Quote Originally Posted by indysteel View Post
I second (or third) the suggestion that you try some spinning classes. When we climb out of the saddle in class, we're encourage to keep our butt over the saddle with the weight of our body mostly in our legs. You might trying the same thing when you're on the road. Kate
This is something I've encountered in spinning class as well and has never made sense to me (I feel like I'm just not getting something). When I stand on my bike, my butt is definitely well forward of the saddle, and generally my weight is also pretty far forward. If I'm standing and coasting, to go over something rough, my hips are probably over the bottom bracket, and for a standing climb, I think you want your weight ahead of/or at least on top of/coming down on your forward pedal. I've never seen video/pics of myself doing a standing climb, but I certainly FEEL like my mass is forward of the bottom bracket.

It seems to me (and I'd be interested in hearing other points of view) that if your butt is over your saddle when you stand to climb, you're really not taking advantage of the extra power you can get from standing and putting your weight over your pedals. Plus if you're climbing a steep hill, if anything you want to favor weighting the front wheel rather than the rear.

I'm sorry if this is a bit of a drift. But I wonder if this could have something to do with your difficulty too -- I think it's actually harder to stand and pedal if your weight is far back, and it becomes easier (in my opinion at least) and feels more balanced if you do shift forward.

And Sara -- when I first got my roadbike a year ago, it was the first time I'd been on a bike in like 15 years and I was petrified. I got clipless pedals way before I should have (like a week after I got the bike, when I was still stiff and nervous and couldn't let go of the handlebar even to swat a bug). So I can totally empathize with being afraid of falling ... A year later I'm totally comfortable commuting in traffic, can grab my water bottle, drink and replace it at 20mph, and love to blast down hills .

Oh one more thing -- I wonder if having your seat so low is making it harder for you to stand? Esp if you've pushed it way back to accomodate for how low it is? You have to push farther and shift your weight more to get up than you would with it higher, probably...

Good luck!!!