CyclistShould you sit or stand when climbing on a bike?At the 2014 Vuelta a Espana, two exceptional climbers went head-to-head on some of Spains most feared mountains. Time and again, Alberto Contador and Chris Froome slugged it out on the ascents, often equally matched, but rarely demonstrating the same technique.Contador, the eventual winner of that years race, tended to prefer an out-of-the-saddle style of climbing (dancing on the pedals as Phil Liggett would put it), while Team Skys Froome would usually stay seated and spin a fast cadence.Both techniques were effective, but which should we emulate?Its all about the steepness and length of the climb, says former BMC Racing rider Marco Pinotti.The shallower the climb, the faster you go, so you dont need to stand. Its also more aerodynamic when you sit.If its steep, you can enjoy a brief advantage by standing.Hard Knott fell (but we didnt)Andrew Grant / CyclistAs a six-time Italian National champion, Pinottis been there and burnt the quads, but does that broad anecdotal brush reflect textbook physics?Were sure that through beads of sweat and with an aorta thats at bursting point, youve pondered the mechanical work that you and your strained limbs are undertaking.If you havent, heres a reminder of the power required to tame Alpe dHuez:W = krMs + kaAsv2 + giMsWere all familiar with this of course, but just as a recap, W is power, kr is rolling resistance, M is the combined mass of cyclist and bicycle, s is speed on the road, ka is air resistance, A is the combined frontal area of cyclist and bicycle, v is speed through the air (including headwind), g is gravitational acceleration and i is incline.Its a convoluted way of saying that lighter riders with a high power-to-weight ratio tend to excel in the mountains.But does the technique of smaller riders such as Joaquim Rodrguez all of 5ft 7in and 59kg reflect scientific theory? Related Posts Aero vs. lightweight bike: Which is better for climbing? How to get stronger legs for cycling Cadence: High or low, which is better? How far do you need to ride to lose 1kg of fat? Climbing balancing actCharlotte Head / CyclistIn 2008, Professor Ernst Hansen discovered that road cyclists were better off remaining seated until the gradient hit 10%.From then on standing became more effective in terms of sustained power output, although the riders consumed 5% more oxygen when standing.During short (less than 30 seconds) all-out bursts, peak power output has been measured at 25% greater when standing compared to sitting, but there is trade off.Research has shown that even at shallower gradients of around 4%, ascending at 19kmh while seated requires 10% less oxygen than when standing.Thats primarily because the bodys centre of mass is supported by the saddle, conserving energy. Science and real life arent always happy bedfellows, but it seems Hansens Lycra-clad lab rats reflect the peloton.In general, Ill only stand up on steep sections around 10% plus, says Tejvan Pettinger, winner of the 2013 British Hill Climbing Championships, though standing up is more tiring so usually this is left to below 60-second bouts.Alex Duffill / CyclistThose brief out-of-saddle bursts are common across all levels of cycling, whether for varying the effort or accelerating away from a rival, though some riders stay standing long enough to raise eyebrows.At the 2013 Vuelta, American Chris Horner became the oldest winner of a Grand Tour. His 41 years dominated the headlines, but cycling aficionados were more interested in his climbing style.Ive never seen a rider spend so long out of the saddle, climbing in a big gear, says Professor Louis Passfield, who has worked with British Cycling as lead sports scientist. But clearly it worked.Standing has the potential to elicit greater power output due to differences in the kinetic chain, starting with the upper body.When standing, the rider can produce greater leverage from the handlebars, says Daniel Healey, who was formerly the head of sports science at BMC, and the wider the better to increase this lever.Horner at the Vuelta in 2013 had super-wide bars.Horners 44cm-46cm handlebars were purportedly down to a mechanic fitting the wrong ones several seasons back, and he stuck with them.Playing the anglesJuan Trujillo Andrades / CyclistStanding up also alters many of your bodys angles with a key one being at the hip, adds Passfield.By opening this up, you activate more muscles, including the glutes and more of the calves, which gives you more power potential.When seated, that closed hip angle can restrict power output.The range of hip motion from seated to standing rises from around 40 to 70. This range increases at the knees, too, from around 30 to 75. Finally, the range of ankle movement increases from a seated 25 to standing 40.These angles are close to what you get when running, says Passfield, which certainly pays off in the propulsive [down] phase.More power is possible when standing, then, but theres an energy cost.This sounds obvious but its down to efficiency, says Passfield. It comes down to factors like producing more power for less energy, how much heat you emit and so on.In the past people thought efficiency couldnt be trained but James Hopker and myself showed that it could.With regard to climbing, this efficiency is targeted, so if you train on climbs in the saddle most the time, thats where youll see the benefits; vice versa when standing.Passfield suspects your preferred climbing style arises from your experience from the moment you seriously ride a bike, which raises the question of the effect of nationality.Alex Duffill / CyclistDoes Colombias climbing culture, for instance, mean that the likes of Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran tend to ride out of the saddle more than, say, Waless Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe?I dont think so, says Pinotti. If there is acorrelation, its because that country might, in general, produce certain body types.The bigger you are, the more energy you waste, so standing is uneconomical. If youre light like Nairo Quintana [58kg], that doesnt apply as much.For the record, Contador weighed 62kg and Froome 69kg, which might be a factor in why the heavier of the two prefers to sit.Theres also the matter of cadence. Numerous studies have shown that 80 to 90rpm is optimum on the flat; slightly less on the hills.Research on the 2008 Tour de France showed that the average cadence on the 17.5km long and 1,208m high Galibier came in at 67rpm, while the 10.3km and 8.3% Saint-Lary-Soulan registered a lower 64rpm.As Pinotti says, Your cadence cant sink too low on the mountains or youll lose momentum and fall off.Its certainly not a problem high-revving Froome seems to encounter.Lightweights may dance on their pedals, derrires of heavyweights might remain planted to their saddles, but one thing unites all climbing hurts a lot regardless.This article first appeared on Cyclist.co.uk in May 2015 Related Posts Aero vs. lightweight bike: Which is better for climbing? 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