I'm not built to be a climber; so take whatever I say with a grain of salt. It's been my experience that if the hill is short and I am able to power up the hill without downshifting, that's usually the lowest-energy way as well as the fastest way to do it. The trick is knowing when to surrender to the inevitable; that is, as hills get longer you have to know your limits and downshift before you blow yourself up trying to horse your way up.

Or, in un-scientific terms, I try to hit every hill, at least at the bottom, as hard as I can. As the season progresses, and in a Pavlov's Dog scenario, the hills learn to see me approaching and lie down in submission. Unfortunately, the larger ones will always be slow learners. ;)

Although the video above seems pretty definitive, there is a great deal of variability among us. After a while, you just know what feels right. Copying some else's style or cadence or gearing is foolish.

Personally, unless it is very steep and very short, I'd rather sit and grind it out in my 34-32. In my younger days, when all we had were 42-26, then it was either stand or fall over. Much more fun now.

Do what's comfortable for you. The normal response is 'sit and shift down', but here's "stand and mash" expert Chris Horner (red jersey) in the 2014 Vuelta a Espana beating Vincenzo Nibali, and winning the overall title the next day.

Which article are you referring to? the Joel Friel article, the one with no science in it and that ended in the following statement?

Standing on hills, even steep hills, is easy. I can do it for hours.

Riding my bike up them, on the other hand ....

[MENTION=484412]livedarklions[/MENTION], [MENTION=145848]downtube42[/MENTION], and [MENTION=392125]79pmooney[/MENTION] pretty much hit all the high points.

All these "here's how to do it Right" coaches are selling their systems. If you don't fit their system, ..... According to the How to Climb index, I shouldn't be trying so hard to climb out of my grave. That's not "science," it is numbers associated with a totally arbitrary concocted system which has more exceptions than validating data.


How to Ride a Bike: Put bike between legs. Put feet on pedals, Spin pedals.

Spinning pedals is optional.

If you are doing it at all, you are doing it right.

What a load of fascinating answers.
I have been out a few times on some short very steep climbs over the last few days and tried both ways.
Suffice to say, I found that it all comes down to what feels right at the time.
Sometimes standing feels right when you're able to power up until you hit a break and then sit.
Other times I've felt like sitting and spinning and getting up with my lungs still in my body.
Like a lot of people have said, whatever works best. I personally find that standing is more fun and gets me there quicker so I shall continue doing that for as long as possible even if my body weight ratio calculation is screaming at me to sit!
Thank you all for these great answers.

The thought has crossed my mind, that it is possible I could snap off a pedal if I stand. I probably don't want to do that.

I'd rather sit and and spin in a lower gear. Our "hills" though are generally pretty mild and that's how I like them.

Everyone is different. You could find a hill to your liking, spray or chalk a mark at the top & bottom. I have a stopwatch func in my wristwatch. Time both styles x times, give us a full report. Beware of breaking a pedal.

There is nothing I like more than powering over a hill in a big gear after hitting the bottom with some speed. You can always sit and spin if it doesn't work.
I call it "fat people tricks"
Ever since I started riding a lot of gravel where standing doesn't work well, I have mostly gone to lower gears and sitting on climbs.