'dancing' on the peddles

[Basil.B]

I have to climb hills out of the saddle, I've only got single speed bike (52 x 19).
I enjoy a good hill though! Always try to include at least 3 hill climbs on my rides.

 

[Hacienda71]

We are often in Holmes Chapel [outlaws] and ride into the peaks from there, perhaps we can do a ride together sometime next year.

Would be good, family commitments permitting. Let me know when you are up. I am sure there are a few other CC members in Cheshire and Manchester who be up for a hilly ride given a bit of notice as well.

 

[VamP]

Everyone should practice out of the saddle riding, it is one of the key good riding skills. As to relative efficiency of seated/standing? It's a non-issue, both have their place, and frankly being able to use both on really long climbs enables you to vary your position and avoid getting fatigued.

As to the OP, if you can only stand up pedal for that short a time, then you definitely need to practice more. And learn to spell pedals... ...before the Drug Squad start taking an interest.

Just the other day, I was out on a cross country ride, and my saddle broke. Ended up riding 5 miles out of the saddle... Like I said, an essential skill.

 

[snailracer]

http://sheldonbrown.com/standing.html

 

[snailracer]

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4512

 

[Dan_h]

I used to find standing up out of the saddle very difficult and hardly ever bothered, just changing down gears and spinning. Then I changed to a single speed bike and found the only way to climb was out of the saddle. This lead to sore arms, shoulder, back, and of course legs. It gets easier though and now I can climb most hills on my singlespeed and I find myself out of the saddle without really thinking about it.

 

[totallyfixed]

http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4512

Thank you!
I also found this by a friend of mine who I was talking to at a dinner just a couple of weeks ago, amazing coincidence. He and his wife train the British Triathlon Squad [I'll forgive him that] and I used to lead club rides that they came on. This is much better than I could ever put it and worth a good look:

What are the characteristics of good riding out of the saddle?​

• getting the bodyweight over the front pedal (laterally & longitudinally)
• pedaling in circles (ankling)
• keeping the body relatively still
• relaxation
• control

Bodyweight:
Getting the body weight onto the front pedal requires you to get your knees as far forwards as possible and to tilt the bike. There should be very little weight on the handlebars. This is easiest to achieve by tucking your bum in and impossible to achieve by sticking your bum out. It is the job of the hands and arms to control the tilt of the bike.

Yes!
No!
No! No! No!

Pedaling in circles:
Simply standing on the pedal will force it to the bottom. Good out of the saddle riding requires you to flex your ankle strongly to create a curved downstroke whilst lifting the other leg out of the way of the pedal coming up. If this action is strong enough there should be no dead spots and no break in the rhythm.
Keeping the body relatively still:
The general sense should be that you keep your head and body still & swing the bike from side to side (rather than swinging your body back and forth across the bike). Trying to keep your body rigidly still results in very tense style, however, so don't take this too literally!
Relaxation:
Relaxation is the key to doing anything well. Riding out of the saddle uses a lot of muscles: Besides the legs the arms, shoulders, chest, back & core muscles all play their part in providing a strong and stable platform for transmitting power. As I mentioned above, there should be little or no weight on the arms - you should not feel as though you are doing press-ups. It's important to keep a very light grip on the handlebars.
Control:
Unless you are sprinting on the drops you should hold onto the brake hoods. Holding on anywhere else compromises your control of the bike. In general, you have better control the wider, and further forward, your hands are (this is why MTB riders fit bar ends). Some riders hold the hoods with all of their fingers behind the brake levers: Others, particularly with the increasing size and ergonomic sculpting of brake hoods, have a finger or two in front of the lever.

How to improve:​

Ride slowly in a big gear. This slows the cadence enough to work on the movement pattern.
Exaggerate your ankle movement - especially during the up stroke. I tip my toes vertically downwards to prevent me pressing down. See my page on LFC pedalling.
Throw your knees forwards during the upstroke. Think about throwing your knees over the handlebars. The biggest disadvantage of tribars is that the arm pads often occupy the space that your knees want to be in when riding out of the saddle.

Riding out of the saddle with Power Cranks is an interesting experience and demonstrates how much difference unweighting the recovering crank can make. As soon as you stand on the front crank you have no control of the speed at which it turns - other than to speed it up. To keep the cranks aligned you simply have to recover the other one at the same speed. The result, unless you are going up a steep hill, is very rapid acceleration. Riding out of the saddle on the flat, in a small gear, is impossible for more than a couple of seconds.
(The act of) standing up and sitting down.
I mention this because of the havoc that can be caused in a bunch or group by a rider who doesn't stand up or sit down properly - especially riding uphill. The cause of the havoc is the 'kick back' which happens if you don't lift or lower yourself using the front leg during the down stroke. Keep the pressure on!
Does the bike make any difference?
Riding out of the saddle is one time that a bike's characteristics really show: The overall weight, the stiffness, steering geometry, wheels, tyres and tyre pressure all have a substantial influence. Riding out of the saddle is easiest on a light, stiff bike, with short chainstays; light, stiff, low-profile wheels; light, hard, narrow, slick tyres and responsive steering. It's most difficult on a heavy, flexible bike with balloon tyres and slack steering. Aerodynamic wheels, especially on the front, make throwing the bike from side to side harder.
Tim Williams
Feb 2006

 

[YahudaMoon]

Cycling specific clothes help.

 

[lukesdad]

Love the matchtstick men but I really do prefer to hold the bars rather than no handed up hills

and another very good post Tf.

 

[Michael Halliday]

I'm not going to get technical with rpm simply because i just don't get all scientific about my fitness. maybe i should.
All I'll say is when I rode more regularly I had the same problem until a few club mates pointed out I was in too low a gear. WHAT? TOO LOW? I'M ON A BLOODY HILL< I NEED A LOW GEAR!
Well, lowish but, as has already been said, pushing a bit rather than spinning makes more efficient use of your energy. After that it's just practice, keep at it. But at a well built 6 foot hills were never my strong point anyway.

 

[totallyfixed]

Thanks lukesdad, what it shows though is that we are all very different in our natural abilities, the way we ride, what we ride and of course experience. There are many people on here with a lot to offer and the net effect can only be better and more enjoyable cycling.
Just to back track a bit, on the recent forum ride I did we encountered a few hills, two of the riders were on straight bars, one a strong rider the other a bit less so. Those on road bikes with drops looked far more comfortable honking up the hills than the straight bar riders. The reason [aside from the different geometry of the bikes] it is more difficult is that the natural position of your hands when standing, whether on or off the bike is the palms are facing inwards, this mirrors the hand position when climbing on the hoods or the drops. It is impossible to utilise the biceps and triceps very well with forward facing hands as on straight bars. Hell of a big subject this, almost feel sorry for beginners who thought cycling was straightforward

.

 

[uphillstruggler]

Believe it or not, I like hills.

there, I've said it!

It takes time to get it, but it is worth the time and effort. especially down the other side. you just need time and a little thought and practise.

best of luck.

 

[al-fresco]

I'm another that really struggled to get out of the saddle but after a few weeks on a fixie it's become second nature. You don't really have any choice in the matter! I'm hoping that I should see a big improvement when I finally get out on a geared bike again.

(Love the diagrams - I wondered if my knees should be brushing the top of the steerer - apparently they should!)

 

[VamP]

Hell of a big subject this, almost feel sorry for beginners who thought cycling was straightforward

.

You can say that again.

It goes up a level of complexity when you start looking at off road riding, as you need to start mixing what is efficient for you, with what is required by the constantly varying surface (traction, angle and obstacles) that you're riding on. Sometimes to get any traction at all you need your bum way back behind the saddle...

 

[lukesdad]

Thanks lukesdad, what it shows though is that we are all very different in our natural abilities, the way we ride, what we ride and of course experience. There are many people on here with a lot to offer and the net effect can only be better and more enjoyable cycling.
Just to back track a bit, on the recent forum ride I did we encountered a few hills, two of the riders were on straight bars, one a strong rider the other a bit less so. Those on road bikes with drops looked far more comfortable honking up the hills than the straight bar riders. The reason [aside from the different geometry of the bikes] it is more difficult is that the natural position of your hands when standing, whether on or off the bike is the palms are facing inwards, this mirrors the hand position when climbing on the hoods or the drops. It is impossible to utilise the biceps and triceps very well with forward facing hands as on straight bars. Hell of a big subject this, almost feel sorry for beginners who thought cycling was straightforward

.

The reason bar ends were brought in on mtbs, although now a lot of mtbers, say they are of no benefit !