Re: Last week

Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

On 5/30/2025 4:16 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:

... I am
a not a good climber at all. I have to really work at it to get better.
I don't pedal out of the saddle much or at least very long.

 
I'm not convinced that climbing out of the saddle is good strategy for
any long climb. One can certainly put out more power that way, say for a
short steep pitch, but my guess is that it's inefficient - meaning it
increases fatigue more than it increases power.
 
I thought I remembered that one change Lance Armstrong made after his
big medical recovery (besides, probably, a new cocktail of performance
enhancing drugs) was to emphasize seated climbing at higher cadences.
 
Am I remembering right?
 
Any comments on seated vs. standing climbing?
 
 

I’d suggest it’s more complicated and nuanced.

being rather old school MTBer I favour out of the saddle and am quite happy
to do so for some time, helps I’m sure being fairly solidly built ie I’m
strong and can support my weight without issue.

I’d also note that UK hill climb has plenty of out of the saddle types and
these are seriously rapid folks, in same ball park as road pros but very
specialised and with some interesting bikes, as no UCI regulations here!

This looks very much like a simple but wrong or complicated type of thing.

Roger Merriman