How to learn to get out of the saddle

[zoom-zoom]

I have no idea why I can't do it...it just feels un-natural to me and I have poor balance, although I could easily do it as a kid. At this point I've pretty much given up on it.

I tried to stand the other day and made it maybe 3-4 pedals before I said screw it. My knees were angry.

I don't get it, though...like you, I could do it as a kid, no prob.

[Eden]

One reason you can have trouble standing is too long a reach on your bike. If you have to reach too far, when you stand you will pretty much always feel like you are falling forward. It will feel awkward and difficult and it won't give you too much mechanical advantage.

[OakLeaf]

If your cleats are misaligned, the forces involved in standing will magnify the torque on your knees. Same with weakness in the hip stabilizers that don't necessarily get a lot of use when you're in the saddle. Something to think about.

Related to what Eden said about reach, try to keep your weight over your bottom bracket. That'll both help keep your weight over the rear wheel (to give you traction so the tire doesn't slip) and help you fully extend your knees. Don't be shy about fully extending your legs.

To me, climbing and sprinting out of the saddle pretty much feels like doing step-ups. Which, again, use a lot of hip stabilizer muscle to keep the knees in alignment.


ETA: the OP asked about tight turns, too. It's not really one of my strengths but the general principle is to look where you want to go. Scan the ground for obstacles and loose stuff, then pick your eyes up and look over your shoulder. Looking at the ground is a sure way to wind up on it. Unlike a high-speed turn, don't lean into the turn, but keep your weight centered or even slightly to the outside. And commit, don't hesitate, once you're in the turn.

[jodz1984]

if you are doing a sharp turn without pedalling also have your inside legs bent, this allows for better control of centre of gravity with you other leg. also as previously mentioned look where you are going and make sure you have enough speed if you are doing the turn. best thing to do is get some witches hats and go to an empty car park near you and put the hats out or any sort of marker and just practise.

i cannot give any advice on standing tho, that is just a natural thing to me, although my coach is getting me to stand and sprint while hands in the drops, that is a weird feelings, and man my butt was sore becuase of the way he told us to ride. maybe you could get speed up on flat ground and stand up without pedalling just to get a feeling on it.

[Owlie]

I can stand and get back in the saddle, no problem. I hate doing it, though, because I feel horribly unstable, like I'm going to fall to one side or the other with each pedal stroke. I get to about ten and call it quits. I'm another one who could do it until the cows came home as a kid, too... No advice here, just commiseration.

[sarahspins]

I can't stand and pedal for long.. it just puts way too much stress on my knees and that was even without clipless pedals, so I doubt it's a cleat alignment issue.. and it isn't that it feels unstable, I just plain don't like it, so that's incentive enough to not do it more I do stand up and stretch every 10 minutes or so, but that's different - I'm not pedaling, except to switch legs.

I could do it non-stop as a kid and my 8yo almost never has his butt in the saddle.. but now, nope, no way.

[zoom-zoom]

I tried to stand the other day and made it maybe 3-4 pedals before I said screw it. My knees were angry.

I don't get it, though...like you, I could do it as a kid, no prob.

I'm chuckling reading this now. Standing is no biggie for me at this point. I think becoming more comfortable with my bike-handling skills after the Winter really helped. I practiced a lot of standing drills this past Winter on the trainer. Come Spring it really wasn't too tough to do it on the roads.

[JennK13]

even a month ago, I would have related to this - I was so afraid of being clipped in a standing, that I would fall and not catch myself because I was clipped in. I have absolutely no idea how or when it happened; I wasn't practicing or trying to stand, but I can do it now with no problems, and for quite a distance. I don't think I tried to do it that much before because I read that it's hard on the knees, so why would I bother??? But when I got a weekend job as a group ride leader, I started doing it as a ways for me to go uphills at a slower pace when I was riding sweep so I could stay back with the slower riders. I know it sounds crazy, but I don't have a really low gear on my CX bike, so spinning for me makes me go faster than those spinning up in a granny gear - and I can only spin so slow (any slower and I would fall over; the gear is just too big to spin "freely"). If I grab a couple gears and stand, I can ride a little slower just going from side to side...I'm stable standing up, and it doesn't take as much pressure from me to pedal because I'm using gravity (rather than spinning and using my own muscles). And, I found that, at least for me, it doesn't hurt my knees. Ever since I "discovered" I could do it, I started doing it more on my own or in my faster group rides, and find I can get up hills a lot better than I used to.

[MCAP]

I have a really hard time standing up to pedal as well. I assume it has to do with my lack of core strength. The bike wobbles left and right as I pedal. I don't ever stand up going up hills. I think I'll start working on it some and perhaps really work on it on the trainer this winter.

[OakLeaf]

The way I understand it, you're actually supposed to let the bike go side-to-side while your body stays vertical. That's the most efficient way, I've read. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. You'll see the pros doing it (sprinting, too).

[chicagogal]

I used to rarely (read, never) stand while climbing. This is partly because I can spin uphill really efficiently, but also because I never felt stable out of the saddle on climbs.

Then, I bought a new bike, and without thinking about it I am climbing out of the saddle (and sprinting out of the saddle) so much more than I used to.

I never would have guessed, but I think frame geometry plays a big role here. I don't think it is about bike fit because my old bike fits me like a glove (arguably better than the new one).