changing bad mtb habit

boomco21

Having ridden off road for 20plus years I have finally converted to tarmac proper in the last 2 years. However, I, m a right pedal masher-anytime the road goes uphill I stand up and really mash the pedals. I know I should sit and spin but cant stop pounding! Any advice appreciated or should I just accept my technique?

imposter2.0

I would have thought coming from an MTB background that sitting and spinning would be your preferred technique, tbh. Either way, try both methods.

ravenvrider

I am from a mtb background of 20 odd years as well and i am afraid to say my "hill technique" is big gear grinding (but seated) style, last year i tried to spin up hills....result i went a lot slower and felt more knackered...this year i am back to what i know...and it works...i just went out and rode a local hill and by strava i have the 7th fastest time out of over 3000 riders...dont waste your time trying to change if you are happy with your style use it.

jgsi

Ho hum, tell us again what Strava actually proves?
A quick trawl of UCI MTB WorldCup races on YouTube, shows a fair amount of spinning uphill, especially when it gets technical, but hey grind away, your knees must love you.

sloppyschleckonds

Next post:

Why do my knees hurt so much?

dilatory

ravenvrider wrote:

I am from a mtb background of 20 odd years as well and i am afraid to say my "hill technique" is big gear grinding (but seated) style, last year i tried to spin up hills....result i went a lot slower and felt more knackered...this year i am back to what i know...and it works...i just went out and rode a local hill and by strava i have the 7th fastest time out of over 3000 riders...dont waste your time trying to change if you are happy with your style use it.

What do you do on long climbs?

ravenvrider

A little background, i started riding mountain bikes in 84, racing them seriously 86-94, i do not remember seeing anyone at any level spinning on a mountain bike then...it was a different time, grinding was the norm, i was merely saying if that is how you have been brought up and your muscles and yes knees are used to it, then frankly why change if you are comfortable riding that way....it worked for Ullrich and a lot of other "pro's" before i believe a certain Mr Armstrong popularised spinning.

I am not getting in a spinning v grinding argument...whatever works for you, nuff said.

Sloppy, i can assure you my knees are the least of my worrys.

dilatory, honestly, grind, find a gear i am comfortable with and push...and keep pushing. Its just the way i have been brought up, and i am too old to change now.

Mikey23

I have three cycling buds living near me. All are young, fit and quick and like to mash hills in big gears... All three of them spend as much time away from the bike with knee injury than on it and riding

butcher of bakersfield

I thought mashing the big gears was an old school roadie thing. I get the impression that consensus is the harder you mash the big gear, the harder you are.

Moonbiker

Everyone must of mashed in the olden days as bikes came with 53-42 chainrings and 12-21 rear cassetes.

mattsccm

A couple of things.
Get a speedo with a cadence feature. Watching that helps and if there is an alarm facility use it. don't set it too high, just a touch more than your current comfort level.
It was only recently that I did just that and I believe that it is helping.
I am a bit like you. I started time trialing in 1980 and my race wheels were a 13/17 block on 42/52. As they were nicer than my normal wheels I did everything on that. I also bypassed the introduction of compact chainsets, using triples for everything.
Contrary to popular belief big gears don't always screw the knees. Mine hurt more when twiddling than pushing. I suppose its the amount of flex that hurts but then I have had buggered knees as a result of way too much hard running with heavy rucksacks etc.

Also consider what cadence you want. I find that a 50 miles ride gives me an average of about 70 rpm which is me making an effort. what do you want to achieve?
MTB riding didn't help the cadence as chainsets were 28/38/48 when I stated in '85 and we were into this centuary before I changed to the modern 22/32/42.

Finally whilst not doubting that a relatively high cadence is good, think about going too fast. Some experts in pro cycling are suggesting that this isn't everything. On a lighter note , much of the fashion for high cadence started in the 90's. Lots of EPO about then.

Mikey23

My first bike had a three speeds sturmey archer... Small, medium, large

I have average cadence now set on the front screen of my 500 and over the last few weeks have trained myself to work at low 80s rather than high 60s, low 70s. It has made an amazing difference to my riding. Not necessarily faster but I think that will come but more comfortable, less fatigued and far more confident on Cornish hills. I'm 63 and have very long legs. My mate is now high 80s and has pretty short legs. I think it's a case of finding what is good for you

kajjal

Just do what is best for you. On or off road up hill I normally choose a very easy gear and just spin away sat down or some times off road hunched down a bit to get the best traction on both wheels. I only stand up for short off road sprints uphill or very steep road sections uphill. One guy I rode with off road was very well built and used to push very hard gears at low cadence as it suited him better.