Transitioning From Sitting to Standing When Climbing Hills

[lph]

Yup, Oak had it. Commit, and get up, all the way. Once you're up, straighten your knees and stand. Well, don't straighten them all the time :-), but do aim for straightening your knee completely from time to time, if not on every pedal stroke.

I stand a lot, sometimes because my legs start screaming on a hill if I don't, sometimes just to catch a better glimpse of the next intersection, sometimes to get a bit of extra oomph to get out of an intersection fast and not have to discuss right-of-way with a driver who looks clueless. It doesn't have anything to do with racing or better or worse, it's just a handy but not absolutely necessary skill which some people like to use more than others.

[Crankin]

If I had to think about all of those things (stand straight, 10 inches this way, pull up, opposite arm and leg), it would kill my enjoyment. Maybe I'm weird, but I can't think like that and ride at the same time.
Do what feels best.

[lph]

Well if I still had to think about all the things I thought about when learning to ride a bike - or drive a car - I wouldn't be doing either of them either!

[Sky King]

99 percent of the time I am the granny gear hill climber but upon occasion I do stand, especially on long rides. What I don't see mentioned here is to realize when you stand you are probably going to want to gear down first. Trying playing with different (slightly harder gears) as you stand and see if that helps. If I stand in to easy of a gear I totally fell it in my quads.

[OakLeaf]

You mean gear up. More often than not, I'll shift up *two* gears to stand.


And just to beat my usual drum, I wonder also if crankarm length might be an issue for the OP. I can stand on my commuter with its 175mm crankarms, but I'm bouncing WAY up and down, rocking my hips a lot, and bending my knees WAY too much at the top of the stroke *and* locking them out at the bottom if I'm not careful. If I didn't already have plenty of experience with road bikes, I'm not sure if I would be able to.

I'm also not sure that I would switch to shorter cranks if standing were the only problem I was having with them, but my knees won't tolerate longer than 165 at all.

Also, one caution about "keeping your butt back" - with the understanding that we have indeed given you way too much to think about - just be careful not to hook your chamois on the nose of your saddle.

[Sky King]

You mean gear up. More often than not, I'll shift up *two* gears to stand.

need more coffee!!!!

[MollyJ]

This thread has given me a lot to think about. I can stand and pedal on my hybrid but have big trouble making it any thing but a brief grab on my road bike (with its drop bars). Sometimes its just nice to change your position but it does seem that you can get some power out of standing up--not that I've been able to realize it.

I agree that there is a lot to think about here. I'm swimming and the coach asks us often to think about incorporating a new way of doing things in swimming. At first it always feels awkward and counterproductive but (because I have faith in the coach) I push through and it makes things better.

But I think breaking the effort down into a first things first approach helps too. Here's what I'm thinking. First things first might include: Hands on the hood or top bars not the drop bars. Question here is do you put them so that they wrap around towards your gear levers or just front and center on the bars?

Finding the appropriate gear that gives you a bit more resistance but not too much also seems important.

Committing to stand and using the counter pressure on the handle bars seems like it is pretty important, too.

Would those of you who do it recommend a different order of focus.