Climbing

[AED]

I used but haven't found this
How do you prefer climbing?
What gear(rpm)? Just a few (~50) or like on flat (~100)
Sitting or standing?
Where do you hold your hands while climbing?

[newbieweenie]

I don't pay attention to what gear, only approximate RPM's. But I'm usually seated, hands on the hoods, hunkered down near the bars to try and push my ceter of gravity forward. I like to stay between 80-90 rpms

[Mumi]

-How do you prefer climbing?

High altitude.Long climbs.

-What gear(rpm)? Just a few (~50) or like on flat (~100)

Easy gear.Best gear.The gear which dosen't losses your tempo,the gear which dosen't reduces RPM.

-Sitting or standing?

Changes from situation to situation.

-Where do you hold your hands while climbing?

Bar ends,Over the bar[not in brakes side or grips!]

The subject is;

Climbing makes unbelievable force in the knees if you force them too much with;
Gear,RPM,standing pedalling etc...

Climbing makes cycling more meaningful.

First rule of a cyclist;
You have to go against the wind or against the hills

[mattpage]

I like long climbs, helps me get a better rhythm.
i not a high speed pedaller, prehaps about 60 RPM , sometime a little more.

Usually I alter between standing and sitting, I had trained to stand for long intervals, but I found that I lost energy too quickly, so now I alter sitting/standing.

90% of the time when I'm cycling im on the brake hoods.
I only change this when I want a really aero position. I'm not sure why, but I find this to be the most comfortable in all situations.

[keithster]

good question, I like to climb at 100 rpm seated for long runs, depending on the length of the climb, I find generally people stand to climb and do so at low rpm, this is bad cause it is hard on your knees and is slower, and is done at a higher heart rate.

[John979]

Higher powers are more sustainable at high cadences, but you don't have to mimic Lance Armstrong. I like to keep it at least in the low 80s...

[wdbike.com]

i feel better with low cadences, around 80rpm. i enjoy long hills (10-28 miles), but do better on short ones (<1 mile) because my style lends itself to a power approach.

on low-grade hills (<3%) i'm in my drops, mid-grade (3-5%) on my hoods, and steep (>5%) i'm usualy on the flat section if the hill is long enough.

oh, and i find it useful to alternate sitting and standing too - though best to sit for the vast majority of time. if i'm going hard up the hill i rarely stand for more than a few seconds.

[mattpage]

on low-grade hills (<3%) i'm in my drops, mid-grade (3-5%) on my hoods, and steep (>5%) i'm usualy on the flat section if the hill is long enough.

You call 3% a hill? Even 5%?
Where abouts are you from Holland

Round here 10% is average, and anything up to 30% is possible.
The steeper the better, I still havnt come across a hill I cant climb on a double (53/39 - 11/25)

[AED]

Most of hills we have are around 6%... All of them are <1km... There are just few ~1km and >6%...

[mattpage]

I guess what we dont have here is long climbs, nothing like the alps. Most climbs are less than 8km, mostly around 2-3km. Very undualating terrain though, so even though altitude its great the amount of climbing on a ride can be quite high.

[Paul_nl]

In the Alps I prefer riding with a compact crank to keep high cadences on low speed...

Mostly riding on 34/25. But do have a 28 for relaxing or going 12km/hour.

12km/hour => 34/28 => 78rpm.

Strange to see so many people here with such high cadances. Never seen anybody spinning uphill with a higher cadance than I do.

What kind of gear do you guys use with what speed?

[Tippster]

on low-grade hills (<3%) i'm in my drops, mid-grade (3-5%) on my hoods, and steep (>5%) i'm usualy on the flat section if the hill is long enough.

You call 3% a hill? Even 5%?
Where abouts are you from Holland

Round here 10% is average, and anything up to 30% is possible.
The steeper the better, I still havnt come across a hill I cant climb on a double (53/39 - 11/25)

Aren't hills you can't climb on a double called cliffs?

[Bruiser]

Standing wastes alot of energy but allows you to produce more power so it's useful for short steep hills.

I don't have any long climbs near me and I'm training for a race where a 17km hill determines your final result. Should I be training into headwinds or just doing lots of hill repeats?

Given that I've never climbed a long hill, do I approach it as I would a 17km headwind?

[Ivan]

I'd like to look at the encyclopedia COTACOL (which lists and evaluates 1000 hills in Belgium) as a reference. They have come up with an ingenius way to give points to a climb according to its thoughness (or how do you call that ?), a hill, 100 meter long with a 1 % rise gets 1 point. They officially take 3.3 % as the lower limit for a hill. I've never seen any word about an upper limit ...

[88a]

I heard a guy who lived in a flat area say he trained for hills by loading up a backpack with a sandbag, strapping it on and heading out. Afterwards, he said he felt like a feather without it.