# Uphill Ascent - Sitting or standing? And why?



## OldManBiker (Nov 5, 2016)

I just recently began this great sport and adventure of MTB, and in the process of learning a myriad of things. I have a good friend to ride with and on occasion he will stay seated on an uphill ascend while other times I notice he stands and pedals. 

Why or when do you choose either of these methods, and why? I guess what are the Pro's and Con's of both. 

Thanks so much.


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## DethWshBkr (Nov 25, 2010)

Depends on you, the trail, and a lot of other factors.

Sitting -
* more efficient, so it's far less tiring on the arms and legs 
* better traction at the rear wheel, since your weight is on the seat, you are applying pressure more on the rear wheel.
* can be much harder to negotiate technical stuff, and requires standing to properly clean tech.


Standing -
* more powerful, you are using your body weight to apply pressure to the pedals. Excellent for "sprinting" up the hill.
* since you are using your weight, you can rest your legs for a short while, but holding yourself up will tire the legs out if you stand for long.
* for extended periods where traction is light, it is easier to spin the rear wheel, since your weight is naturally shifted over the front, and you are applying much "rougher" power to the pedals.
* Suspension will compress and rebound a lot during standing pedal strokes, you are are much less efficient (this can be negated by suspension lockout)
* if your suspension is locked out, you lose ground compliance, which can also hinder traction.


I VERY rarely stand uphill. If I do, it's usually only to clear technical features. Otherwise, I am seated. Even on the road, when others are standing, I am sitting, unless it's a full out sprint, then I'm standing


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

One of my roadie friends likes something he called the "magic shift." You stay in the saddle and spin up the first two thirds of a climb, then shift up a couple gears, get out of the saddle, and destroy the people around you.

What's really going on is that everybody's getting tired during the climb. At least, if he's riding with his peers or weaker riders. He's getting tired too. But changing his muscular recruitment when he does that "magic shift" means that at least some of the muscles that are really starting to fatigue get a break and he's starting to use some muscles that are still rested.

I don't think the magic shift works that well on extended climbs. But I still think variety is good. I'll often let the terrain dictate, and get out of the saddle for the steeper pitches.

A lot of people find it easier to put down lots of power when they stand. It's almost always less efficient for longer periods, though. Bike geometry also gets weird when the front end's up high, and getting out of the saddle and moving my hips forward helps me with that.

Experiment with it. Know that you're likely to need a higher gear and slower cadence when you climb out of the saddle and pay attention to your posture. I think most people are more efficient in a more upright position when they climb that way.

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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

Not much I could add to the previous posts - nice job.


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## the-ninth (Nov 1, 2013)

Standing up from now to then during a ride helped me with back pain, I think the different position allow the muscles not to cramp up. Also pedalling when standing up improves core strenght, which in turn again helps avoiding the back pain. 

Regarding technical stuff, yes, you have more power and agility when standing up, but I often still struggle to find the traction. No use for the power, if it all it does is make your wheel slip. I guess the key is to keep your weigth back even when standing up, but I haven't really mastered that yet.

Regards, Robert


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

agree, first two posts pretty well covered it. only thing i'll add is that on loose surfaces standing can make it hard to keep traction without slipping. staying seated on certain climbs and "spinning in circles" for more even power delivery can make a big difference where traction isn't great. 

I love climbing, part of the reason i love the efficiency of a rigid singlespeed. I spend most of my time standing. i notice my friends on full sus sit and spin a lot more. granted, hammering hills isn't everyone's favorite. 

I think what and where you ride makes a difference, but ultimately it's whatever works for you. mix it up.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

Yeah. All good comments in previous posts. Mix it up. Standing can serve a break from grinding up long hills, or stand when the hill gets a bit steeper (equivalent to up shifting a couple gears on the same grade) and sit when the grade decreases. Cadence standing is usually ~20% less than when seated. 

Seated puts more weight on the back wheel, but that can be too much of a good thing when it gets really steep and the front wheel starts lifting off the ground. You can bias your weight further forward standing. This is mainly for very short and steep sections.


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## Slash5 (Nov 27, 2011)

Also, standing can help with the flow. When you hit a small hill or rise, you can stand and pump up the hill without a downshift and loss of speed. It's just fun to do.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I'm in and out of the saddle a lot on technical climbs. It's true that it's not ideal for traction. But when I'm trying to get my rear wheel up a rock or root ledge, a lot of the time, the traction's not there when I'm sitting either. I float my front wheel up whatever it is, then unweight my rear wheel and do a lunge thing with the bike to get it to onto the ledge. It's usually pretty easy for me to float the front wheel while seated but the second move I always do with my butt just off the saddle.

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## MagicShite (Oct 20, 2015)

It's a technique that's useful and actually requires practice. Getting used to standing pedaling is good for switching up muscles and during attacks at steep climbs.

During practice: If you feel that every time you're standing up you can only do it for a short while, you're doing it wrong. I was taught to put in extended standing climbs (Contador style) to improve my climbing from my mentor some time ago and I could never understand how he can do it on extended climbs (30 minute climbs). 

It was when I got myself a power meter. The trick is to actually start by having the power output similar to the power when you're seated. (EDIT: most of the time when you switch to standing your power output is significantly higher, either don't upshift too much or use a lower cadence) This is how you do extended climbs using a low cadence stand pedaling technique. Sure you're still balls inefficient, but it's a useful trick to have. It did improve my top end power a lot.


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## targnik (Jan 11, 2014)

I like to stand to reclaim lost momentum... I'll then return to seated and repeat if necessary.

NB, as soon as you stand and mash you'll elevate heart rate a lot (can't remember exact numbers I read here at MTB a couple of years ago), which will seriously increase the onset of fatigue.

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## OldManBiker (Nov 5, 2016)

Thanks SO much guys to all this invaluable advice. I went out this morning and did 10 miles and in the course of riding I was wondering if I would eventually need to apply any of this on an ascent. Well, guess what? I did! And I found that on a portion that was fairly clear (no rocks or roots) that I was able to "soft" shift up and then stand. It's really amazing how standing you are able to use other un-fatigued body parts to grind on up the hill. My problem as my buddy told me today was that I've GOT to learn how and when to shift better on both ascents and descents. He rode behind me today and said that I am fatiguing myself more than I probably should be. He gave me some great advise and now I've got to learn how better to utilize it and when.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

I wouldn't overworry the shifting thing. You'll get more comfortable with your shifters as you ride more.

My one comment would be that a lot of people insist on pushing too high a gear. For athletic cycling, it's more efficient and healthier to spin a relatively low gear at higher cadence to develop the same power. There are limits, of course, so it's a good thing to experiment with. Just try shifting down a gear and seeing if you can maintain speed from time to time.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

No one talks much about standing and spinning. You don't have to mash pedals and Bob all over just because you're standing. Especially in a lower gear, trying to keep a smooth fast spin standing helps traction quite a bit.

I use it for gross steep climbs that risk stalling out sitting, even in granny. It's exhausting, but puts down tons of power pretty smoothly.

Ill sit for anything else.


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## 779334 (Oct 10, 2014)

First 2 posts added excellent info.


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## rotarybuddy (Oct 18, 2016)

There is some excellent info here, but I would also like to add a couple more considerations for when you sit and climb.

First, if you have bad knees you want to be be sure you are not cranking in too high of a gear so as not to stress your knees for too long. However if the gear is too low you are spinning and not going terribly fast so it's easy to get stopped. I have seen a lot of novices climb seated with their head down which also makes it worse.

I personally bias toward standing so I can "meercat" and see further what is up ahead and move a little faster. I am also shorter so it is hard for me to get going again if I stall out. Being pretty new still and impatient I tend to get anarobic and hate life after most climbs.


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## MarcusBrody (Apr 1, 2014)

targnik said:


> I like to stand to reclaim lost momentum... I'll then return to seated and repeat if necessary.
> 
> Sent from my kltedv using Tapatalk


This is when I find myself standing on a climb most often. If I've gotten myself caught in the wrong gear and am in danger of stalling out or just need a tiny bit extra to clear an obstacle or section, I will pop up, hammer, then sit back down. The steepest climbs I've made though I am almost always sitting, though, as I can generate more traction that way.


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

There's a third option. You can do some climbing while seated, but bring the hips/body forward on the saddle and lowering the chest. You may move so forward that the nose of the saddle is poking you in the butt, but you aren't standing. One name for this is a "crouch climb" This effectively moves your center of gravity more forward, like standing up, but without standing. It's not a substitute for a standing climb, but it is another tool for your skills tool kit. It works really well when the grade steepens and is not necessarily technician. Example: I use this technique on steep gravelly climb out of the river canyon, when standing would cause too much spinning out on the loose trail surface.

Understanding where your hip/COG needs to be in relation to the grade is really important. Unskilled/new riders will attempt seated climbing and experience the following
- wheel spinning
-front of the bike feeling like it's going to come up/unweighted.
Both of these indicate that you need to change your COG. Rear wheel spinning (think loose surface like I described above) means you need to move your weight back but feeling like the bike front is coming up means move your weight forward. 

A good climber can combine all three of these techniques: seated, standing, crouch, fluidly, adjusting constantly depending on what's going on with the trail. You may need to stand up just to get over some technical bits in an otherwise seated climb. Or you might just need to shift your weight a bit.


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## Red Leg 2 (May 4, 2014)

*Always stand while climbing*

Always climb standing on my slack trail bike no matter the terrain. Set suspension down to 70 mm and shock to full lock out. Always being in the attack position while ascending is fun and challenging both physically and mentally.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

I only stand to avoid a shift on short hills, which is uncommon. But I'm slow, and climbs can be miles long here.


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## fdes (Apr 16, 2014)

What do you guys recommend for a steeper grade, say 20%¿ I typically do the seated at the tip of the saddle chest on handlebar crouch climb, but find it a very cramped position and can stall easily. I’m short so I find that I don’t have much room to crank the pedals crouched in this position, and standing doesn’t provide much traction on the steeper grades.


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## MSU Alum (Aug 8, 2009)

My climbs start at 7000 feet and end at 10,000 feet 8 or 9 miles later. Try doing that entire climb standing!
There's a relatively short, rocky, rooty half mile section with significant obstacles. Try doing that entire section seated!
There's one steep section on Slickrock, on the clockwise path, that goes up a spine. I do that seated, otherwise I'd have a heart attack, or worse, put my foot down.
The point is, it depends.
I stay seated as much as possible. I'm usually pushing 90% of max heart rate and it spikes when I'm out of the seat, so I try to stay seated to the extent that I can. Between heart rate and leg strength (at the age of 66) I'm heart rate restricted, so, unlike some others, I also tend to run a lower cadence. That stresses my leg muscles more, but seems to keep my HR a little lower.


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## Battery (May 7, 2016)

I usually stand for most climbs when I am road cycling. My mountain bike has a 76.3-degree seat tube angle so sit climbing is much better for me


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

Too much "it depends". If a particular technique isn't working for you on a certain climb, try something else.

Sometimes it's the bike itself that pushes a certain climbing technique due to its geometry, or the way it's set up. Sometimes your body encourages one technique over another. The trail itself certainly will encourage one technique over another at times.

Unless you're talking about chunky, technical climbs, I find that climbing ability is usually due to strength and fitness. Steep requires power, whereas long and high requires stamina.


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## Lone Rager (Dec 13, 2013)

I like standing but on fs the rear sus can pump too much, so sitting is often better for me.


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