool slowly, it spins FAST.
 
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I consider myself a bit of both. I stay seated 99.9% of the time and put it a gear that feels good at that moment and go. I think it could be the terrain where I am riding. On the coast (SLO/MDO) everything is uphill and I pedal differently than where I ride in Bako.
 
SnakeCharmer said:
Not sure I can agree with you here, Boss.

To me, a spinner is a seated pedaler and a masher is a standing pedaler. Those who pedal a harder gear at a slower cadence while seated are known as PUSHERS.

In the end, there is three types...

To further the definition of a MASHER, the rider is standing and spinning the cranks FAST. Mega-power!

We dont mash potatoes spinning a tool slowly, it spins FAST.
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Agreed, not in the same boat. Both spinners and mashers get up out of the saddle so I just consider that out of the saddle. I think @mtnbikej best described the two above.
 
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