I ride a regular loop that takes in Cheddar Gorge. I’m regularly overtaken by road riders that sail past and disappear into the distance never to be seen again. I’m only moderately fit, in my late forties and riding a heavish steel harddtail with fat tyres, so I’m never going to compete with fit youngsters on ultra-light road bikes, and I don’t try, but I have noticed that the roadies are often out of the saddle to gain a bit of extra power or to clear a short, steep incline.

For some reason I’ve only ever managed to climb seated and tend to wind my way up whatever in a low gear. I can lay down a bit of extra power too, but again I’m always seated (although there is a natural lift out of the saddle).

It’d be an old dog, new tricks sort of thing but am I short changing myself always climbing in the saddle and should I invest some times getting used to getting out of the saddle?

For sure. It’s really hard to explain technique over the interwebs, but yeah you want to stand sometimes… Just look at the pros. Standing allows you to exert more force, activates different muscle groups and also gives better circulation. Using all that as well will spread the load of the exertions.

Listen to your body, but roughly: when you hit a decent gradient, choose a gear that gives you a cadance of of 60-odd (or a little less) and settle into a slightly rocking ‘stride’ using appreciably more force than when you’re just pushing in the seat. Find the right gear that allows you to really get into it, use your upper back and shoulders to pull against the bars somewhat so you’re in a different form, really concentrate on feeling the balls of your feet forcing the pedals away.

Everybody is different, but the key is to change it up and get an efficient technique. Crank it.

Also, just get someone who is happy riding with you and has good standing technique to help you correct poor form.

Hope that helps a bit 🙂

I personally believe it comes down to fitness, it’s always going to be easier on a feather light road bike with less resistance from the tyres. I personally find the technique very easy but if I do too much soon get burnt out, I now find myself climbing seated more for this reason, however it is quicker and gear for short sharp climbs off-road too. I guess I need to just crack on and do it more to build upon my fitness!!

The above plus make sure your saddle is at the right height. Leg should be a bit bent (25-35 degrees)ish at the bottom of the stroke. The weight of your body supported by your core muscles (very little on handlebars). Make sure chest is opened up. Push forward at the top of the stroke as well as down. If you get it right you can feel everything working together.

On a long drag uphill the transition from seated to standing is accompanied by changing up 1 or 2 gears to maintain cadence.I’m still really slow uphill mind. Bottom 100 for some of the Riviera climbs.

Leg should be a bit bent (25-35 degrees)ish at the bottom of the stroke

that’s a LOT bent!

Practise on short sections with less incline on every ride, even if you don’t actually feel you need to (perhaps moving up a gear). If you do that regularly you should then be able to apply it to steeper climbs when required.

The other issue may be down to positioning – bar position and shape (and hence body position) is probably going to be more conducive on a road bike vs flat bar.

The geometry of some bikes makes it less easy than others.

+1 gofasterstripes stripes.

I found when I ditched my big apples(put on for winter but left on) from my hardtail commuter and went more roady sized life got faster an fitness definitely ramped up with it.

I also used strava and picked a few sections on my commute as ‘challenges’ got a nice little short sharp hill that I do stood up an full power.. First time killed me ,30th time it’s a enjoyable thing to attempt to shave off a few more seconds.

But if you are going to stand, it is largely the bike that moves rather than you. Don’t lurch from side to side, but use your arms to pull the bike itself. The upper body should stay relatively still. I once watched David Millar climbing a steep cobbled ramp and you could have balanced a cup of tea on each shoulder without spillage.

It’ll help a bit but standing up alone will not change much – it’s the aggression that you need.

Try single speeding for a while. It’ll force you to work harder, especially on that climb out of Cheddar Gorge. Before long you’ll be watching those guys drift back behind you!

You are clipped in? I find that, standing, I can pull up on the upward pedal movement much more, such that I can effectively sprint up a short climb. Though as I’m naturally a slow old duffer no-one’s going to notice.

Plus it uses the same muscles in a different way, and may open the lungs a fraction more. It does mean holding onto the bars against some of the leg force.

Standing allows you to put more bodyweight on the pedals so you can push a bigger gear and get up the hill faster. Try it and dick around to find a method you are happy with.

Listen to your body, but roughly: when you hit a decent gradient, choose a gear that gives you a cadance of of 60-odd (or a little less) and settle into a slightly rocking ‘stride’ using appreciably more force than when you’re just pushing in the seat. Find the right gear that allows you to really get into it, use your upper back and shoulders to pull against the bars somewhat so you’re in a different form, really concentrate on feeling the balls of your feet forcing the pedals away.

I’m not sure about this. The beauty of having a well setup road bike means you can climb stood up WITHOUT having to exert all sorts of upper back/shoulder/arm muscles. THat’s just wasting energy doing that.

I tend to do most of my climbing stood up on the roadie; it just feels effortless once your position is sorted. Obviously depends on the individual, but I’m pretty tall and have long arms, so a long/low stem puts me in a good position for out of the saddle climbing.

If you’re on a mtb, it’s far less comfortable. Your hands are further apart and yet much closer to your chest so it’s a bit constricting. You can’t get over the front wheel as much; there’s less space to stretch out. For me, that makes climbing stood up on an mtb much more taxing.

The problem is that you’re riding cheddar gorge, and thus will be encountering many people who have driven there, got on the bike fresh as a daisy at the bottom of it, blast up it and then roll on down before driving off again.

If you could be arsed; get yourself a 130mm -17 degree stem, some narrow bars and some bar ends and stick them on your mtb, could probably pick the lot up for £20 or so second hand. Obviously your bike would handle badly, but I bet you’d find climbing out of the saddle easier.

Also, #notallroadies. I think you’d be hard pushed to find much footage of Wiggins standing up on a climb. Admittedly he’s not the best climber in the world but he knew what worked for him and stuck to it. It’s probably worth seeing if it does work for you but I’d not get too hung up on it.

Another good one to look at is Cancellara in the classics. Sat down on the bergs when everyone else is standing*.

As a general rule it seems to be that the, er, more generously proportioned you are the less likely standing up is to be a good call as you are adding all the work of supporting you rather than letting the saddle do it.

* Although the fact that pretty much every one else is standing is possibly an indication that taking Fabs as your model is flawed.

I was in the same situation as OP a few months ago and found some really interesting and thought provoking articles on Bikejames.com
Have a read of this article and some of the other links at the bottom. Certainly food for thought .
After taking his advise and spending more time out of the saddle plus some basic strength training i am stronger and faster both sitting and standong.

Is Standing Pedaling really better than Seated Pedaling?

“reformedfatty – Member
The problem is that you’re riding cheddar gorge, and thus will be encountering many people who have driven there, got on the bike fresh as a daisy at the bottom of it, blast up it and then roll on down before driving off again.”

well put sir and to be fair some have trained hard a good few years just to be able to whip your (or my) arse on a climb

I rarely stand when climbing (seems to take more out of me that seated) and that is riding a single speed.
If I get to a slow enough speed on sharpest bits of climb then I may stand for 20 meters or so but not always.

Agree with the comment that single speed makes you a better climber (or doesn’t give you much choice anyway)

Haven’t ridden gears for 10 years and typically whizz by road bikes when climbing on my MTB.

The problem is that you’re riding cheddar gorge, and thus will be encountering many people who have driven there, got on the bike fresh as a daisy at the bottom of it, blast up it and then roll on down before driving off again.

Does that actually happen? Really?

Thanks for all the thoughts. Bike set up is pretty sorted I think and I’m riding for a mix of fitness and just plain enjoyment (I’m certainly not competing with anyone else) and I’ve just never really developed a style that involves climbing whilst standing; I just use the gears I have. Perhaps a bit of practice out of the saddle would help.

– Sorry, double post!

Surely the main factor here is the fact that you’re riding a heavy steel hardtail with fat tyres and less to do with technique? I was in the Alps in August and we did the Courchevel road climb. Mr Pea and I reached the top 20 minutes before our 2 friends, despite them being fitter than us. Why? We were on road bikes and they were on hardtail mountain bikes.

Road bikes are set up perfectly for climbing, it’s a totally different geometry and the fact that you can use the hoods means your hands are palm in so you can use your biceps to pull. On an MTB, you’re palm down (I presume you’re on regular riser bars rather than bar ends?) so any pulling is done down and back using your much weaker triceps. A road bike you’ll be pulling UP using your biceps.

That brings into play all sorts of other benefits around core muscles, positioning, opening the chest up to breathe and so on. It also encourages standing up whereas MTB positioning generally doesn’t – at least not when climbing.

Try standing up on the pedals while you’re rolling along the flat, get some pedal strokes in and then begin to translate that to climbs. Gear choice should hopefully come fairly naturally but as a rule it’ll be about 2-3 cogs higher than seated climbing.

Being a tad brutal, climbing technique and bike set up are all well and good but the 2 biggest things that affect how you climb and your weight and your fitness. You say you’re “only moderately fit”, that’ll be why you’re struggling.

Standing and sitting can have an effect but that’s quite personal, some prefer to stand, others sit, so long as you’re keeping your cadence reasonable do what feels or works best. Assuming you’re saddle height is about right (some good advice here), the only way to make any real impact is get fitter and/or lose weight, anything else is just window dressing.

lunge makes a good point. Climbing is mostly W/kg

Short, steep climbs, get out of the saddle and get it over with. (Watch videos of Contador – though it’s true that road and mtb geo is significantly different). Long, draggy climbs, stay seated and get ankling (http://cyclingtips.com.au/2009/05/efficiency-of-pedal-stroke-ankling/)