When we think of a cyclist climbing a mountain pass we all have the image of the long-suffering climber writhing on his pedals to painfully move the bike forward. A romantic image that is becoming less and less common in cycling today. However, is this the best climbing technique? As with many aspects of cycling, the answer is “it depends”.
The technique that road cyclists employ on climbs has varied greatly over the decades. The main reason is to be found in the evolution of bicycle development, which has given them enough range to tackle slopes that were once considered unrideable on a bike.
Let’s not forget that, until the 1990s, road bikes used to have a small 42-tooth chainring and just six sprockets, with the largest rarely larger than a 23. With this material, obviously, when it came to climbing percentages above 10%, no matter how strong the rider 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 paradigm by starting to use higher cadences, for which he sat much longer, as described by his coach Chris Carmichael, trying to emulate mountain bikers whose climbing technique was more efficient, allowing him to overcome the loss of brute strength after overcoming cancer.
Nowadays, it is much more common to see cyclists climbing seated most of the time, something they can afford since they all have 30+ tooth sprockets, and as several laboratory studies show, climbing seated means up to 10% less effort quantified in the oxygen consumption required.
This is due to the fact that climbing standing up has a greater muscular involvement, not only of the legs but also of the torso muscles, which obviously translates into a greater energy expenditure. Therefore, the general rule is to climb seated for as long as possible.
However, standing up means that we can bring more power to the cranks, which can be an advantage in the decisive moments of a race, and that’s where the “it depends” we mentioned at the beginning comes in. It’s not the same on a steep climb where those extra watts we get from standing up are hardly going to make a difference as it is on a ramp close to 20% where every watt counts.
Also the type of rider is really important when choosing the style of climbing since, for a small and light climber it is hardly any extra effort to pedal standing up whereas for a heavier rider the difference between standing and sitting down is increased.
The type of climb is also relevant and in long climbs, no matter how hard they are, it is not common to see climbers climbing standing, while in short and explosive climbs, as maximum power is sought, it is common to see cyclists on the pedals.
Today, especially at the tremendous speeds at which we climb, especially when the gradient does not exceed 8%, aerodynamics becomes a key factor, a parameter that is obviously maximized by remaining perfectly coupled to the bike so that standing up also means wasting watts in the fight against 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 made this less and less necessary for the cyclist.
Source: www.brujulabike.com