what's your climbing position?

[ivanooze]

this past saturday marks another day of a group ride called the donut. this ride goes on all year regardless of the heat or the arctic temperatures we've been having in southern california (joking).

-anyways, while on the ride i discovered a new climbing style for me that's very similar to the likes of chris froome.
https://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697951445&stc=1&d=1513630996

-it seems that when i keep my head down and looking at the rider's rear hub i am able to climb at a much more efficient rate with much less pain and suffering in my lungs and legs. Now of course this style of climbing is pretty dangerous since i rarely looked up to see where i was going, i was merely following the wheel of the rider in front of me. So if the rider in front were to run into a rock or crash going uphill for some reason then i would go down with them.

-Oh and of course im sure this particular style of riding will be frowned upon from the person i'm drafting off of since i won't be able to see if they flick their elbow or not.

-so how do you guys climb?

[cadence90]

I have considered, studied, and even re-enacted all four climbing positions you pictured very carefully, and then highlighted the one which most closely approximates my own.
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[ivanooze]

I have considered, studied, and even re-enacted all four climbing positions you pictured very carefully, and then highlighted the one which most closely approximates my own.
.
.
.
.

ha

[choke]

-so how do you guys climb?v e r y s l o w l y

To answer your question, from the tops....always. I also almost never stand.

[echelon_john]

Like Dom DeLuise without the sense of humor.

[cadence90]

ha

Feeling Ivan Dominguez blur by caused me to switch to that position...jeezus what a monster. :eek:
.
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[fignon's barber]

Usually on my knees.

[fignon's barber]

https://forums.thepaceline.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1697951445&stc=1&d=1513630996



-so how do you guys climb?



Also, love the Froome Doppelganger cheering him on.

[FlashUNC]

Badly.

Mostly on the hoods, and stand for the pitchier stuff.

Found I prefer the Ullrich approach of low cadence and a bit taller gear, but doesn't help me get up things any quicker.

[seanile]

Like Dom DeLuise without the sense of humor.
:hello:if only there was a like button

[mavic1010]

I can never climb on the hoods very quickly. Need to be on the top. Maybe it has to do with leverage??

[ultraman6970]

He climbs like that and pretty much rides like that all the time because of the oval chainring, if you look old pictures of him used to ride "normal" before getting into sky.

I climb slow as hell but noticed too that the older I get the more like Froome I get at climbing, I used to climb like lemond or hinault, seated way back but now doesnt work too much :( so started moving more to the front. Doesnt mean I can pedal fast tho, never been able to spin climbing.

[yashcha]

Like this, but not as stylish or as quickly.

[David Tollefson]

Like Pantani (in my mind). Probably look more like Peewee Herman though...

[Imaking20]

Off the back

[Seramount]

seated until the knees hurt, then stand and churn a high gear...

will tack if I have to, but try to avoid it.

[rousseau]

this past saturday marks another day of a group ride called the donut. this ride goes on all year regardless of the heat or the arctic temperatures we've been having in southern california (joking).
Off-topic, but is this related to the legendary Donut Ride in Toronto?

Edit: Or is the name just totally a coincidence, a testament to the hold that donuts have on the collective North American imagination?

Hmmm...donuts.

[Matthew]

Hopefully the hub you are staring at isn't getting dropped!! I am usually on the hoods and on longer climbs the tops of the bars. Stand when I have to!!

[regularguy412]

Typically ,, on the tops. Just seems more comfortable to me. If I'm really digging deep and needing to hang on, I'll be on the hoods.,,,,,,,,,but that only lasts until the explosion. :D

Mike in AR:beer:

[Clean39T]

I'll be on the hoods.,,,,,,,,,but that only lasts until the explosion. :D





So, you climb like Dumoulin?

[MattTuck]

So, you climb like Dumoulin?

haha. got me to chuckle.

[Clean39T]

Under 7mph and above 12-15%, usually on the hoods and trying to keep the front wheel down while grinding in the saddle.

7-11mph and 5-10%, on the tops.

11-15mph and 3-5%, hoods.

16-22mph and under 3%, drops or aero on the hoods.

Have been trying to work on my standing efficiency across the board. My upper body and core is weak, so I get tired early. I’ve been doing extended climbing standing on my commute and am almost at where I can go 5-mins out of the saddle. Not that that is effective, but I need/want to be able to go there in races or long rides for attacking or switching muscle groups.

I’ve also been experimenting with the low gears and am not sure what that’s doing for my absolute speed climbing - I have big legs and feet, so I feel like spinning has a cardio downside for me vs. muscling it in a harder gear, but for long endurance rides, those low gears keep me fresher longer when turning them at 80-90rpm - I just can’t go 110rpm up a hill that efficiently and overall go a bit slower on 5-10min climbs when spinning vs alternating mashing/standing.

[beeatnik]

Off-topic, but is this related to the legendary Donut Ride in Toronto?

Edit: Or is the name just totally a coincidence, a testament to the hold that donuts have on the collective North American imagination?

Hmmm...donuts.

Donut Ride in the South Bay of Los Angeles County.

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/south-bay-rides/

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/revelation-of-the-donut-tour/

[RobJ]

Like this, but not as stylish or as quickly.

Ditto. Shift to the back of the saddle, higher cadence. Hoods and rock in' back and forth for serious stuff. Then usually wake up in a cold sweat and realize I left the TV on watching reruns of the Tour.

[regularguy412]

So, you climb like Dumoulin?

HA! I wish! I'd be Quite happy to climb like him. But , yeah.

(I chuckled , too)
:D

Mike in AR:beer:

[cadence90]

So, you climb like Dumoulin?

Good one. :D



Here's a game we call all play, class!
Remember when Bob Roll said, "I'd rather be a fire hydrant in New York City than be the French National Champion."?

So, fill in the two blanks:

"I'd rather be a _________ than climb like _________."


"I'd rather be a SRAM rep at oldpotatoe's than climb like Chicken Rasmussen."

:)

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[soulspinner]

Typically ,, on the tops. Just seems more comfortable to me. If I'm really digging deep and needing to hang on, I'll be on the hoods.,,,,,,,,,but that only lasts until the explosion. :D

Mike in AR:beer:

This sounds familiar:rolleyes:

[weisan]

Kinda like this....and like that.

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2017/02/16/2/20175920_354139_670.jpg

[gasman]

"I'd rather be a good climber than climb like I do now."

[regularguy412]

Kinda like this....and like that.

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2017/02/16/2/20175920_354139_670.jpg

OMG I could not stop laughing.

:hello:

Mike in AR:beer:

[joosttx]

Badly.

Mostly on the hoods, and stand for the pitchier stuff.

Found I prefer the Ullrich approach of low cadence and a bit taller gear, but doesn't help me get up things any quicker.

Did Ullirich employ the one finger wave techinque as well....

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7545/15687383739_d14956e9c6_b.jpg

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8645/15838390126_a2b1fa72c1_b.jpg

[CaptStash]

[QUOTE=beeatnik;2281121]Donut Ride in the South Bay of Los Angeles County.

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/south-bay-rides/

Thread drifr: If you scroll down on the link, you get to the Wheat Grass Ride. I happened to be in town and did that. It was enormous fun and I heartily recommend it to anyone who happens to be in the vicinity. That is all. YMMV.

CaptStash....

[Imaking20]

Off the back

In seriousness though, a few winters back I started doing a lot of solo climbing and spending a lot more time out of the saddle - a few gears higher than normal. This has since become super comfortable for me and I'm able to throw my weight around a bit to make up for some climbing skills I don't have.

So my climbing position will usually be on the hoods, with torso fairly low, if the grade is <4% and I'm trying to keep speeds high. At ~6-8% I'm usually on the tops with more upright posture, and steep stuff (let's say over 10%) I'm out of the saddle with a much slower cadence. On extended climbs, I'll pretty much rotate through all this as I'm comfortable. Most of those longer climbs around here are not a steady grade so I get plenty of opportunity to move around.

[dddd]

I think that the choice of tops vs. hoods has to do with how we set our bikes up, as far as the reach dimension to the bars and relative to the saddle position(?).

Out of the saddle, I pitch the bars left and right but without effecting much torque from push/pull torque into the bars, which might have to do with riding so many old bikes that I know to be equipped with flexible and fragile "death" stems.

Oddly, I find myself often not moving my hands forward to the hoods even when honking out of the saddle up steep grades. Laziness perhaps, but also the reach setup I prefer and with respect to my relatively short upper-body length vs. leg length, and also the fact that I don't need hands on the hoods to shift an older vintage bike.

One last approach I often prefer when attacking on climbs out of the saddle is to get fully as forward as possible, to the extent that I can feel being pushed forward head-first by each stroke of the pedals. Much like a sprint runner. This seems more efficient than having the bike moving fore/aft under a more stationary body, where the rider's arms seem to be absorbing some of the motion energy just to stay atop the bike.
I've seen one pro sprinter known for an "aero sprint" that somewhat seems to use the same effect and advantages under very certain conditions of grade near the finish line.

[Kontact]

My climbing position?

I'm for it.

[unterhausen]

as a climber, I'm a good descender. I did a lot of climbing this year standing in the drops. I built up those muscles last winter on the trainer. Probably not the best adaptation I could have wished for. Because of all my gravel riding in the last few years, I had pretty much started climbing in the saddle until I got serious about the trainer.

[Cicli]

Arms in the air trying to fend off vultures waiting on me to drop dead.

[Ungaro]

I'm mostly a seated climber, with my hands loosely gripping the bar near the stem. On steep pitches, I get out of the saddle with my hands on the hoods. If the grade is severe, I've been known to get out of the saddle with my hands on the drops. Regardless of position, the most effective component of my climbing is to look no further than 10 to 15 feet in front of you, focusing on the pavement. You'd be surprised at how soon you will get to the top. Well, I'm mean, pain and suffering aside...

[ivanooze]

Off-topic, but is this related to the legendary Donut Ride in Toronto?

Edit: Or is the name just totally a coincidence, a testament to the hold that donuts have on the collective North American imagination?

Hmmm...donuts.

i believe it's just a coincidence. i dont even know why it's called the donut ride, it doesnt even look like a donut on strava :no:

[ivanooze]

Hopefully the hub you are staring at isn't getting dropped!!

well the hub i was staring at was riding at 330 watts for a 14 minute climb, so i would hope that this rider wasn't the one getting dropped, if so then i would be extremely horrified at the testosterone-filled freaks on 2 wheels that are ahead of us pushing anything higher than that

[ivanooze]

. I’ve been doing extended climbing standing on my commute and am almost at where I can go 5-mins out of the saddle.



you'll be riding like Contador in no time :banana:

[ivanooze]

[QUOTE=beeatnik;2281121]Donut Ride in the South Bay of Los Angeles County.

https://pvcycling.wordpress.com/south-bay-rides/

Thread drifr: If you scroll down on the link, you get to the Wheat Grass Ride. I happened to be in town and did that. It was enormous fun and I heartily recommend it to anyone who happens to be in the vicinity. That is all. YMMV.

CaptStash....

the wheatgrass ride has fallen off the map quite a bit. It used to be a recovery ride to the donut, but some riders (im one of them) decided to keep the pain train going and continue to try and rip each other's legs off up the climbs.

[John H.]

Back in the day- We all climbed on the tops.
Hoods were set up a decent amount lower than the tops, we had downtube shifters, and we ran out of gears more quickly.
When you are already in your lowest gear (and it is a 39/24)- you can just sit and lock it in.

STI/Ergo shifters changed all that- bars and position changed to support staying on the hoods for long periods.

But for me- The Shimano climbing switch has allowed me to swing back the other way. I can stay on the tops and still be able to shift.
I like this position for road and gravel. I have climbing switches on all my drop bar bikes.

[ivanooze]

I've been known to get out of the saddle with my hands on the drops.

ahh the seth davidson approach

[Ungaro]

ahh the seth davidson approach
You know....I had to go sign up for Peloton magazine, just for his writing!

[timto]

For high cadence seated climbing - I'm on the tops and sit back and up - shifting as much weight back as I can - I find this opens up my leg angle, unweights my hands and really lets the legs spin. Not unlike I'm trying to wheelie. Sounds dumb but when the grade is right and the gearing is appropriate I focus on leg speed and the actually climbing speed goes up and muscle strain low!

For steep pitches where the gearing runs out and/or higher torque is needed for traction I extend forward with my torso and get low and use my shoulders/torso to lever down on the pedals through my hips and glutes and rock into the pedal stroke. I grip the tops or the hoods - doesn't matter to me it's more torso position change.

I guess I'm saying I change my torso position to upright for high cadence to low and forward/cantilevered for grunting it out.

The torso positioning was a big light switch going off from me after watching a ti-deisgns video where he's on a turbo trainer and in low gears sits up and back vs low and long on big gears.

[54ny77]

"and you may ask yourself, well, how did i get here?"

https://i.imgur.com/VNc6tg1.gif

[velofinds]

"and you may ask yourself, well, how did i get here?"

https://i.imgur.com/VNc6tg1.gif

Well that's easy.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2008/08/09/arts/09bike.190.jpg

[Clean39T]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171221/07d4c4dc7de397f479173fbb8bbb2d2c.jpg

[Clean39T]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171221/426459bf9197afeef85d20f4b392ad9b.jpg

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/171/the-angliru-big-ride

[weisan]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171221/426459bf9197afeef85d20f4b392ad9b.jpg

http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/171/the-angliru-big-ride

camera tricks? :) :eek:

[rain dogs]

Camera tricks... no way. That my friend Is Angliru.... 20km from my house. There are no words to describe how brutal that climb is. You don't know suffering until you've done Angliru with road gearing.

And climbing position... there is no climbing position up that climb, you use everything to get up, every position, cause you'll need ever muscle you can find... even your teeth if you have to.

[weisan]

20km from my house.

I only read this part, the rest sort of faded away. Can I come stay with you, rain pal?

even your teeth if you have to.

:p

[sw3759]

that angrylou pic reminds me of the suffering up pikes peak,almost 3hrs of suffering i wont soon forget (from manitou springs) i'll go ride mt evans anyday again before that thing..
as far as position i picked up that standing in drops in late nineties when it was fun to watch those 2 italians doing so well at it.stuck with it so long it feels strange to stand on hoods and rarely do.
i did know a guy back in late 80's that stood and climbed on bar tops.looked really strange too.i tried it once.very odd.

[OtayBW]

I'm for it!

[velofinds]

that angrylou pic reminds me of the suffering up pikes peak,almost 3hrs of suffering i wont soon forget (from manitou springs) i'll go ride mt evans anyday again before that thing..
as far as position i picked up that standing in drops in late nineties when it was fun to watch those 2 italians doing so well at it.stuck with it so long it feels strange to stand on hoods and rarely do.
i did know a guy back in late 80's that stood and climbed on bar tops.looked really strange too.i tried it once.very odd.

Pikes Peak looks very beastly. Mt Evans longer and steadier..

http://thecolcollective.com/images/uploads/general/Pikes_Peak_Climb_Profile_Colorado_Cycling.jpg

http://thecolcollective.com/images/uploads/general/Mt_Evans_Colorado_Cycling_Profile_Idaho_Springs_Co l_Collective_.jpg

[simple]

Well that's easy.



https://static01.nyt.com/images/2008/08/09/arts/09bike.190.jpg


What is it with goats?
https://youtu.be/m3OA7sx2aCQ



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dem]

Pike's is definitely the hardest climb I've done - much tougher than Evans, Haleakala, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea to the Visitor's center (end of pavement)

That last 1000 feet at 10% grade from 13K to 14K.. I don't remember much.

Mt Evans a day before fooled me into thinking it wouldn't be too bad. But 40% less oxygen density + 10% grade.. brutal.