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Should I be standing up for hills? Why? Why not?

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Should I be standing up for hills? Why? Why not?

Old 06-20-14, 07:14 PM
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Should I be standing up for hills? Why? Why not?

Was apprehensive of hills until 3 days ago. Newbie rider since Dec. Monday I'll be riding on constantly hilly mups and bikeways (marked routes through neighborhoods) 15 miles in to work and 15 miles back for the first time if the weather's good. (got showers and lockers at work, it owns)

I didn't think I was ready yet to do this due to large amounts of hills and I've only been riding flat trails along a river (15 miles easy there) but the last 3 days I've rode different sections of that hilly mup between work and home for 3x 10 mile partial-rides and it was no problem.

Those 3 rides I always shifted low and rode slow in the seat. Was in no hurry, don't ever need to be.

At the river where I had been riding a bunch since Dec, there's only one hill, a giant one (to me) 110 feet up in about a quarter mile and I always did that seated and waaay slow like 5-6 mph, 1st gear on mtb or hybrid.

My work is 200' higher than my house but so many hills up and down in between, and using a couple websites to analyze gps logs of those 3 partial-rides, I'll be climbing 1500-2000 vertical feet.

Should I be getting up more and shifting low less? Why? Not looking to be a racer or push myself hard real soon, any reason I should get up? I'm 37, 225 lbs and have always been naturally strong + naturally big in that my ideal not-fat weight has always been between 190-200. When I say naturally strong I mean even at times when I was never weightlifting I could deadlift way heavier stuff off the ground than anyone I knew, in HS beat most any of them at armwrestling but that didn't translate at all to endurance. When I was in awesome shape at 190, lifting and running a lot in my 20s, my very longest runs were like 3 or 4 miles. 2-2.5 was typical. I never felt like going further.

Last edited by John Redcorn; 06-21-14 at 11:18 AM.
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Old 06-20-14, 07:26 PM
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There's no real reason to if you're just getting up the hill, except for working a different set of muscles. Gear down and spin, if that works for you and you're not racing or training, no reason to do it differently.

Everyone's different. I see little guys hopping up all the time, others just keep a steady pace. i'll get out of the saddle if I'm running out of gas and want to keep my speed up, but only briefly. There are some who go up the whole hill standing.
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Old 06-20-14, 08:34 PM
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To add to the above post:

Lighter guys get more benefit standing than heavier ones (although the exercising different muscles works for everyone).

The other reason to stand is because your gearing isn't low enough.

If you can sit and spin, then that's a fine technique.
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Old 06-21-14, 12:27 AM
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Sometimes it's more fun to get out of the saddle and power up a hill, though.
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Old 06-21-14, 02:54 AM
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Mix and match your styles. I stand to accelerate and sit to spin up.
these days I mostly sit.
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Old 06-21-14, 03:56 AM
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Should I be standing up for hills? Why? Why not?

On long hills fully loaded touring I alternate standing with one gear higher, then shift down one gear and sit down.
Well until I'm so knackered I'm just on my granny gear standing or sitting, or stopping and hanging over my handlebars that is!
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Old 06-21-14, 04:45 AM
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Depends on a fast 60 mile ride I'll power up the hill until I lose momentum then drop down and spin - often its faster with an easier gear and faster cadence anyway. If I'm riding 120 miles plus? Nope I spin my way up the hills because I know I'll need that energy later.
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Old 06-21-14, 07:33 AM
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Check out youtube of the Tour De France when they are in the mountains. Unless they are attacking or defending they are seated in the climb.
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Old 06-21-14, 08:01 AM
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Standing also gives your butt a rest................
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Old 06-21-14, 08:51 AM
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Your weight doesn't make a difference at to whether you stand or not. If the hill is short and I've got a lot of speed, I'll attack the hill and stand. If the hill is a long one, I'll gear down but I also stand occasionally on long hills to work a different set of muscles. There's really no rule.
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Old 06-21-14, 08:55 AM
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a mix of both.. Oklahoma is not famous for its mountains .. where are you riding?
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Old 06-21-14, 09:07 AM
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Originally Posted by AdrianFly
Check out youtube of the Tour De France when they are in the mountains. Unless they are attacking or defending they are seated in the climb.
Isn't there one guy who always stands?
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Old 06-21-14, 09:15 AM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
a mix of both.. Oklahoma is not famous for its mountains .. where are you riding?
From someone on the left coast ---- actually, Oklahoma is quite hilly...............
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Old 06-21-14, 09:23 AM
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Remain on your saddle if you can, it's easier, and you've a long day at work. On the way home hammer up the hills for fun if you like. Enjoy the ride
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Old 06-21-14, 10:13 AM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
a mix of both.. Oklahoma is not famous for its mountains .. where are you riding?
In south broken arrow and south tulsa, plenty of natural hills up and down along the path I'll be taking. 9 miles of my route will be along a turnpike trail. The turnpike alternates a few times between being elevated or sunk in relation to the regular streets, every mile there's an entrance/exit ramp and the trail follows those ramps, have to go up or down to cross those city streets rather than remaining elevated or sunk with the turnpike so 9 good man-made hills too.

Out in Southeast OK there are some big hills that some people call mountains.

Last edited by John Redcorn; 06-21-14 at 10:47 AM.
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Old 06-21-14, 10:32 AM
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There is no right or wrong. It all depends on what type of bike you're riding...I have no choice but to stand up because all my bikes are FG/SS...The only way for me to get up hills is to stand up on the pedals.
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Old 06-21-14, 12:14 PM
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Hills? What are hills?
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Old 06-21-14, 01:06 PM
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The Maastricht 'Alps', dude .. try the hills in Liège, just across the border..

Here is a street that is entirely steps .. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li%C3%A...h_Montagne.jpg

Last edited by fietsbob; 06-22-14 at 11:01 AM.
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Old 06-21-14, 03:17 PM
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Originally Posted by imi
Isn't there one guy who always stands?
Marco Pantani was famous for standing ALL THE TIME with his hands in the drops. Most everybody else will stand depending on the situation, but with their hands on the brake hoods.

As for the OP -- standing vs. sitting... there are pros and cons to doing both. The good climbers I know can do both equally well. Play around. Move around on the bike. Figure out what works for you. Stand through the curves, sit on the straights. Sit through the curves, stand on the straightaways.
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Old 06-21-14, 03:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave Horne
Hills? What are hills?
Places without hills often have headwinds to compensate.
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Old 06-21-14, 04:15 PM
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To be honest, I'll stand when I'm too lazy to shift. There's a slight incline near my house that I take all the time and sometimes I'll stand.

I think we're running out of topics here.
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Old 06-21-14, 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Dave Horne
Hills? What are hills?
HILL. Nearly impossible to describe, as individual definitions vary so widely, but you'll know it when you see it. Some go up. Other, more popular ones, go down. Do not panic when you see the 'up' variety. Instead, carefully assess the gradient, mentally flip through your available gears to find its equal, then dismount and enjoy your ability to become an instant pedestrian.
– The Pedaller's A-Z

Originally Posted by KevinF
Marco Pantani was famous for standing ALL THE TIME with his hands in the drops.
What kind of triangle did that make? I'd strain myself just googling it.

Originally Posted by wolfchild
There is no right or wrong. It all depends on what type of bike you're riding...I have no choice but to stand up because all my bikes are FG/SS...The only way for me to get up hills is to stand up on the pedals.
Another singlespeeder here, on a steady diet of hills. As the going gets tougher, spend more time out of the saddle than on, each turn of the cranks a little victory. When I had gears I was on the spin cycle.


Really steep hills can cause hallucinations near the summit.

Last edited by 905; 06-22-14 at 04:36 AM. Reason: Bob Seger and the bite the bullet band
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Old 06-21-14, 07:08 PM
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Lol we have a 4% incline on one of the brevets that the local council labeled at 40%! You look at the 'hill', look at the sign and think huh?
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Old 06-22-14, 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
a mix of both.. Oklahoma is not famous for its mountains .. where are you riding?
Eastern Oklahoma has some very nasty little mountains. Much worse for bicycling than anything you'll find in the western US. They, like most places east of the Mississippi, run roads straight over the mountains without considering terrain. This isn't in Oklahoma but it's only about 3 miles from the border with Arkansas



The road in the distance isn't another road. And there was a huge valley in between the tops of the hill.
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Old 06-22-14, 11:04 AM
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My town has streets steeper than that .. straight up, over landslides, that were just repaved after they slipped.


but I push my bike up those, or actually go indirectly around them a few blocks to get to the top of the hill

not as light and strong at 67 as I was at 30.

so there is .. sit, stand, and get off and push .. traditional British, the 'push-bike' is the one without the engine.

Last edited by fietsbob; 06-22-14 at 12:26 PM.
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