Road Cycling - hill climbing technique?

i have been finding short, rolling hills lately, and am curious as to what the proper technique is? do i go to a lower gear and slide my butt back further in the seat? do i come out of the saddle?

i have a double chain ring on my bike so i know that doing hills will be a little challenging at first.

i just want to put the least amount of strain and stress on my knees as possible.

also, if i do come out of the saddle, do i keep my weight centered over the pedals, or do i lean a little forward?:(

Depends on how short and steep the hill is. If I can motor over a hill by standing without shifting or losing speed, I'll do it. Otherwise, I might drop down a gear and spin up while seated. Different things in different cases...and that's just me. You'll find that a lot of people will have different ideas on this, so try it diefferent ways and see what works best for you.

I would say that you will likely want to shift your weight slightly forward when out of the saddle. I find the most stability when I center my weight evenly between both wheels, again depending on the grade. For steeper sections, more weight on the back wheel, but still forward of the saddle. You want to keep enough weight on the back to maintain traction, but without lifting up the front wheel. If all you have are little rollers, though, this shouldn't be an issue for you.

On a lot of the hills around here I find myself going in and out of the saddle to climb. Sometimes too, to give my quads a break, I instead of mashing the pedals, I pull up and it works the muscles around my hips more. A lot of these are steep and long, so I try to keep a high cadence until I get towards the top and then try to accelerate at a point where I know I won't totally burn myself out. I'm quite inexperienced, but I do love climbing hills, the bigger they are, the better!

Speaking as a hill lover myself, it really depends on the type of hill you're looking at. If it's a short, sharp rise, you can get out of the saddle and attack it, which will put less strain on your knees. On the other hand, if it's a longer climb, you're probably better off to take a lower gear and just 'spin' up it. As you do more of them, you'll eventually build up strength.

i have one gear.

i do whatever the hell it takes to get up the hill.

Try to pay attention to perceived effort, keeping it steady.
Keep your pedal stroke smooth. You will be shocked and amazed at how concentrating on form will improve your climbing ability.
I find that thinking about using my hamstrings makes me use them. It's good to use as many leg muscle groups as you can to attack a hill.

A lot of people oooh and aaaah over Lance's climbing technique. In fact, it does work, with a lot of practice. If you're a big guy like Ullrich or stocky like Botero, you'll find that ticking over a large gear might work for you. Again, this technique takes practice too.

Remember to shift back and forth between standing and sitting. Keep in mind, you have to do what feels right. Just because the guy next to you stands, doesn't mean you should. After all, your pedal stroke is more efficient when sitting.

I always find that psychological tricks like saying "it doesn't hurt that bad" help me a lot.

If the hill notices you trying to climb, it will probably send a shout-out to gravity. Best to sneak up on the hill.

About seated climbs:

Concentrate on CIRCLES! If you are stomping down, you are using a lot of quads and limiting efficiency and probably need to shift or stand up.

This is my biggest weakness. I used to attack the hills and switch to an easy gear right away and by the time I was at the top I had no more gears and was wiped. So someone told me to start the hill in a harder gear and by the time I get to the top I would have more gears to work with. Sounds reasonable to me. Problem is no matter what I do, I have a hard time on hills. I'm a small person so I don't have alot of weight to pull up the hill. What can I do different ?

How is your cadence on the hills? Ideally you should keep that fairly consistent and gradually shift through the gears as you need to. I think the best way to improve on the hills is to simply ride more of them.

When I first started riding, I ask this question to the owner of the LBS (He rides centurys on a Schwinn Black Phantom).

He said "pedal harder"

mascardr,

You are a small person but have trouble climbing...

Consider that climbing is really not JUST about being small but largely about having a favorable weight to power ratio. Do you lift weights through the winter and early spring, including things like squats and leg press, or leg extensions and curls?

Being light is great but being light AND powerful - watch out! And don't worry about "getting big and slow." Smaller people very seldom "bulk up" to the point of it being a detriment.

I agree with those who say that you have to "think" your way over the hill, to have a strategy for a hill that takes into consideration the length and grade of the hill, the energy that you have available at that time, and your underanding of how much energy you must devote to this one task without over-expending yourself.
Two things are frequently overlooked in this area:
1-rapid downgearing at the bottom of a hill is psycologically defeating. To quickly jump to the lowest gear, and then to discover that that is it -and yet the effort is still uncomfortable, is a negative way to approach the challenge. If your in with a group and that grating sound is happening in unison only compounds this effect more. Bikes generally find it easier to upshift rather than downshift on the cassette since the chain is being thown to the small cog-especially under stress.
With experience it should be possible to approach the hill both positively and agressively, using a combination of climbing techniques such as sliding back on the saddle, standing and upshifting and generally being less gear-reliant. Focusing on the top of the hill, rather than keeping your head low and seeing it as an ordeal will help. In other words you are throwing yourself into the hill, rather than trying to level the hill by maintaining flat road cadence and having the gears attempt to negate the hills. That in a way is doing a disservice to the hill and there should be no reward for it. Why do hills unless they can add in some way to the overall experience of riding?
2-Too often we envision the effort of climbing to be a joint effort of the lungs and legs. We forget the advantage of leverage. This advantage varies according to where you place your hands. The upper body has a lot to do with how you will climb effectively, and the implementation of this advantage changes considerably between hands on the drops, hoods, and especially in the standing position. There is an article somewhere around here that relates to this. The writer uses the example of putting a bathroom scale next to a wall and registering the force that one can apply with one foot on the scale. That is compared to having something attached to the wall, 3 feet above the ground to simulate handlebars, and bending over and holding the bar substitute and then pressing on the scale with full force. The result will show the advantage of leverage and the utilization of upper body strengh in the transference of power to the pedals. If we understand this then we know that we are being carried up the hill by more than just our legs, and that strategy in the way of a combination of tecniques will assist in accomplishing the immediate goal.

Originally posted by Prosody
If the hill notices you trying to climb, it will probably send a shout-out to gravity. Best to sneak up on the hill.
:D :D :D that is cool, but the hills that I climb here, has a sentry, and everytime I climb they really try to make it hard for me to climb, but I like the challenge

Originally posted by Barnaby
We forget the advantage of leverage. This advantage varies according to where you place your hands. The upper body has a lot to do with how you will climb effectively, and the implementation of this advantage changes considerably between hands on the drops, hoods, and especially in the standing position. [/B]

There is a picture on page 26 of the current Bike Nashbar catalog of Lance A. in a climbing position. He is powering with his right leg, pulling with his left leg, and the right arm appears to be fully flexed from the wrist to and probably thru the shoulder. This is a great example of what you are saying about the upper body.

It appears that push ups, and upper body work outs could help out as well.

I'm moderately heavy, for a cyclist anyway... 5'7", 165-170 lbs (~12 stone ;)). I stand a lot when I climb, and practice it, trying to improve and to ensure standing doesn't become a weakness. In spite of that I find that I can climb faster, longer seated, and when standing, I need to carry a fair amount of weight with my arms, so that I can spin. FWIW, I'm talking about 6+% grades, here. (Standing w/out a steep hill is a whole different kettle of fish, and not particularly difficult.)

So anyhow, sometimes I stand a little to give my legs a break on long climbs, or when going over a short roller, but for general climbing it just doesn't work for me. Is anyone else similar? I'd be curious to hear comments.

And, yes, focusing on pedaling circles makes a huge difference. If you climb by just pushing the pedals down, you'd be surprised how much energy you waste trying to make the pedals go where they can't! Mascardr, being a lightweight, you're probably better off developing your standing technique, and as others have said, develop strength/power. Just a guess... good luck!

Chris L, My cadence starts out good but once the hill gets steeper, my cadence comes to a crawl no matter how hard I try to keep it going. A big frustration.

Easy Rider, I do lift weights. When I lift it is to failure, not reps so I can lift a good amount of weight. I'm not worried about bulk because actaully I would love some bulk. So after reading through the thread, sounds like my technique is way off. My supervisor who used to be a racer told me that with my weight I should be flying up hills. I wished that were true. Any other suggestions would sure be great. :)
One more question...do women have a harder time with hills than men ?

since i am the one who started this thread and i am a woman i would venture a guess that hills are challenging for all cyclists. and the only way to get better is to climb more of them.

When I stand I shift up a couple of gears.

Since crawling up a hill really kills you average speed for the ride, take it easy before you get to the bottom of the hill, and then put enough effort into the hill so you are on the point of having a heart attack when you get to the top. This wont make climbing the hill enjoyable, but it will feel so good when you go over the top.

Originally posted by mascardr
Chris L, My cadence starts out good but once the hill gets steeper, my cadence comes to a crawl no matter how hard I try to keep it going. A big frustration.

Although it's something that takes practice, what you should be aiming for is to gradually shift into lower gears to compensate for your cadence slowing. When you feel your cadence starting to slow, it's an indication to shift into the immediately lower gear. It's not a case of trying to be superwoman, just adjusting the gears to suit the gradient of the hill.

Of course, running out of gears can sometimes be a problem on really steep climbs. That's when you get out of the saddle for a little extra power.

It seems like all the bike books I read love to stick in quotes from Chris Carmichael wherein he states that a cyclist climbing a hill should be like a carpet unrolling, getting progressively faster towards the top. Carmichael also suggests starting in a lower gear than needed so you'll have energy to upshift as you near the top.

It was drivel like that that made me read less and ride more.

Personally, the best tip I have is this. I shift up as I stand up since it's easier to pedal a bigger gear while standing. Right before I return to the saddle, panting, red faced, with smoke pouring out of my HRM, I downshift.

Lou

If these are hills you encounter frequently (i.e., they're on your standard training route), I think the best course of action is to try a variety of techniques until you find the one that gets you up and over the top in the most efficient/effective manner.

Also, by repeating the same hill over and over again, you will get more comfortable and learn exactly where your limits are

Realize, however, that your method of attacking the hill depends on how you feel, how many miles you've done up to this point, what your training goals are for the ride you are doing, and weather conditions, headwinds, etc.

Also, sometimes I find a small hill to be the perfect excuse to give my butt a nice break by standing!

SteveE

I think many people are riding in too high a gear. I know its macho and signals how strong you think you are, but climbing in high gears requires a lot of power; if you dont have that power, the hill will call your bluff. You need to pick a gear which you can climb with a good cadence, at YOUR power, not that of Lance or some other elite rider.
I use a 28-28 for the steepest (25%) hills.

Today I had some of the easiest hills on my commute to date. Some things I did to achieve this.

1. Started riding more hills. I picked some I usually wouldn't go up, and powered my way up them. Albeit very slowly.

2. I have started going to spinning class again. When we do our "climbs" I crank up the resistance. Last night we did an 11 minute climb and for the last 3 minutes of it, I had to struggle to get my pedals through the dead-zone since I had the resistance way up.

3. I have been trying to make sure I keep my speed/candace up on the rolling hills. I used to slow down over each one.

As SteveE pointed out, having regular hills does help. You can benchmark yourself on them quite easily, and you become very familiar with where you were standing, sitting, grinding or spinning for each section of each hill.


I used to hate hills with a passion, now I am beginning to enjoy their company. Riding a racing bike, I don't have any nice granny gears, so really steep hills still scare me off.

Enjoy the climb!

I hate hills.. no no I HATE hills. Everyone on my team seems to be billy goats when it comes to them, so I'm always dying on team rides. Finally my coach took me out to this steep hill, nothing major, just steep. Didn't tell me what to do, but had me ride the thing... Up and down for 30 minutes straight. I figured out after the 2nd time up it what to do... Your body figures it out, no ones advice can tell you what your body feels, or how it reacts.... that's my two cents..

There are only 2 things you need to do for climbing:
1. Keep your legs supple. By that I mean keep your legs spinning--turning over a good cadence so the lactic acid doesn't build up.

2. Have a good metal attitude to the climb.

That's it!

Hill climbing is something I have to get better at as well. Although this part of Texas is generally very flat, there are some places around here where one can find a hill if you know where to look, and the people in my club know where to look. On the ride this past Saturday we hit several hills, the worst of which was an 18% grade (according to one of the riders -- I wouldn't know exactly) that went on for about a half to three-quarters of a mile. I think my problem is two-fold: part of it is mental ("Oh dear God, not ANOTHER hill!"), and part is the fact I'm packing 200 pounds of me up that hill. My club seems to do a lot of hilly rides, so I'll probably get better at hill climbing as time goes on. I have to agree that form matters -- when I remember to concentrate on my spin and keep up a good cadence I find that climbing is easier.

There seems to be 2 rivers of thought concerning how a novice cyclist should approach a series of small rolling hills:

1-Gear down to maintain cadence when the cadence naturally falls as the load increases;
2-Accept a lower cadence approach and "power" up the hills.

This second recommendation is scoffed at from those who think that it is too "macho" and that the proponents are all Lance wannabees.

The first group base their advice on the merits of "spinning" over powering your way up the hill. I have been reading a book called "Swim, Bike, Run" by Town, Kearney with a forward by Scott Tinley. In it the authors attempt to debunk the idea of what most of us think normally happens during high cadence efforts.
Instead of the effort being divided over a 360 degree cycle, they maintain that almost all the torque is applied from 11 o'clock to 7 o'clock. In other words we all pedal in a "piston-like" fashion, and that spinning as we know it is really a more efficient way to get the pedal to 11 o'clock to begin the piston stroke again rather than aiding in power production. Maybe they mean that your legs from 7 o'clock to 11 o'clock really become a liability rather than an asset, and to get them to where they become an asset again is the skill in involved in spinning.

They also write about the differing muscle groups used in the 360 degree crank rotation. The quadriceps cut in at 11 o'clock, and then are aided by the glutial muscles ( the bum group), which apply force 'till about 4 o'clock and then pass off to the hamstrings to apply power until 7. Other muscles then take over to return the crank to 11. The muscles of the legs just don't pay rent until close to midnight-just like some tenants I know.

In seated hill climbing they recommend targeting the gluteal muscles (the hip extensors) by keeping the upper body low and parallel to the top tube. They also recommend short-duration standing, as others have mentioned, as a way to use body weight to aide the quads and the hip extensors and to stretch out muscles used while seating-also, I think, to shake down pooled blood in the rear end.

Last year, I approached my ride in the local area which is quite hilly, by selecting one gear that would get me to the top of the hills without over taxing my knees, and using that one gear for the full ride. I reasoned that I would be getting a good resistance workout and then have the downside of the hill to regroup while I coasted. I then worked on various techniques to get to the top. I would speed towards the bottom of the hill to gain momentum, and then try to maintain maximum cadence without shifting, and then when that started to become too difficult I would slide my rear as far back on the saddle as I could to use the hip muscles more, and finally stand for a short duration to take me over the top. The single-speed idea will in time tell you whether you are building any strengh out of the strategy. Over time, I found my strength increasing, and satisfaction in that getting to the top was much easier in that one gear than before.

What I think is missed in the "gear-down" approach to hills is that you are not moving the load to other groups by incorporating different tecniques. You are simply dividing the load of the hill into more increments that are easier to handle; but by not altering style, the work is falling on the same group of muscles that are used during normal flat-land cycling. For me, I can't imagine anything more boring than cycling in the flat open prairie. The hills provide an opportunity to do something else, and figuring out how to master them, while appreciating them is the art. I mentioned in my earlier post that the lower cadence approach to hill climbing in isolation, is an attempt to level the hills mechanically by the applicatin of gears. Since then I have come across quite a few testamonials by single-speeders and "fixies" who claim to have little difficulty in matching geared riders in ascending hills, dispite what would seem to be the obvious advantages of lower gears in the hills used by the geared riders. (The "fixies" may run out of luck matching the geared cyclists on the downside of hills, and sometimes on the flats however.)

The single-speed and fixed-gear people have influenced me to think again about how gear-reliant we should be. If we focus too much on shifting down as we see the hill loom ahead, we tend not to speed up and use momentum as much, and instead put our trust in the derailleur to cut up the hill into easily digestible chunks. This long post is merely to offer the idea that there may be a better way, and that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

thank you for your 2 great posts Barnaby. i have taken your first post and printed it and keep it in a file to remind me what to concentrate on when trying to climb hills as a novice.:p

If the hill is less than 1/4 mile in lnth I att5ack it and try to maintain my pace without dropping more than a few MPH or 5 KPH. If it is steep I am out of the saddle, gradual I just start slamming the pedals from the seated position.

On long climbs I typically just settle in a rythm and use the gears.