Desert Ryder

Do you stay seated and spin when climbing or you more of a stand and grind kind of rider?
I've always had great leg strength and I've always been more of a grinder. On my ride routes, mostly flats, rolling hills with a few steeper climbs, I feel better standing and grinding a big gear over sitting and spinning. This is using vintage mountain or road bikes and old school toe clips, cinched tight, pushing and pulling each stroke.
If a longer climb I will shift to a smaller gear as needed but normally try to grind it out and recover after getting over the peak.

rsbob 

Reformed grinder and now a spinner, except on short punchy climbs, where I am out of the saddle. And/or on long climbs, I stand occasionally to break up the spinning.

terrymorse 

I’m an 80/20 climber, more or less.

80% in the saddle, 20% out of the saddle.

chaadster

Standing/seated and grinding/spinning are not interchangeable. Grinding or spinning is just about pedaling speed, and it’s possible tp pedal at different speeds when either sitting or standing.

That said, as a heavyweight cyclist, I’m almost always seated for climbs, and because I run out of gearing very quickly on slopes, I’d have to say I’m also a grinder, although if I have the power to keep cadence up, I do, so I’m a grinder out of necessity rather than desire.

Climbs send me into the red zone on both HR and power very easily and without any competitive return in speed , so I need to manage output carefully, and being seated and pedaling slower both can help in that tegard.

Fredo76

Having ridden up the back side of Gates Pass in a 52/15, sitting down, I was a magnificent grinder in my youth.

Now I'm a would-be spinner, and a wheezer, too.

Mtracer

I'm a spinner until I run out of gears and become a grinder.

samonzeweb

Having enough gear options AND not having strong enough legs, I'm a total spinner.

Also there are less risks of injury when spinning than forcing too much on the pedals ("too much" depends on each person).

seypat

This. If it's a long climb, I'll stand 1 minute every 10 to keep the cramps away.

Jughed

Grinder.

Ex power lifter, so I have the leg strength. All of my pedal power comes in at lower heart rates and lower cadence levels - I have a lower max heart rate than many, spinning at high power for long durations cause me to blow up.

BobbyG

At 62, I spin more than I used to, but I still enjoy getting out of the saddle and hustling a bike up a steep hill...just not as often.

Cdubs

Spinner. Unless its a super short steep climb.

riverdrifter

Spinner mostly.

RB1-luvr

my lower spine prefers I stand as much as possible and spin. Grinding out climbs seated hurts my herniated L2, L3, though racing cyclocross since 2015 has given me more seated capabilities.

Sierra_rider

Mostly a spinner, unless the gradient is too steep to spin. I do alternate between sitting and standing, but I'd hardly call my standing grinding...My standing cadence is typically 75-80 rpm, which is fast for standing IMO. Sitting is 90-100rpm. I rely on my current cardio fitness to keep the heart rate down on such efforts.

ScottCommutes

I'm a spinner. I'm never out of the saddle for more than two or three revolutions.

kcjc

Is seating at 50-60 rpm still considered spinning? Relative, I guess. Seated normally, but I do stand occasionally to stretch or when it really gets hard.

Amt0571

After suffering from knee pains for a couple of years, I became a spinner.

That doesn't mean I don't grind sometimes, mainly when I don't have a lower gear available or when I'm standing.

I only really stand to relieve my bottom after long hours, when I want to go really fast on a short climb, sprint to catch up a friend, or accelerate swiftly.

seypat

It seems like there is a general rule about weight/height ratio which determines whether you should sit/spin or stand/grind. Something like over 2lbs/inch you should sit and spin.

WaveyGravey

Stay seated and spin.

Smaug1

This is exactly what I do. I can't maintain the standing grinding like I can sitting w/ fast spinning.

CAT7RDR

Primarily slow spin in the 80 rpm range but will frequently stand for about 20-40 pedals to work different muscles and give my behind a break.
Much depends on the steepness of the grade and length.
If in the 10%+ range, I will mostly sit and spin out of fear of blowing up before peaking.
My road bikes are 34:34 and 30;27 low gear ranges and my rigid MTB that I ride on road is a 24:34 so I have very low gearing to spin.

chaadster

No, that's universally low cadence for either hills or flats, so that's grinding.

KerryIrons

Or more generally, under 140 lb (10 stone, 65 kg) standing works pretty well. Over 170 lb. (12 stone, 77 kg) you spend too much energy keeping that body weight going up and down. Beyond the numbers, personal preference dominates.

genejockey 

Depends on which bike I'm on. My old bikes have slightly better than "period correct" gears for 1980s racing bikes, like 52/42 x 13-26, so with them it's 'sit and grind", whereas my Canyon has 52/36 x 11-34, so with it I sit and spin. I also take it up longer hills than the old bikes. Since I weigh just a bit over 200 lbs, I don't do much out of the saddle climbing, though I'm working on that.

zandoval 

Seat? Who needs a seat?
That was the old days... Ha

Now days my balance is so bad I have to stay in the seat just to stay up. For me its a sitting spinning climb into the hill, transitioning into a slow mash, transitioning into an unsteady dismount...

AND THEN THE WALK OF SHAME!