Standy up cycling for prolonged periods

[Matty]

For no other reason than looking for something different to do I tried seeing for how long I could cycle along standing up. Clearly you need a suitable route for this, downhill is fairly daft, but very slight climb is perfect. Amazing how differently it works the old legs.

When you're next bored, give it a go. Managed 1.2 miles. Ouch.

 

[Trevrev]

I done about 6 miles after the retaining bolt on my saddle snapped.
Short of sitting on the seat post, i had no choice!!

 

[MacB]

I practised this out of necessity when I started out, my initial attempts at standing saw me knackered after about 10 yards and ending up pushing the bike. Strangely I worked up to about the same, a hill on the way home is about 1.2 miles and I could eventually ride that standing. This achieved my goal of being able to honk, rather than change gear, if needed, but I can climb that hill faster seated than standing now, just getting out of the saddle for the final little bend at the top.

 

[GrasB]

I tend to go for time rather than distance... 5-10 min of standing on the pedals then change position & rotate around the various pedaling techniques I have. This allows for the use of different muscle groups so you don't get as fatigued over a long climb.

MacB, How steep is that hill? You should be able to produce more power standing on the pedals so you go up the hill faster, unless you're on a shallow gradient & you don't elevate your power production that much when standing.

 

[potsy]

Young lad at work who is 6ft+ and commutes on a tiny BMX type thing, manages to stand up almost all the way there 4 miles-ish. Looks very uncomfortable though, he does sit down on any downhill bits but he looks ridiculous

I was doing some standing up hill climbing last year, I normally sit and spin. Doesn't half use muscles I didn't know I had

 

[HLaB]

I done about 6 miles after the retaining bolt on my saddle snapped.
Short of sitting on the seat post, i had no choice!!

I did similar but it was self enforced Got about 10 miles into a ride on my summer bike, however I felt the saddle needed to go up a fraction (2mm) to match the geometry of my training bike. I managed overtighten the clamp bolt

 

[MacB]

I tend to go for time rather than distance... 5-10 min of standing on the pedals then change position & rotate around the various pedaling techniques I have. This allows for the use of different muscle groups so you don't get as fatigued over a long climb.

MacB, How steep is that hill? You should be able to produce more power standing on the pedals so you go up the hill faster, unless you're on a shallow gradient & you don't elevate your power production that much when standing.

My post was more about when I started and my inability to get up some hills, for example the hill in question, isn't very steep at all, though I thought it was. It was a different shorter hill that had me walking, I've never walked the 1.2 mile hill. But when I first rode it I would reach my bottom gear about 3/4 of the way up, a 30x26(31 inch) gear, and then grind the last bit alternating between sitting and standing, because I couldn't keep up the standing bit for more than a few yards. I just found it a good hill to practice out of the saddle on with the sole purpose of improving my out of saddle stamina, it seemed to do the trick.

As for how fast I could get up it I don't know, it still features on some of my rides but I climb it seated in about a 65 inch gear nowadays, and that just feels so much faster than it used to. I'll have to specifically go out and give it a try both ways and do a comparison. Bear in mind this hill was only a regular feature when I had the 20 miles each way to work, and it came up at mile 16 on the way home. I was rarely in the mood for blasting any hill by that point.

 

[redjedi]

Standing up is a great way to work out the legs. I started doing it on long rides to relieve the pressure on my rear end and it soon started to pay off on the hills. I'll have to try cycling the 6.5 miles home without sitting down and see if I can make it.

 

[gaz]

I have a problem with using the droops and standing up. If i do either then i just have a mode in my head which switches to accelerate and I just won't stop going. I think i would nacker my self pretty quickly on my commute home if i did that.
And i don't have much open road where i could do it, so many traffic lights and junctions.

 

[400bhp]

I'm generally out of the saddle when going up anything more than a 1 in 12 gradient. Stems back from my younger days on a 42-52 11-18 I guess.

 

[betty swollocks]

Much much easier on fixed.

 

[snailracer]

It's always puzzled me how different walking/running and out-of-the-saddle cycling are. It seems there is very little crossover. I can walk for hours, but I can't cycle out-of-the-saddle for hours, and I'm not aware of anyone making a bicycle that replicates a more-natural walking motion.

 

[DrSquirrel]

Go fixed, into a good head wind, up a hill...