webbo said:So how come professional cyclists have big legs as they will be pedalling at 90 rpm+.Ballsofcottonwool said:Continuous climbing on an autobelay or a very understanding climbing partner. Climb up and down and pick a grade low enough that you never get pumped (2 number grades below my onsight was about right for me)
My experience is that cycling doesn't build leg muscle if done at a high cadence 90rpm+
They don't necessarily. Endurance climbers, such as Froome, Wiggins, G, Quintana, Contador, all have skinny legs. You don't get big bulky legs from just cycling, you have to do a lot of hard, short power building efforts to build leg muscles. I started cycling about a year ago, and became very keen on hard efforts on hills. I have certainly seen some development in the shape of my legs, but not really in the size, and I haven't put on any weight at all. For reference, I average 100-200km and 1200-2000m vertical per week.
Cycling is a fantastic way of getting fitter without building leg muscles. Look at what people have to do at the gym to build legs. Unless what you are doing is roughly equivalent in intensity and duration to that (v high intensity, v low duration), then you are unlikely to be in the process of turning into Chris Hoy.