When we think of a cyclist climbing a mountain we all have the image of the long-suffering climber writhing while standing on his pedals to painfully move the bike forward. A romantic image that is increasingly less common in today’s cycling. However, is this the best technique for climbing? As in many aspects of cycling, the answer is “it depends.”
The technique that road cyclists use on climbs has varied greatly over the decades. We must look for the main reason in the evolution of bicycle developments, which have allowed cyclists to have enough range to face slopes that were once considered unapproachable on the back of a bicycle.
Let’s not forget that, until the 90s, road bikes used to have a small chainring with 42 teeth and just 6 sprockets, with the largest of them rarely higher than 23. With this material, obviously, when it was time to increase percentages above of 10%, no matter how strong the cyclist was, there was no alternative but to stand up simply to be able to continue pedaling.
It was Lance Armstrong who began to change the pattern and began to use higher cadences for which he remained seated much longer, as described by his coach Chris Carmichael, trying to emulate mountain bike cyclists whose climbing technique was more efficient, which which allowed him to overcome the loss of brute strength after overcoming cancer.
Nowadays, it is much more common to see cyclists climb sitting most of the time, something that they can afford as they all have sprockets with more than 30 teeth and, as various laboratory studies show, climbing sitting takes up to 10% less effort quantified in the necessary oxygen consumption.
This is because standing up has greater muscular involvement, not only of the legs but also of the torso muscles, which obviously translates into greater energy expenditure. Therefore, the general rule is to climb sitting for as long as possible.
However, standing up means that we can provide more power to the cranks, which can be an advantage in the decisive moments of a race and that is where the “it depends” that we mentioned at the beginning comes in. A steep hill climb in which those extra watts we get by standing up are hardly going to make a difference is not the same as a ramp close to 20% where every watt counts.
The type of cyclist is also really important when choosing the climbing style since, for a small and light climber, pedaling standing up hardly requires any extra effort, while for someone larger, the difference between standing and climbing does increase. and sitting.
The type of climb is also relevant and in long climbs, no matter how hard they are, it is not common to see climbers ascending standing up, while in short and explosive climbs, as maximum power is sought, it is common to see cyclists on the pedals.
We cannot forget another of the relevant parameters in cycling today, such as aerodynamics. Not so long ago it was common to see cyclists open their jerseys when climbing mountain passes and climb by standing on the pedals. Today, especially at the tremendous speeds at which you climb, especially when the slope does not exceed 8%, aerodynamics becomes a key factor, a parameter that is obviously maximized by remaining perfectly attached to the bicycle so you can put on standing also means wasting watts fighting the wind.
However, as we explained before, standing up is still a resource for specific moments or simply to relax the muscles a little during long climbs, although biomechanics has also ensured that this is increasingly less necessary for the cyclist.