Hills - Bum off or on seat?

[Skibird]

Hi All,

I'm trying to improve my confidence and ability up hills but really struggle to stay seated on any hills, which I'm working on. What works best for you and why (fitness, ability, preference)?

Thanks

Bev

 

[KneesUp]

Short sharp hills - keep in the gear I'm in and stand up if needed.

Long draggy hills - get in what I anticipate is the correct gear at the bottom and grind up seated.

Standing uses more energy overall because you have to support your weight as well, but it's better for sudden bursts of power because you can use some of your mass to put more force on the pedals (but you are supporting all of your mass, so overall it's less efficient)

Doing whatever suits you is best though. When I first got back on a bike a few years ago, hills on my commute I now barely notice were stand-up thrashing away with all my effort hills. You will get there is you stick with it!

 

[vickster]

Sitting,. My Physio has said riding out of saddle will further knacker my knees. Ymmv
I’ll never be fast up hills, plod up and try not to die

 

[T4tomo]

bit of a combo for me, carry a much speed / momentum as I can into a hill and gradually change down the gears keeping a reasonably high consistent ish cadence. Mainly seated in a long hill, but will do bits standing for a change,/ break.

short hills might end up standing up for second half to maintain as much speed as I can, but standing is more tiring in long run for reasons above.

 

[cosmicbike]

99% of the time I'm sitting. As @KneesUp says, the occasional short sharp I may stand briefly..

 

[MikeG]

Sit and spin.......and it can be very fast. Getting up hills should be about endurance, not strength.

 

[biggs682]

Sit back and enjoy the view and when need be stand up and dance on the pedals for a better view over the hedges

 

[Drago]

When I were younger, I'd honk all the way. Now I'm old, and fairly fit, I prefer to remain seated. Do whatever works for you.

 

[Shortandcrisp]

Mostly seated. Short, steep hills I might get out of the saddle. Tip - change up a gear before getting out of the saddle.

 

[raleighnut]

Seated and in as low a gear as practicable.

 

[ColinJ]

I prefer spinning low gears and that is better done sitting down so most of my climbing is done on the saddle.

Very steep (20+%) hills are different. Sometimes it is hard to keep going when sitting down, even using low gears. On super-steep climbs the front wheel can start to lift. Getting out of the saddle and putting more weight forwards can help.

When I was obese I couldn't stand for long anyway because my legs (and back) couldn't cope for more than a few seconds. Nowadays I occasionally climb standing for 20-30 seconds to take the pressure off my bum and to ease my aching back.

 

[raleighnut]

If it's a very steep hill I get off and walk unless I'm on the Saracen MTB and that has a real 'crawler' gear on it (I think 24 front and a 32or34 on the back)

 

[derrick]

Bit of both here. Its good to stretch the legs now and then.

 

[gbb]

Short hills, stand and hammer up, recover by backing off a bit and regain breath.
Long hills, use the gears to maintain a spinning cadence.

I used to monitor my rides of say 50 miles when i was really fit and would achieve really quite consistent times/speed.
During a phase when i was trying to get faster i started attacking the hills (not big ones) and recover as above for a few hundred yards perhaps, then push on again. This method saw a quite noticeable increase in overall speed.

 

[Wixsteman]

I sit and spin in lowest gear when I reach the top(eventually) I get a small sense of achievement once I’ve got my breath back