Climbing style

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potsy

potsy

Rambler
Location
My Armchair
Fab Foodie said:
Proud of ya Potsy! :becool:
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Tried it again today and only got half way up,but have started to do it on any hills now both ways,can certainly feel the different muscle groups working and is just a case of practice now.
Am trying stand for 10 turns of the pedals,sit for a rest then stand for another 10 etc.
 
OP
OP
L

leaner learner

New Member
Location
Stockport
Well as more people add to the thread I'm gaining encouragement because it seems I am far from alone and there is plenty of advice to be used. Like you Potsy I went for a spin last night and tried the 'stand and blast' up the short sharp rises I came across. Whilst I would say I definitely felt like I was keeping a bit more momentum I still needed a little recovery time once I crested the rise and sat back down although it didn't feel too bad.

Another thing I was trying was the full circle pedalling motion when standing as opposed to my more novice action of just letting my weight push each pedal down in turn. and that certainly helped although it didn't come naturally.

MacB / PaulSB- I guess that's where I want to be. There is a long, steady climb I have been doing (only a few times mind you) which is 4.5miles and I would love to be able to split it and stand up with 1.5 miles to go and actually motor up the last part. Do you think I've been watching too much TdF :whistle: ??

As many of you have said the bottom line is obviously practise practise practise :smile: .
 
D

Dan B

Disengaged member
leaner learner said:
Foodie - I have seen it written quite a lot that I shouldn't be too far forward because that just means I am pressing the bike down into the road making it harder to go forward up the hill.
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Sounds like rubbish to me, at least intuitively. You can't push down into the road except with your own weight (unless there's a low ceiling above you to push against), your weight is the same whether it's through front or back wheel or both, and they're both freely rotating wheels so it shouldn't make a difference which. I am prepared to change this opinion if anyone can provide me with a free body diagram to illustrate the point


You might find it's harder to steer with more weight through the front, but I can't see that being a big deal really, most of the time?
 
J

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
coruskate said:
Sounds like rubbish to me, at least intuitively. You can't push down into the road except with your own weight (unless there's a low ceiling above you to push against), your weight is the same whether it's through front or back wheel or both, and they're both freely rotating wheels so it shouldn't make a difference which. I am prepared to change this opinion if anyone can provide me with a free body diagram to illustrate the point


You might find it's harder to steer with more weight through the front, but I can't see that being a big deal really, most of the time?
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Weight too far forward = lose rear tyre adhesion, not good.
Weight too far back = front wheel lifts, not good.

Weight over BB = even distribution, good.
 
C

chris-s

New Member
Location
Truro
potsy said:
Tried it again today and only got half way up,but have started to do it on any hills now both ways,can certainly feel the different muscle groups working and is just a case of practice now.
Am trying stand for 10 turns of the pedals,sit for a rest then stand for another 10 etc.
Click to expand...


Been following this thread with interest as I'm suffering the same problem, so last night I tried the same approach, 10 standing, 15 sitting and found I got to the top much quicker without feeling any less knackered. Just got to keep practicing.

Chris
 
D

Dan B

Disengaged member
jimboalee said:
Weight too far forward = lose rear tyre adhesion, not good.
Weight too far back = front wheel lifts, not good.
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Yeah, agreed, but that's pretty much the edge of the envelope. I figure the OP will notice if/when this happens and work out for himself to move back/forwards.

The question was about "pushing down into the road", which still sounds like rubbish to me. Newton's Third and all that - push down against what?
 
D

Dan B

Disengaged member
chris-s said:
Been following this thread with interest as I'm suffering the same problem, so last night I tried the same approach, 10 standing, 15 sitting and found I got to the top much quicker without feeling any less knackered. Just got to keep practicing.
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Yep. Sit and spin until you can't breathe any more: stand up and honk until you can't bear the lactate any more. By this time you should have your breath back, so sit down again and repeat
 
J

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
coruskate said:
Yeah, agreed, but that's pretty much the edge of the envelope. I figure the OP will notice if/when this happens and work out for himself to move back/forwards.

The question was about "pushing down into the road", which still sounds like rubbish to me. Newton's Third and all that - push down against what?
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Yeah, its rubbish. Just like suspension forks compressing when you press down on the pedal. ;)
 
J

jimboalee

New Member
Location
Solihull
coruskate said:
Yeah, agreed, but that's pretty much the edge of the envelope. I figure the OP will notice if/when this happens and work out for himself to move back/forwards.

The question was about "pushing down into the road", which still sounds like rubbish to me. Newton's Third and all that - push down against what?
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The underside of a UFO. :thumbsup:
 
philipbh

philipbh

Spectral Cyclist
Location
Out the back
coruskate said:
Yep. Sit and spin until you can't breathe any more: stand up and honk until you can't bear the lactate any more. By this time you should have your breath back, so sit down again and repeat
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Interesting (?) article about Lactic Acid and the burn (and why it might be good for you) here (replacement link soon)
 
007

007

Active Member
biggrin.gif
any chance of a pic of Karlin2400 before I sign up???
 
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