"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Looking for better seated climbing power..

Just wondering if anybody has experimented with their saddle position and experienced any improvements?

I typically ride just a bit ahead of KOPS so I tend to overwork my quads...

I wonder if there is any benefit to going back and down a bit on the saddle??? :o

That's the old Euro position favoured by Cyrille Guimard. You'll definitely use more hams doing that, and some advocate it still. He has a famous bike sizing formula I believe. Anyway, if you feel your quads are weak and that hammering down isn't the best for you, then I would drop back and down with the saddle slightly. Really what I think you need is just more seated climbing, and working on smoothing out the pedal stroke.

You may hear a variety of opinions :) Racing season may not be the best time to experiment. But, all else being equal, try out something different and see what happens -- and record/mark your original position!!!! But, when you make adjustments -- and this has been written many times before and it does sound crazy -- keep it to mms at a time. I'm always amazed how even changes on the order of a mm or two or three can matter in some cases!

Thanks for the tips..

I did some googling and I came across THIS (http://www.thebikebiz.com/help_answer.asp?ID=20) bike fit link with some formulas based on Wilfried Huggi and Cyrille Guimard formulas...

I did some of the calculations and my typical fit is much different.. saddle way higher, and it says my frame size should be roughly 52.5 cm... (I have a 32 inch inseam), I ride a 56 road bike, and 54 for TT & Track bike.

Based on the inseam x .883 formula for saddle height, I am currently over by almost 9 cm. lol


... edit & correction, I quickly measured my inseam and it is actually 34.25 (87cm) which puts me right square into the correct range of frame size and saddle height. ....

There are climbs in FLA?

i'm not a master climber or anything but i did get a fit that pushed my saddle back about 5cm and a week later (after the soreness subsided) i took a two minute bite (of 42 minutes) out of my previously pretty consistent climb-intensive weekly TT time and kept the gain over subsequent weeks. anecdotal but it feels good.

I just slide back in the saddle, grab the bar tops, get my forearms horizontal and start hammering. I always picture Tyler when I think about this climbing position:

http://www.herneweb.com/images/0205tamilton.jpg

I just slide back in the saddle, grab the bar tops, get my forearms horizontal and start hammering. I always picture Tyler when I think about this climbing position:

http://www.herneweb.com/images/0205tamilton.jpg

i'm not a master climber or anything but i did get a fit that pushed my saddle back about 5cm and a week later (after the soreness subsided) i took a two minute bite (of 42 minutes) out of my previously pretty consistent climb-intensive weekly TT time and kept the gain over subsequent weeks. anecdotal but it feels good.

Depends entirely what you start with.

I've been Retul'd (ended up with standard 30 degree leg extension and KOPS irritatingly enough) and was able to squeeze out some more efficiency by going nose down on the saddle, allowing more heel drop and hamstring recruitment (carpenter level bubble ~3-4mm off-center).

Depends entirely what you start with.

obviously

I just slide back in the saddle, grab the bar tops, get my forearms horizontal and start hammering. I always picture Tyler when I think about this climbing position:


+1

I just slide back in the saddle, grab the bar tops, get my forearms horizontal and start hammering. I always picture Tyler when I think about this climbing position:


+2 :)

:lol:

Is it more than 20 pedal strokes to the top of an overpass? Hardly enough to get a rhythm.

Is it more than 20 pedal strokes to the top of an overpass? Hardly enough to get a rhythm.

its a bit longer than 20 pedal strokes... more like almost 1+ minute very seep climb followed by a brief descent and another shorter 20 second hill ... the trouble is, you do it every lap in about 1 mile each... it hurts like hell.

1 minute climb? Saddle position isn't going to do anything. You could take your saddle off and be just fine. You'll either be standing or wiggling all over the place trying to put out enough power seated to stay with the group.

1 minute climb? Saddle position isn't going to do anything. You could take your saddle off and be just fine. You'll either be standing or wiggling all over the place trying to put out enough power seated to stay with the group.

Good point, but when you add it up over many laps things change a bit...

That really doesn't change how the guys at the front of the race are going to go up it.

we do a crit like that twice a month. 100' of climbing per lap. Usually 15-18 laps for 25-30 miles. if you try to climb it like a mountain guy, you will go OTB very quickly. Just push on the damn pedals and take the pain.

Quit looking for solutions to questions that don't exist.

Do you want to get to the next level, or mosey on?
That's the real question, and you should train as such.

Quit looking for solutions to questions that don't exist.

Do you want to get to the next level, or mosey on?
That's the real question, and you should train as such.

Boom.

Boom.

boom is a nice choice, Mattm but I prefer...




wait for it...





it's coming...






blah-DOW!!!!!


blah-DOW, ftw!!!!!!!!!

Just push on the damn pedals and take the pain.

I want this on a T-shirt.

boom is a nice choice, Mattm but I prefer...




wait for it...





it's coming...






blah-DOW!!!!!


blah-DOW, ftw!!!!!!!!!

Leo, I started laughing out loud after reading that.

How the heck do you come up with this stuff. Man o man...

Every time ford talks about climbing in Florida I die a little inside. :p

Every time ford talks about climbing in Florida I die a little inside. :p

if you do an overpass 690 times, it's like the everest challenge

if you do an overpass 690 times, it's like Camus' No Exit inside your head. Hell is yourself.
Fixed that for you.

he must be racing at the garbage dump. ford, do lots of 1 minute intervals with little recovery, problem solved. enjoy.

Fixed that for you.

wut

Every time ford talks about climbing in Florida I die a little inside. :p

Every time ford talks about climbing in Florida I laugh a lot on the outside.

I did a loop in Clermont yesterday with pretty much all of the hills that're used on the RR and tri courses there. Took some pictures just for the hell of it to try and capture the non-flatness..looked at 'em afterwards and decided they were boring as hell. It's hard to make even a steep hill look steep in a photo.

I also caught myself thinking that, other than Sugarloaf, the ride was about like the flattest loop I could find around Madrid the past few weeks. Sugarloaf still sucked, especially with 44x23 gearing.

I did a loop in Clermont yesterday with pretty much all of the hills that're used on the RR and tri courses there. Took some pictures just for the hell of it to try and capture the non-flatness..looked at 'em afterwards and decided they were boring as hell. It's hard to make even a steep hill look steep in a photo.

I also caught myself thinking that, other than Sugarloaf, the ride was about like the flattest loop I could find around Madrid the past few weeks. Sugarloaf still sucked, especially with 44x23 gearing.

It's hard to make a hill in Florida look steep on camera.

you FL guys should just not talk about climbing. talk about blisteringly fast crit speeds instead. that part of FL cycling is impressive.

nothing you ever say about going uphill in FL will ever be considered more than a joke by most of the rest of the world. (even if it isn't)

1 minute climbs... :)

you FL guys should just not talk about climbing. talk about blisteringly fast crit speeds instead. that part of FL cycling is impressive.

nothing you ever say about going uphill in FL will ever be considered more than a joke by most of the rest of the world. (even if it isn't)

What's the biggest climb you NY guys do in races anyway?

Btw, OP, maybe you should rephrase the question as "more seated power."

I already HTFU, now I just need to get even H-rder.

What's the biggest climb you NY guys do in races anyway?

Btw, OP, maybe you should rephrase the question as "more seated power."


Yes, good point, that's really what I meant to begin with.

whiteface is the biggest one. 8mi at 8%, almost identical to Alpe D'Huez.

most hilly road races in upstate NY have climbs below 20 minutes. There are a few longer ones in the Catskills.

people tend to win hilly races here based on 5-10 minute power/weight.

A typical hilly road race in the Binghamton area would be the Empire State Games course, which is roughly 100' per mile, although that is in the form of relentless hills rather than one big grade.

gret thred

What's the biggest climb you NY guys do in races anyway?


Try again ;)


http://www.pelotonpoints.com/images/random/ny.jpg

I don't think he was being sarcastic

I don't think he was being sarcastic

In that case...rephrase it to "damn, NY is hilly"

that picture shows the typical allegheny plateau terrain. never flat. no tall mountains.

that picture shows the typical allegheny plateau terrain. never flat. no tall mountains.

Looks fun. What is all that stuff to the south like? The long lines of elevated terrain. It looks unnatural (though it's not).

I think you mean the Appalachian Ridge. The part of it that goes through PA is pretty clearly defined. In NY it is called the Shawangunk ridge. I think it goes all the way to TN.

Look at this final climb here (http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/1.764322)... point of it is the cadence these guys are using seems very low.. any comments about that? 12% grade for 700m.

Look at this final climb here (http://www.sporza.be/cm/sporza/videozone/MG_sportnieuws/MG_wielrennen/1.764322)... point of it is the cadence these guys are using seems very low.. any comments about that? 12% grade for 700m.

...here's a comment. get out of the saddle and hammer your balls off.

Just like ze said

...here's a comment. get out of the saddle and hammer your balls off.

Just like ze said

+ a bazillion

What size boats do you have in S. Florida? The only overpass we have that would take a minute + to GO OVER would be the Sunshine Skyway. Don't worry, I've havn't been out to Sugarloaf or Cleremont yet and CLIMB many overpasses/bridges daily.