Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Well not really. Watch a pro climbing OOS. The butt hardly goes up and down at all, so it is the leg extension that's doing the work::
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hf3KOgFhwU
OTOH your point about the weight distribution is well taken. Weight on the hands robs power because you're taking some of your aerobic potential and using it for upper back, shoulder, and arm muscles which should be almost completely resting. You want to move your weight back over the BB, the backs of your thighs just touching the saddle horn, If anything, you want to be pulling up slightly on the bars so as to put a little more pressure on the pedals, plus rocking the bike slightly.
Another thing which folks find difficult is simply turning the pedals over. When in the saddle, you have the friction there to push and pull against so as to move the pedals through top and bottom dead center. Standing, you have to work the two legs against each other at top and bottom to keep pressure on the pedals. This is going to involve actively lifting the leg on the back stroke so you can then push the pedal over the top. Most runners can pedal very easily and efficiently OOS because they are used to lifting their back ley as part of their stride. Many riders rely on the downstroke to push the back leg up. Not helpful.
Not my experience at all. My good climbing bikes have long stems, set well below the seat (though not pro racer or radically) and the longest brake hoods I can get with the levers set low. If I don't have a full reach to the bars I find I am not expanding my torso and chest and pay a price in oxygen deficit. In my racing days I hadn't evolved yet to very long stems but all my stems had notches under their "chins" from being slammed. I was not a slouch climbing. Fellow racers didn't like seeing me at the start of hilly races.
A real plus of my position - if I had to climb in a stiff headwind, my back was already near horizontal. (Notice Marco Pantani in your photo. He also seemed to have missed your message.) Oh, when I climb hard, the backs of my thighs are nowhere near the tip of my seat. I do concur with pulling up on the back stroke. I do a lot. Also push/pull over the top and bottom but that gets zero thought. It is just part of my years of practice spinning circles. (I have done a very different pure push/pull on my fix gearing in huge gears. A maybe 8% max hill lugging a 42-12 so I wouldn't have to do another pair of stops to flip the wheel. It as quite different and kinda fun.)