What is the best climbing technique

acebobby

What is the best climbing technique or at least your favourite?
In my cycling I think I have come across 3 sort of techniques to get up a hill, these being,
1/Seated with a low gear and high cadence, spinning all the way to the top!
2/ Standing higher gear to take the load and slower cadence!
3/ Seated, back in the saddle with similar gear and cadence as standing!
I find #1 boring and frustrating, and it seems to take ages but I imagine it will conserve some energy, but I seem to kind of mix between #2 and #3!
Just wondered what you guys thought,,?

rick_chasey

In and out of the saddle at a reasonably high cadence.

Looks ok if you're actually fast. Sh1t otherwise, but it works best for me.

danowat

Depends on the climb.

If its a long(ish) drag, then seated and spin, grinding, either seated or standing will push you into the redzone (anaerobic) and you'll suffer for it.

If its a short sharp climb, and I am "on it", then standing in a higher (lower? :? ) gear.

All 3 of those techniques have a place IMO

ride_whenever

Be fit enough that no hill worries you at all and you can choose to do any of the three at a whim.

sundog

ride_whenever wrote:

Be fit enough that no hill worries you at all and you can choose to do any of the three at a whim.

You do realise this is posted in 'road beginners'?

bompington

Be unfit enough that the only way you can keep moving is to stand up and grind in your granny gear.
It's worked for me on climbs like the bealach and Wrynose (where I reckon I was averaging <3mph on the really steep bit)

chunkytfg

bompington wrote:

Be unfit enough that the only way you can keep moving is to stand up and grind in your granny gear.
It's worked for me on climbs like the bealach and Wrynose (where I reckon I was averaging <3mph on the really steep bit)

Thats me on the really steep ones as my compact just doesnt have the range to support my usual seated spinning method.

I end up just out the saddle slowly plugging away keeping it steady so as to not get into the red zone.

Lillywhite

Short climbs - out of the saddle with hands on the hoods.

Longer climbs - spin a manageable gear, remain seated in the saddle and with hands gripping the top of the bars in a relaxed manner.

inseine

Don't look at the top!

Try sitting far back on the saddle and pushing your heals down at the bottom of the stroke, keep as still and as relaxed as you can from waist up, but you can grip the bars and tense your upper half for the last effort over the top. Trying counting you revs or breaths to find a rhythm.

pneumatic

Lillywhite wrote:

Short climbs - out of the saddle with hands on the hoods.

Longer climbs - spin a manageable gear, remain seated in the saddle and with hands gripping the top of the bars in a relaxed manner.

+1, although climbing also involves your mind, not just your legs and drivetrain.

I used to be a bit of a "survival climber" (do what it takes to get to the top and hope it will be over soon) but discovered that the negative mindset can actually drag you back. I am trying to train myself to be an "appetite climber" (set yourself up for fulfilling challenge and embrace the climb, rather than try and get it over with).

I like it best when I get into a rhythm, have control of my breathing and can forget about the fact that it is a climb at all. Doesn't happen often!

rick_chasey

Rock your hurting organs to sleep with the gentle rhythm of a good cadence.

salsarider79

MTFU and sprint on the drops.


Come on, someone had to say it.

bigmat

Lillywhite wrote:

Short climbs - out of the saddle with hands on the hoods.

Longer climbs - spin a manageable gear, remain seated in the saddle and with hands gripping the top of the bars in a relaxed manner.

Get on the drops if its a short climb - more aero, easier to put power down and looks WAY better!

Lillywhite

MatHammond wrote:

Get on the drops if its a short climb - more aero,....

No thanks, as I'm the wrong side of 60 my back wouldn't put up with that position.

I'll stick to what suits me best.

Aggieboy

Rick Chasey wrote:

Rock your hurting organs to sleep with the gentle rythm of a good cadence.

Rhythm

Chris James

How many people really 'spin' their way up proper hills (as opposed to rises)? You need a pretty low gear or claves of steel to climb a 15-20% hill at 90rpm.

I favour seated climbing for long drags, but usually climb at about 70-75rpm. I tend to climb at much the same speed standing or seated, but if I am honking then I would change up one or two gears - so probably climbing at around 60 odd rpm.

On the flat I run at about 90 odd rpm, and can easily spin up to abut 120 rpm downhill so am not really a grinder.

father_jack

Change into 53-11

secretsqizz

Sit yourself in front of YouToob and watch a few mountain classics to see how the people who are paid to do it, do it.

Butterd2

For long climbs (>20 mins) seated high cadence for 80% of the time and then drop it 3 cogs at the back and standing lower cadence for the remaining 20% works for me.
Standing is clearly less efficient and for the same pace my heartrate goes up 5-10 bpm but the relief of changing muscles and getting off the saddle are worth it.

acebobby

secretsqizz wrote:

Sit yourself in front of YouToob and watch a few mountain classics to see how the people who are paid to do it, do it.

Oh I have watched loads of vids on the subject, but I started the thread through interest as to how you guys prefer to climb.

Sgt_Pepper

Anything that i know is gonna be a long slog i sit and stay on the tops, but for the short steep stuff I find it easier to climb standing and on the drops.

Rich Hcp

Everyone is different, I can't stand on the pedals for long, dodgy ankles, so I sit and grind it out

fnegroni

I hardly ever stand.
Even for short climbs, I rather spin quicker in a lower gear: if it's a short climb, it will soon be over anyway.
I find standing tires me more eventually. I just make sure I don't run out of gears.
Most hills I could only climb with 34/25 I can now climb in 34/21 or 34/23, but I still like to have the 34/25 in case I need it.
I agree with the psychological benefit of not thinking about the end of the climb, but instead focus on the few yards in front or the riders in front.

Philby

Gentler climbs I sit and spin, but on steeper climbs or hills where there are lots of gradient changes I mix sitting with standing for the steepest bit or when my muscles indicate that a change in posture would lessen the pain.

1_reaper

I have never been a climber and never will be. The steepest hills i train on round here are 14% at there steepest points. I run a compact chain set and usually in the 34-22/23 range. I have a mixture of sitting and standing with hands on the hoods. What dictates this is how my muscles feel. I usually am able to spin nicely on the flats though

lef

I try to make sure that i'm expelling my lungs sufficiently so I can take in maximum amount of fresh air. When laboured its all too easy to speed up breathing resulting in shallow breathing without noticing it. i try to keep in the saddle then the last few metres power out to get back up speed

furrag

Sat on the saddle, hands on the tops pulling back for leverage, and spinning at 85rpm-95rpm is my preferred method.

When close to the crest of the hill, spin up to about 100rpm, shift up a gear, hands onto the hoods, out of the saddle and fast over the top of the hill.

Pross

Chris James wrote:

How many people really 'spin' their way up proper hills (as opposed to rises)? You need a pretty low gear or claves of steel to climb a 15-20% hill at 90rpm.

I favour seated climbing for long drags, but usually climb at about 70-75rpm. I tend to climb at much the same speed standing or seated, but if I am honking then I would change up one or two gears - so probably climbing at around 60 odd rpm.

On the flat I run at about 90 odd rpm, and can easily spin up to abut 120 rpm downhill so am not really a grinder.

Thanks for that, I read so much about people 'spinning' up hills that I thought it was only me that rode at lower cadences on climbs! For me, select a gear that I can ride comfortably in the saddle and get out of the saddle for the steeper sections or if I want to get my speed up a bit. My hand position tends to vary between the centre of the tops and the hoods when seated but always on the hoods when out of the saddle. Like the OP I get frustrated if I try to select a gear that allows me to ride at the sort of cadence I would on the flat as I feel I'm just not getting anywhere.

Bar Shaker

Butterd2 wrote:

For long climbs (>20 mins) seated high cadence for 80% of the time and then drop it 3 cogs at the back and standing lower cadence for the remaining 20% works for me.
Standing is clearly less efficient and for the same pace my heartrate goes up 5-10 bpm but the relief of changing muscles and getting off the saddle are worth it.

I would have said that standing is more powerful but it takes some training to develop an efficient technique.

You need to have your body slightly over the bars so the pedals aren't taking 100% of your body weight. This lets you use a gear that is high enough to provide resistance but low enough to allow a reasonable cadence. I find mid 70s cadence for standing to be optimal.

The only downside for standing is if things get steeper, you can be in trouble. Its not very kind to the chain/cassette to change down a gear with standing pressure and its not easy to spin with less pressure when standing, to allow a change. Sitting will not provide as much pressure so you will slow quite a bit as you sit and change to the easier gear and it may then be hard to get the cadence back up for efficient standing. It needs some road management and its worth reading the hill to anticipate the gradient changes and the gearing required, early.

Spin classes are great for training legs for standing and you can soon build up to an hour out of the saddle. I train in the spin studio by just using 1 finger on each hand to steady myself for 50% of the time and the rest I have bent arms with elbows tucked into my sides, again just using hands to steady myself, as you would on the bike. This puts all/most of your body weight on each leg through the pedal rotation. There is nothing to be gained from locked out arms taking your weight, in a spin studio.

Some training like this will soon have you out of the saddle at the sight of a hill.

The other thing that is good to develop is the positive attitude. Enjoy the hill. Yes it hurts, yes your trachea is on fire, but look at the pace you are carrying and think about the speed you can hit down the other side.

Pross

I think some people over-analyse their riding. Just do what feels right for you at the time, there's no right or wrong way. I've never ridden a hill and thought "right, I'll ride the first mile in the saddle at 70rpm then stand up", the hill dictates to me how I need to approach it and it varies from one ride to the next.

rick_chasey

Pross wrote:

I think some people over-analyse their riding. Just do what feels right for you at the time, there's no right or wrong way. I've never ridden a hill and thought "right, I'll ride the first mile in the saddle at 70rpm then stand up", the hill dictates to me how I need to approach it and it varies from one ride to the next.

Quite.

It's worth experimenting.