Riding uphill

rockrider1234

I find it easier to stay seated when riding up hill, but was wondering if standing up to peddle is seen as more efficient. I find that I tire quicker if I stand but could this be resolved if I train more with standing to peddle?

Thanks

Beardface

I stay seated for the most part of uphills, unless it gets all rooty and technical. Then it's usually time to stand, and pull the bike up with arms and legs. Once it smooths out, it's back to sitting

It can be more efficient in certain circumstances. Others, not so much.

cee

i climb in two different ways....

if its short and sharp...stand and power up the beast...

if its too long for that....sit and spin to win.

on long climbs...if theres a short sharp section...i would tend to stand and power up that until the gradient eased a bit...then back to sitting and spinning...

always stand and power over the top though.....there might be people watching!

8)

Beardface

cee wrote:

always stand and power over the top though.....there might be people watching!
8)

I'm so glad to see it's not just me that does that!!!

andy46

cee wrote:

always stand and power over the top though.....there might be people watching!

8)

Broken rugby player

Stav wrote:

It can be more efficient in certain circumstances. Others, not so much.

I normally do my pope impression and jump off the bike and kiss the ground that i actually made it to the top!!!

Anonymous

rockrider1234 wrote:

I find that I tire quicker if I stand but could this be resolved if I train more with standing to peddle?

Yes, it's all training. Ride everywhere with your eat lowered, whilst standing up on the pedals. Within a few days, you'll have far more stamina for riding and sprinting standing up.
And running, running seems to help a lot too.

But, at the end of the day, just do whatever's fun.

Thewaylander

Can't imagine standing to pedal up 40 minutes of climb that would be knackering no matter how fit you are lol.

PLus you find full sus bikes tend to bob alot mroe if you stand which is crap. Technical short bits can stand, the rest i sit my bum down

PXR5

andy46 wrote:

cee wrote:

always stand and power over the top though.....there might be people watching!

8)

And if there are any people watching also glance back over your shoulder to keep an eye on the imaginary competitors you've just hammered..

Anonymous

Thewaylander wrote:

Can't imagine standing to pedal up 40 minutes of climb that would be knackering no matter how fit you are lol.

Not really. I've mentioned it before, I tried riding everywhere standing up, mostly out of curiosity, a few years ago. At first it was hard work, but after a while, I found I could ride all day without sitting down.

Torres

There isn't a right or wrong way to climb. I remember reading a study of riders, half prefered to sit and spin, half prefered to stand and grind it out. The result was that both groups were most efficient when climbing as they prefered to climb.
Every now and again you may need to stand up to deliver a bit mroe power to clear an obstacle, but other than that ride in the way that suits you best.

hard-rider

This is something I've been thinking about the last few weeks since I went on a informal MTB race. I always just stayed seated and spun my way up but in the race everyone went up the hills standing and just powered away from me at a huge rate of knots :oops:

I also found that I went through the gears very quickly, meaning that as soon as I felt I was having to push hard on the pedals I would drop to a lower gear causing me to go slower and slower. I tried staying in a taller gear while seated and just powering up but it seems my fitness wouldn't allow me to do that for too long.

So I started practising climbing standing up now and must say that it knackers me very quickly but I get up much quicker. I found that it's important to find the most 'efficient' gear when standing, something that is not too tall so that you really have to mash down on the pedal but at the same time not too low so that your legs are pumping too quickly. I found that after a little experimenting that with the correct gear I can climb standing up much further than before without my legs dying within minutes. It took a while to feel comfortable to climb standing but it gets easier.

I'll be using a mixture of both now. Climbing standing is definitely much quicker though - more pain but for a shorter duration.

mkf

i use both as standing and seated climbing use different musle groups,so one set can rest while the other work.

NatoED

also take into consideration the terrain staying seated can help keep traction on loose surfaces , but on drier dustier terrain it won't matter as much . On long climbs I also do the sitting and standing approach as it does help your muscles to recover a little (but not alot) . Staying seated also means your not using energy to hold your body weight up .

So it really does depend on what your are trying to climb and length . I try to climb as fast as i can so the pain is over quicker .

When sitting it's quite important to drop your elbows a little . I discovered that it really helps since I started road riding more.

unixnerd

I remember seeing a programme about trainee jockeys when I was a lad. One of the things they did was to send them off for a 20 mile cycle, on a bike with no saddle!

WisePranker

yeehaamcgee wrote:

But, at the end of the day, just do whatever's fun.

^ This!

will2580

i think i read somewhere that standing up uses about 10-15% more energy than sitting down.

although, i do whatever feels right at the time. if it is particularly steep, i usually stand

boogercj

I usually end up standing at some point on a hill; but then I am a bat fastard and I ride a singlespeed! :oops:

ollie_lucas1985

mkf wrote:

i use both as standing and seated climbing use different musle groups,so one set can rest while the other work.

This is me..

Sometimes my legs just ache from sitting down to much so I tend to stand up and work it for abit then get back in the seat - I've noticed doing this my lungs and muscles seem to handle hills far better!

cooldad

Suppose I shouldn't admit sometimes I get off and walk.

concorde

Stand and power it til you are (for want of a better word) f**ked! Because then you can just sit down and granny it the rest. You 'll never have to totally stop with your granny ring surely?!?!

But if you sit and spin all the way, you'll do it comfortably, but you'll never beat someone that stands and grinds it.