Originally Posted by
terrymorse
No, standing does not require twice the energy than seated pedaling. For well-trained cyclists, standing and seated energy is about the same.
The power to the wheels is determined by how hard you work, not by your cycling position. You can produce more or less power standing, if you choose.
Yeah, if standing took twice the energy then nobody would be standing or if they did they would blow up after a few seconds!
My feeling is that I use a little less energy climbing seated, but sometimes alternating between seated and standing works well and standing is often more practical on very steep grades with normal road gearing. I find riding seated very difficult above 15% and pretty much impossible above 20% on a 1:1 gear.