Standing up going uphill
adydow
Posts: 92
Hard ain't it! Thought I was doing well until I went for a ride this evening with a m8, have only ridden by myself apart from one other time. He stood up on the beginning of a long climb it was steepish at the start and the gradient leveled off then steepened in a couple more places but it was uphill all the way. Anyhow he dropped me right from the start and stood up all the way to the top of the steepest bit, I could not maintain it. 
My legs felt heavy anyway from a 40 miler on Sunday & circuit training last night, well thats my excuse.
My legs felt heavy anyway from a 40 miler on Sunday & circuit training last night, well thats my excuse.
Of course its about the bike! Although having the legs helps.
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spin to win, stand to give a kick.0
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Each to their own climbing-wise. Some climb quicker sitting down, some standing up. I'm a grinder myself, stay seated most of the time, except for accelerations.
Maybe do some leg strength training if you're struggling, squats and such.0 -
Standing up will increase your heart rate but help your muscles.
As a rule of thumb, lighter riders can spend more time out of the saddle than the heavier ones.1,000km+ a month, strictly road.0 -
It depends on the climb and your fitness level.
On a couple of hills in RP i used to have to spin all the way up them them in 34/25. Now i can stand up for the last 3rd in 50/21.0 -
You should do both - You're working different muscles...when you're sitting down and the muscle group gives out, then stand up. When you sit back down you'll feel a lot fresher as you're muscles and concentration in performing that movement has had a rest.What wheels...? Wheelsmith.co.uk!0
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As a rule of thumb, lighter riders can spend more time out of the saddle than the heavier ones.
Not sure about this.
I'm 85kg and I can climb out of the saddle for longer than anyone I ride with.
I think it's more a personal thing, much like cadence.
At this stage, just do whatever you find works for you. If it bothers you that much, you can always practice this on your own.0 -
To be fair my m8 is a lot lighter than I, and he is very fit, guess I will do more squats although I do do a lot of those exercises when I go to circuit training but that can be a bit sporadic once sometimes twice a week. I have some very good hils not far from my door will have to put more effort into cleaning them out of the saddle, it does make my legs burn like hell. Good replies so far. Cheers
Of course its about the bike! Although having the legs helps.0 -
You can get into a habit of grinding up hills seated because it often hurts less than getting out of the saddle. If you try to do a bit of both from the outset it should help in the long run but you've got to make youself do it and target hills to build things up gradually.
You also need to develop the knack of knowing whether to change up before getting out of the saddle otherwise the extra effort won't always result in better progress if you're in too low a gear.O na bawn i fel LA0 -
Im a very light weight rider and when I hit a hard climb I tend to keep sitting untill the legs start to get sore, then I will stand up for while (especially if its steep) then alternate between a short spell sitting down then up again. Sometimes I will stand up all the way up a climb but not very often. I just find it easier standing up, probably because I weigh just over 9st, I guess if I was a lot heavier I might find it a struggle standing up so much.
Each to their own Skinny Git on a Bianchi.0 -
guess I will do more squats
Unless you really enjoy the gym, you would be better spent doing some hill reps. Nothing helps you improve at hills as much as simply riding hills.
Squats are a great exercise for building quads, but they are not directly comparable to hill climbing. A set of squats may be 20-25 reps, but for standing climbing you may want to do 150+ pedal strokes.
If you are confined to the gym, I have founf that the stepper is an OK way of simulating hill climbing.0 -
Skiddypants wrote:I just find it easier standing up, probably because I weigh just over 9st, I guess if I was a lot heavier I might find it a struggle standing up so much.
Each to their own
God, I just imagined flying up dem hills with your weight.1,000km+ a month, strictly road.0 -
Meds1962 wrote:You can get into a habit of grinding up hills seated because it often hurts less than getting out of the saddle. If you try to do a bit of both from the outset it should help in the long run but you've got to make youself do it and target hills to build things up gradually.
You also need to develop the knack of knowing whether to change up before getting out of the saddle otherwise the extra effort won't always result in better progress if you're in too low a gear.
I do find it easier changing up when I get out of the saddle as I would tend to spin to fast in a lower gear and it feels uncomfortable, I will plan a route that incorperates loads of varied hils some with short sharp blasts out of the saddle others with a mix of grinding up seated and out of the saddle, I am slimming down although by belly is proving very stubborn to shift.Of course its about the bike! Although having the legs helps.0 -
A friend said that riding uphill sat down is more effient. He said when you stand up you have to lift your body weight on the pedals too. He knows about these things so must be true.
Still, standing up seems to work well for Contador, Andy and Frank Schleck, Lance Armstrong, et al. hence I climb out the saddle
FCN 3 or 4 on road depending on clothingjedster wrote:Just off to contemplate my own mortality and inevitable descent into decrepedness.
FCN 8 off road because I'm too old to go racing around.0 -
as others have said there is no right or wrong way just do what works for you. Cancellara sits all the time and he gets over the hills ok. Just depends where your power is. Try each and then do whatever works0
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Would like the opinion of someone who knows about my bike setup, position etc, perhaps a few tweeks here & there will help, need some proper roadie pedals & cleats instead of my MTB clipless ones I have on the bike.Of course its about the bike! Although having the legs helps.0
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I don't think road pedals are likely to make much difference apart from in your head
Honking up hills takes practice, like most things in life. And as for being less efficient compared to staying seated, it may be marginally so, but any loss in efficiency is probably offset on a real-world ride by the fact that you're using different muscles that are less fatigued.More problems but still living....0 -
I remember doing the London to Brighton ride maybe 25 years ago on my Raleigh Tour of Britain 10 speed racer. In my lowest gear I had to stand on the pedals all the way up Ditchling Beacon; sitting down wasn't an option with that kind of gearing.
Nowadays I go up a gear or two and stand up if I want to accelerate on a hill, blast over a smaller rise, or if the hill becomes just too steep to continue pedalling seated.0 -
keef66 wrote:I remember doing the London to Brighton ride maybe 25 years ago on my Raleigh Tour of Britain 10 speed racer. In my lowest gear I had to stand on the pedals all the way up Ditchling Beacon; sitting down wasn't an option with that kind of gearing.
I just got back from a holiday in France where the house I stayed at had a 20 yr old steel road bike, and as you say the gearing is just insane! It's all mid range gears so you can't go fast down hill and you struggle like crazy up hill.
I think it must have been something like a 50/45 up front and a 5 speed cassette of 17-25 or something!
I'm with amaferanga on the efficiency of out of the saddle riding. When i'm on a club run I find it a lot less work to grind up hills out of the saddle at a low cadence then spinning while seated. And you use muscles you just don't use as much when on the flat. On my own (when I'm at my own pace) I have to alternate though. Normally ride out of the saddle (at fairly high intensity) until my cadence drops to much then have a short go in the saddle in a lower gear.
You should be able to ride out of the saddle up any steepness of hill, it's more a matter of choosing the correct gear for your ability.0 -
Of course its about the bike! Although having the legs helps.0
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Loads of variables - length and gradient of the hill, how fit and strong you are and what speed you're riding at. Sitting down and grinding away is the easiest, provided you've got low enough gears to maintain an even cadence - if it drops below 30-40 you start pedalling 'squares'. Tests have revealed that the efficiency of seated vs climbing isn't too different - it's more down to the fitness and physiology of the rider. Getting up hills fast is a different proposition - anything over 10% generally requires out of saddle efforts and sustaining it required good core and upper body strength too. Hand position is important too - out of the saddle on the drops is both the most powerful and the hardest to sustain. The only way to get better at riding hills is...riding lots of hills.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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adydow wrote:
Hill climbing made easy??????? Isn't that some sort of oxymoron?????????????0 -
Hills are the ultimate fitness test for a rider. I found that when i started out first, going uphill was very hard, 30 seconds of grinding and i had to sit down. And that was only on a 20 degree slope! Now i can tackle the nearest town Drogheda in ireland which has insane slopes some nearing 35 degrees. Not a touch on france or the madone, but its a real achievemnet getting out of the saddle and busting yourself, punishing yourself for all those hours on XBOX LIVE, sitting on your arse.
The more hills the better.Must go faster.0 -
I like hills... but they really dont like me or my Bike!!
When I first started out, I would try to be a bit lazy and drop down to a real easy gear and really slowly mash my way up, but I felt like I was cheating as I barely broke a sweat out of my oversized frame....
So I started Mashing hills as I got fitter, and big hills that previously made me shudder, were a challenge but doable.
Then I tried getting cocky... I saw our friend Lance using a combination of sitting then leaping up like a wacky jack in the box to burst forward then drop back to a steady cadence and I tried to replicate this.
As I leapt forward to attempt this feat of near superhuman fitness (as I saw it in my head anyway) a gear change from the low front chainring to the middle one saw me go nigh head over heels as the chain got stuck on a tooth, bending the middle chain ring so it was touching the smallest...
So now, I just find a nice mid/high gear and take the pain of mashing hills out of the saddle. maybe ill try again with a better equipped bike!
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