STEVEtheEMT

this feels like its such a noob question and for that i apologize, but all day i see old guys, fat guys, skinny guys and every other kind of cyclist ascend hill after hill without ever leaving the saddle, and i just cant wrap my head around how or why you would do this. Generally, if i can see the peak of any hill, i get up out of the saddle. of course iv never even attempted to climb lookout mountain or any kind of serious, long climb for that matter because i know i would exhaust myself incredibly fast.

whats the technique? throw it into a low gear and up your cadence? because i tried that today and it felt like more work than standing up. help? help a noob?

pdedes

put it in a bigger gear and whack away

tkehler

I stand up every 15-20 minutes on a climb -- for 2-3 minutes -- to give my body a stretch and alleviate the pressure on my ass. Works for me.

ridethecliche

When you stand you put it in a bigger gear, then shift back down to an easier gear.

Caad 8

I keep seated to keep the load off my knees.

crhilton

I stand on most decent hills to give my butt a rest and stretch my legs a little. Sometimes I'll stand on a flat, because we just don't have enough hills and I need a break from sitting.

rangerdavid

standing is good from time to time to stretch your legs, and in general just a change of position.

redlizard

As a general rule, standing is less efficient than sitting, with the exception of full on sprinting. That being said, it does feel good, after having been in the saddle awhile. It can also be helpful in getting your cadence back up, if you're caught in the wrong gear. Generally, if I'm riding up a nice climb behind a guy and he stands up, he briefly loses momentum and I glide on by. His bike is wiggling back and forth, while all my power is smoothly going forward.

I'm not saying I don't stand, but I try to do it judiciously, such as when my ass needs a break or I'm caught in wrong gear (my bad) or nearing a peak and too lazy to shift down or something similar.

Daytrip

What tkehler said about relieving the strain on your ass. I realized early on that when you stand to climb (or go like a mofo on the flats), it goes a long way to getting the blood flowing in your groin. Just standing up and coasting doesn't do the trick--you need to be pumping some blood. Works like a charm, especially on long rides.

As also mentioned, shift up a gear or two on the ascents when you pedal out of the saddle. You'll be pleased at how much quicker you reach the top. One thing I did notice is that standing up while climbing requires more cardio-vascular workout than climbing while sitting. The latter is tougher on your knees--at least it is on mine. So I like to mix it up--especially since I have stronger cardio than guads--at the moment.

I'm just a fitness-rec-medicinal rider, so I don't worry about cadence. If you do, you might want to alter your stance accordingly.

Eclectus

Shift up and stand, use those glutes, push, get back to spinning speed (or close, then sitdown and downshift) notice your speedo go up. After some practice, you can get up to and maintain spinning speed out of the saddle in a higher gear than sitting down. It works, with practice.

acaurora

Fred question of the day: Downshifting = going to a smaller sized gear, right ?

JonnyUtah75

I find seeing people on long climbs in the saddle the whole time very strange as well. I usually drop my gear and spin for the beginning of the climb, then shift to a substantially higher gear and stand up the rest of the way. I get up the hill MUCH faster than sitting in a low gear - granted I'm pretty winded by the top, but isn't getting a workout part of the reason we cycle?

bretgross

Downshifting = "easier" gear = bigger back gear or smaller (front) chainring

acaurora

Ah, yeah. Ever since moving here in Roseville was when I used my granny gear for the first time. It felt so weird switching to it. I'll have to try said method of upshifting, standing, then hammering up.

bretgross

BINGO!
Which always has me wondering why we spend hundred$ of dollar$ to save a fews grams of weight, if we're not racing with the pros?

"The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war."

tubescreamerx

it's much less efficient to expend the extra energy for support/stabilizing muscles when you're standing out of the saddle. if you find it impossible or merely very difficult to sit and spin then you don't have proper gearing for the terrain. the point is that you could be getting to the top of the climb with less energy, and also spinning (with proper form) allows greater activation of your hamstrings while standing generally utilizes (to a greater degree) your body weight and quads. if you're measuring in terms of speed, well then yeah, you get up faster with more energy expenditure. but you could also do that by spinning a harder gear, but apparently your legs aren't strong enough to do that, so you resort to the added advantage of your body weight.

it had to be stated

Tapeworm21

I stand out of the saddle when I feel like it. No science behind it. Sometimes it just feels natural. There are times when I'll crunch the highest gear I can while staying seated though. It works the gloots nicely. And women like a tight ass.

umd

Um... what's your idea of a long climb?

STEVEtheEMT

hmm. ok so basically, the reason i find it easier, and really just more comfortable, to stand out of the saddle and work my cardio on an ascent is because im a pretty new cyclist and the leg power just isnt there yet to comfortably(and with any shred of speed) get up a hill while sitting? i can deal with being told "you suck at riding a bike because you havnt been doing it long enough" thats really fine with me, i just want to understand the reasoning behind why it feels so impossible for me to go to a small gear and just spin and spin and spin to get up a hill.

i think another part of my new riding is that i 1) very rarely change gears even over the course of a 50 mile ride and 2) i think i generally have a pretty low cadence. from what ive seen in these forums, it seems like a higher cadence at less resistence is a much more efficient techniqe, but at this point i find it easier to have a lower cadence with more resistence just because my legs get tired spinning very fast.

man, when i write it down i feel like i dont know anything about riding a bike at all...damn...i need a mentor or something cuz idk wtf im doing. i also should probably get my bike fitted...

Aspenator

I feel the same way. Just decided to get a defy 3, and was fine with my purchase until I started reading so much into it. Do I really need to be able to shift in the drops on my first bike? Should I get a less relaxed geometry then the Defy?

Reading some posts makes me feel like I need to give up any hopes of cycling becoming a hobby for me. I feel like I need a 2k bike and a coach to teach me how to ride correctly.

I feel extremely behind, I wish I kept riding a bike after I started to drive. Stupid teenager, sold my bmx bike and never looked back. I have no idea what to do about switching gears, and as soon as I read and think I have a grasp, I read something else, and feel that I have sooo far to go.

STEVEtheEMT

^^
well i dont really feel like im doubting my ability to become a solid cyclist, because i know some day i will but i think the best way to learn is to ask questions. i dont know any local cyclists so i figured id pop online and get as many answers as i could. unfortunately i think my problems extend far beyond even my own understanding so im not always sure what questions to ask

umd

Sounds like you are reading too much into it. One could go crazy on these forums if you try to internalize everything at once. People ride for different reasons, have different issues and situations, and different levels of experience.

You don't need a bike where you can shift from the drops unless you want to be able to shift from the drops. If you aren't riding in the drops much, then you aren't likely to care about shifting from them. As you ride more you may use the drops more, and it may become an annoyance. Likewise, starting out with a more relaxed geometry is probably good for someone that hasn't developed the core strength and flexibility of more experienced riders.

Obviously none of that is necessary. All you need is a bike, and to go out and enjoy it.

Shifting a bike is not that far from shifting a car. The engine (you) likes to rev within a certain range. The transmission allows the engine to stay in the happy range over a ride variety of speeds.

I don't believe that there aren't any local cyclists that you could find and learn from.

zeo_max

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The best way to learn is to get your ass out there and ride. I'm hearing a lot of whining here about how we need to come to the internet to learn to ride a bike. You, and the guy above you, really need to HTFU

STEVEtheEMT

lol right, because theres no one out there who has been doing something day in and day out for years and still doesnt do it correctly. im an emt and i worked with a paramedic who has been doing his job for over 20 years. he tried to fit a guy who had just been in a car accident for a cervical(neck, dont giggle) collar and did it so incorrectly that the guys neck actually ended up bending more than if we just left him alone all together.

my point is, repetition when your doing something wrong doesnt fix the problem. i ride my bike every day and i felt there was something wrong with what i was doing, so im asking questions. thank you puerto rico.

zeo_max

Well, you see, in Puerto Rico, there are other people who ride bikes besides me, so when I feel like I need to get more experience on the very basics of riding a bike, a go to a group ride of people more experienced than me, and they naturally teach me when they see me doing things wrong. I'm just saying, that just feels a lot less......how is it you roadies say......"Freddier", than learning to ride a bike from the internet. Now let me make it clear, I think you started with a legit topic, it's the "reading too much into it" thing, that's really out of place.