To sit or stand

Sarnian

Me and a couple of mates today were having a bit of a chat on when to stand up on the bike and when to sit (not sure why this came about as we have all been riding for years and I don't think we are going to change now). The out come seemed to be from the way we ride Is standing for going down hills, siting for going up hills (unless a short burst Is needed) and for short sprints along the flat, anyone any different?

XxxBFGxxX

sit for up hiulls and stand to go down again. can thro the bike around if i stand

supersonic

Whatever you want, no hard answer! Sitting is usually more efficient.

Sarnian

That Is true

yoohoo999

sometimes i'm too tired to stand, even on downhill bits!

wordnumb

I didn't spend all these money on a full suspicious bicycle to have and stand on my own two like some pauper at a bus stops. Boing.

Anonymous

standing, at all times.

P-Jay

Sitting on long climbs, I tend to alternate between if I'm just plodding on the flat. Anything remotely tech and it's seat down and standing.

Sitting in downhill / rocky / fast stuff is a surefire way of crashing, FS or HT your legs should still be most of your 'suspension'.

bungalistic

Agree with Sonic sitting is far more efficient, though I tend to be out of the saddle quite a bit. Uphill I stand quite often, can't sit and spin for toffee on my bike, downhill I stand to help jump and manouever over obstacles.

There are times when I sit, both going up and downhill, only sit down on the downs if it's smooth and I need to keep speed for some rocky section.

MacAndCheese

depends how knackered I am and whether I've bothered to set the saddle height (if I've dropped the seat for a down and there's a short uphill following I'll just try and blast it out of the seat, but ultimately I like to be sitting with high saddle for climbs and standing for everything else if I can.

stubs

I sit down climbing smooth drags but stand up regulary for a few pedal strokes just to stop getting tired and sore. Standing up and climbing uses different muscles to sitting and climbing it doesnt seem to use the back muscles quite so much.

.blitz

Sarnian wrote:

Me and a couple of mates today were having a bit of a chat on when to stand up on the bike and when to sit

A lot depends on the bike. My slack-angled enduro sledge Rize discourages any kind of standing up - the bars are in my groin, the centre-of-gravity is all wrong and it feels like a Space Hopper. But my old school marathon-XC Proflex positively encourages standing up - the transition from seated to standing is as natural as walking up stairs and it just feels 'right'.

weeksy59

i LOVE to climb standing up, however depends a lot on the terrain/grip as to the viability of it.

If it's an option i'll always climb when standing.

bomberesque

yeehaamcgee wrote:

standing, at all times.

^ spoken like a singlespeeder!

/runs

supersonic

Though when having a pee, all men should stand. Unless having a dump as well.

Anonymous

Well, what about a singlespeeder, with lots of gears?

The Northern Monkey

yeehaamcgee wrote:

standing, at all times.

+1

But thats only because i have dodgy knees. Sitting down and pedaling up hill kills them

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

Though when having a pee, all men should stand. Unless having a dump as well.

That, of course, only partially applies to French men.

Anonymous

bigbenj_08 wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

standing, at all times.

+1

But thats only because i have dodgy knees. Sitting down and pedaling up hill kills them

You should go and see a physio. This year, I'd been really struggling with putting power down when seated, and had to stand and use my weight to get any force through the cranks.
Turns out that amongst other things, I've dislocated my kneecap at some point, and it's healed kinda wonky, so it isn't moving evenly.
The physio tapes my kneecap in place, and gets me to do some excercises, and the strength is slowly returning in my right leg. Hopefully, in about a month, I will be back up to full strength.

You should get it checked out. If it's the same as mine, it's well worth it, and requires no operation (so far)

The Northern Monkey

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

standing, at all times.

+1

But thats only because i have dodgy knees. Sitting down and pedaling up hill kills them

You should go and see a physio. This year, I'd been really struggling with putting power down when seated, and had to stand and use my weight to get any force through the cranks.
Turns out that amongst other things, I've dislocated my kneecap at some point, and it's healed kinda wonky, so it isn't moving evenly.
The physio tapes my kneecap in place, and gets me to do some excercises, and the strength is slowly returning in my right leg. Hopefully, in about a month, I will be back up to full strength.

You should get it checked out. If it's the same as mine, it's well worth it, and requires no operation (so far)

No need... 3 operations down already
I got munched in rugby by to fat feckers... my knee went the wrong way. Still scored the try mind

Been told I'll probably need a knee replacement by the time i'm 35

.blitz

supersonic wrote:

Though when having a pee, all men should stand. Unless having a dump as well.

We had to stand a few times in Nepal. The bog at one place was a hut on the edge of a cliff; I opened the door and half the ground inside the hut was missing. It was really important to not lean backwards when squatting

Anonymous

bigbenj_08 wrote:

No need... 3 operations down already
I got munched in rugby by to fat feckers... my knee went the wrong way. Still scored the try mind

Been told I'll probably need a knee replacement by the time i'm 35

Ouch.
Luckily, I was never badly injured in rugby, but I've had a few nasty crashes on the bike, from trying to do stupid things, on stupid terrain, on stupid, unsuitable bikes.

supersonic

Hope nobody was stood at the bottom! Bottom of the cliff that is...

.blitz

supersonic wrote:

Hope nobody was stood at the bottom! Bottom of the cliff that is...

We could see the bog the next day when we looked back. There was a 10m smear of sh*t and paper down the side of the hill...

The Northern Monkey

yeehaamcgee wrote:

bigbenj_08 wrote:

No need... 3 operations down already
I got munched in rugby by to fat feckers... my knee went the wrong way. Still scored the try mind

Been told I'll probably need a knee replacement by the time i'm 35

Ouch.
Luckily, I was never badly injured in rugby, but I've had a few nasty crashes on the bike, from trying to do stupid things, on stupid terrain, on stupid, unsuitable bikes.

Been in A and E numerous times from rugby injuries.. the knee being the worst
My best one was having my head stitched up on the sideline (about 12 stitches) and then going back on the pitch

Kiblams

bigbenj_08 wrote:

my knee went the wrong way. Still scored the try mind

Been told I'll probably need a knee replacement by the time i'm 35

So now I'm worried! :? I had this happen to my knee when I used to skate in 6th form 8 years ago (not as bad as you by the sounds of it but hasn't been right since) and I came off the bike at Inneleithen 2 weeks back and think I did the same thing. Have been having quite bad pains since then walking and such, none while biking though (thank god). Knelt down last weekend and my kneecap moved to around to the side, made me collapse in pain :? Here's hoping it heals by itself again :shock:

Back on topic though; If I get up to a fair speed (smooth or rough) I stand up, most things below that speed and ups (unless very technical) I sit down.

Anonymous

My leg that is damaged has been a bit "wonky" for as long as I can remember.
When I was a kid, I remember that standing upright for any length of time resulted in my right knee bending slightly the wrong way, as in, it used to bend forwards slightly. I was in agony once when I had to stand on the train all the way from Chester to London when I went to see the motor show with my father.
I also remember when I used to try and stop suddenly when running it used to bend slightly the wrong way, leaving me with a sligthly sick feeling, and a knee that felt like a knuckle that needed cracking.
So, when the docotr and physio asked me how long my leg had been giving me trouble, it was a case of "how long is a piece of string"?

Actually, when I was in college, I cased my knee really badly on a DH run (the reason I ALWAYS wear knee pads now), and after a week of agony decided to go see the doctor. My knee was still cut, swollen, and bleeding, but our useless family doctor said it was probably just growing pains, since I was nearing the age that my joints stop growing.
Growing pains, at 22 years old, yeah, right :roll: