Cadence when out of saddle?
 

What cadence do you guys do when out of the saddle on climbs? same climb, when you sit down again, what would your cadence be.

I try to maintain 80 on climbs seated, but often it drops to 70, and of course out of saddle it is even lower. Just wanted an idea of what others maintain.

For me the same roughly. Different numbers but same idea.

^^Would like to know the numbers actually. What I mean is that a guy who does 70 seated, how much lower would he do standing?

I usually shift two cogs smaller, unless my seated cadence is already very low. That's about 15% to 30% harder (21/27=1.28, or 28%) and I might drop my speed a little after I stand. I don't notice the cadence reading on the computer. This example, 70 rpm at the 27 cog, a shift to 21 would give 54 rpm (70/1.28=54.6)

I'm trying to balance over the crank, with little hand pressure on the bars, either pressing down or pulling up. It feels like climbing steps: I'm just using my weight on the pedal.

If I stand with the original cadence, I can't maintain it for very long. My heart rate would go way up.

I checked some of my Garmin recorded rides:

I have a 34-29 low gear. On an 18% grade, I can stay balanced and ride at 3 mph, that's about 33 rpm, or one pedal stroke a second. (60 rpm is two pedal strokes a second.)

On a less steep climb, when standing, I'll often drop into the mid-40 to mid-50 rpm range. That would kill my knees if I was sitting down.

^^Maybe that's my problem? I don't think I let my cadence go low enough, and my HR shoots well above lactate threshold so fast.

I average 90 on my typical rides with hills. 95+ avg on flats. Standing I'm between 70 and 80. 80 and above I sit down. I very rarely drop below 70.

Cadence is only part of the equation. How hard you're pushing is the other part. I can max out aerobically at either lower or higher cadences by pushing hard.