Originally Posted by
terrymorse
A couple of comments:
It's less a pulling up on the bars and more a rocking the bars sideways. The rocking motion happens between the downward pushes on the pedals, when it's easiest to rock the bike.
When the bike is tipped to the side, it counter balances the off-center pedal force that wants to tip the bike over. If you don't tip the bike over, you have to use arm muscles to hold the bike upright.
Climbing out of the saddle is not that much more tiring that climbing in the saddle. Some folks say it's 10-15% less metabolically efficient. Clicking up a gear or two is a good idea, as the efficient out-of-the-saddle cadence is less than when seated.
I find it hard to do much more than about 70 rpm out of the saddle, and there's generally a cadence/force that feels "right" for want of a better word. A Goldilocks gear, so to speak, where one higher is too slow/hard, and one lower is too fast/easy.