Standing pedalling technique?

webboo

Pinno wrote:

LakesLuddite wrote:

Pinno wrote:

If he whistles Dixie whilst pedalling up hill out of his saddle, then Bungle would be Honky Tonking.






I'll get my coat.

And if he ran out of fuel whilst doing it, he'd be Honky Tonky Bonking.

I'll get your coat.

If he fell off whilst bonking, he would had done a stonking Honky Tonk Bonk.

You can have my coat.

Would that be Chain Reactions fault or should we blame Merlin.

pinno

Webboo wrote:

Pinno wrote:

LakesLuddite wrote:

Pinno wrote:

If he whistles Dixie whilst pedalling up hill out of his saddle, then Bungle would be Honky Tonking.






I'll get my coat.

And if he ran out of fuel whilst doing it, he'd be Honky Tonky Bonking.

I'll get your coat.

If he fell off whilst bonking, he would had done a stonking Honky Tonk Bonk.

You can have my coat.

Would that be Chain Reactions fault or should we blame Merlin.

I don't know but until he gets a hang of it, it will be wonky honking.

bungle73

OK, thanks. I'll just continue doing it the way I'm doing it then. There are a few short steep hills on my local rides, and I've taken to always getting out of the saddle for a bit every time I get to one. It's good practice, and now I'm a lot better at than I was a year or two ago, when I wasn't very confident at all to even get started doing it on a ride.

I'd never done it in the past because, tbh, I didn't know how.....until I watched an earlier GCN video on it. I decided I wanted to give it a go to a) see how I got on with it, and b) a review I'd read of my bike suggested that it "responds better to being ridden out of the saddle for most climbs", and that inspired me to see if that worked for me. As it happens I'm finding I quite like it actually, which is why I'm keeping at it.

I also like getting out of the saddle for a few seconds to power over a short rise on a fast section of road.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

I've absolutely no idea how much I swing the bike side to side while out of the saddle on climbs, if at all.

I've found the crossover point for me to be approx 70-75rpm cadence, below which I find it's usually beneficial to get out of the saddle, both from a power perspective and reducing pressure on my knees.

philbar72

Pinno wrote:

We used to call this side to side action 'honking'.

some of us still do, especially if we've had a curry the night before.

Maglia_Rosa

I take great pleasure in remaining in the seat maintaining a steady cadence and overtaking everyone else in the club who’s out the saddle and riding inefficiently up a climb.

pinno

Alberto Contador and Marco Pantani to name just a few, took great pleasure in passing people whilst getting out of the saddle frequently.
So what are you saying?

fenix

You must have lovely low gears.

Maglia_Rosa

52/36 chainring

I grew up cycling on the borders of the Peak Distrct and absolutely love climbing, I think for short sharp hills that’s different but when your climbing the Cat & Fiddle for example for me personally I prefer to remain seated and focus on my breathing and cadence and not letting anybody pass me.

l0n3rider

well .. if you want to learn the technical

there are many ways off saddle pedaling that i know of. if we wanna stick to big muscles as the main power contributor; either you use your glutes as the main driver or the quads.

when you use glutes, you will be standing tall and use your body weight more onto the pedals. if you are not careful enough .. your pedal will be stop at BDC (6 o'clock) momentarily, because your leg is at full extension which is a bit difficult for your hamstring to pull your pedal back. that is why people tend to sway their body left and right to smooth-out the pedaling. dancing on the pedal also keep your balance when you do off saddle pedaling

when you use the quads as the main driver, your body will have their centre of gravity forward of your pedal .. it is like you falling to the front .. the pedaling will be fast .. attacking mode .. contador style

my 2 cents .. i could totally be wrong up there :P

figbat

This thread has been coming to mind recently as I have been riding (road and MTB). When standing I find that a small amount of sway is unavoidable, simply through the mechanics of the whole thing - when I tried to stand up and not sway the bike, it felt unnatural and needed effort to maintain.

I also thought that the point of exaggerated 'honking' was to use muscle groups throughout your body to turn the crank - by swaying the bike away from the downwards crank you are using your arms, back, shoulders etc to 'lever' the pedal downwards by moving the driving side of the of the bike 'upwards'.

fenix

Seated climbing is more efficient than out of the saddle - but to get over short steep inclines or give the muscles a rest getting out of the saddle is fine too. When the gears run out though- it has to be out of the saddle.

pinno

There's obviously no right or wrong way to do this, each technique requires different muscles and every individual is different. Even Froome dog get's off the saddle to kick occasionally.
So taking the adamant line that it is ineffective and or pointless, is somewhat spurious.

imposter2.0

Pinno wrote:

There's obviously no right or wrong way to do this, each technique requires different muscles and every individual is different. Even Froome dog get's off the saddle to kick occasionally.
So taking the adamant line that it is ineffective and or pointless, is somewhat spurious.

Precisely. This is not an everyday occurrence, but I agree with pinno..

darkhairedlord

Imposter wrote:

Pinno wrote:

There's obviously no right or wrong way to do this, each technique requires different muscles and every individual is different. Even Froome dog get's off the saddle to kick occasionally.
So taking the adamant line that it is ineffective and or pointless, is somewhat spurious.

Precisely. This is not an everyday occurrence, but I agree with pinno..

I would disagree; there are many right ways but also many wrong ways, one footed springs to mind, or facing the wrong way altogether. I might try some wrong ways on the ride home tonight.

imposter2.0

darkhairedlord wrote:

Imposter wrote:

Pinno wrote:

There's obviously no right or wrong way to do this, each technique requires different muscles and every individual is different. Even Froome dog get's off the saddle to kick occasionally.
So taking the adamant line that it is ineffective and or pointless, is somewhat spurious.

Precisely. This is not an everyday occurrence, but I agree with pinno..

I would disagree; there are many right ways but also many wrong ways, one footed springs to mind, or facing the wrong way altogether. I might try some wrong ways on the ride home tonight.

Make sure you film it..

svetty

If traction is at a premium staying seated can help keep the weight over the back wheel....

darkhairedlord

Svetty wrote:

If traction is at a premium staying seated can help keep the weight over the back wheel....

if its a steep hill you could lose the front.

cld531c

darkhairedlord wrote:

Svetty wrote:

If traction is at a premium staying seated can help keep the weight over the back wheel....

if its a steep hill you could lose the front.

Done that before. Rear wheelspin is less scary than an uphill wheelie!

svetty

cld531c wrote:

darkhairedlord wrote:

Svetty wrote:

If traction is at a premium staying seated can help keep the weight over the back wheel....

if its a steep hill you could lose the front.

Done that before. Rear wheelspin is less scary than an uphill wheelie!

The Calderdale cobbled climbs are the worst for this type of dilemma IME - Trooper lane et al. As the front wheel hits the cobbles it kicks up and lifts which is disconcerting to say the least. Lean forward to avoid this and you unweight the rear which then slips on the greasy stones, you lose momentum and have a 'clipped in whilst stationary' moment

pinno

[Off topic but this thread needs it]

Had one of those stationary moments this year,
Pedalling downhill into a section of surface dressed road and was happily following a clear track made by the off side wheels of cars. Went under trees with sunnies on from bright sunshine into shadow presuming arrogantly that I would be okay but it quickly became clear that under the trees, the cars were taking whatever route, the wheel tracks disappeared and I soon found myself in thick gravel. Do I stand up and pedal, will that heighten the centre of gravity adversely or do I unclip? Too late. In that moment of indecision, the front wheel ground to a halt and I keeled, gently (and slightly poetically) over. Red faced. No witnesses. Just grey dust all over my shorts and shirt. :oops:

pblakeney

Pinno wrote:

[Off topic but this thread needs it]

Commuting back in the day using straps done up tight. Came to a stop at red lights on the high street during rush hour. Tried to slacken the straps, failed, tried to track stand, failed. Slowly keeled over to the enjoyment of everyone around. Even I had to see the funny side.

pinno

You use clipless now Blakey?!

pblakeney

Pinno wrote:

You use clipless now Blakey?!

This was early '80s.
Been clipless since '92.