The technique that road cyclists use on climbs has changed a lot over the decades. The main reason is to be found in the evolution of bike gearing, which has given cyclists enough range to tackle slopes that were once considered unrideable on a bike.
Let’s not forget that, until the 1990s, road bikes tended to have a small 42-tooth chainring and just six sprockets, with the largest rarely larger than a 23. With this equipment, obviously, when it came to climbing percentages above 10%, no matter how strong the rider was, there was no alternative but to stand up simply to be able to continue pedaling.
It was Lance Armstrong who began to change the paradigm and started to use higher cadences, for which he remained seated for much longer, as described by his coach Chris Carmichael, trying to emulate mountain bikers whose climbing technique was more efficient, which allowed him to overcome the loss of brute strength after overcoming cancer.
Nowadays, it is much more common to see cyclists climbing seated most of the time, something they can afford since they all have sprockets with more than 30 teeth and, as several laboratory studies show, climbing seated means up to 10% less effort quantified in the consumption of oxygen required.
This is due to the fact that climbing standing has a greater muscular involvement, not only of the legs but also of the torso muscles, which obviously translates into a greater energy expenditure. Therefore, the general rule is to climb seated for as long as possible.
However, climbing standing up means that we can bring more power to the cranks, which can be an advantage in the decisive moments of a race and that’s where the “it depends” that we mentioned at the beginning comes in. It’s not the same on a steep climb where those extra watts we get from standing up are hardly going to make a difference as it is on a ramp close to 20% where every watt counts.
Also the type of rider is really important when choosing the style of climbing since, for a small and light climber it is hardly any extra effort to pedal standing up while for a heavier rider the difference between standing and sitting down is increased.
The type of climb is also relevant and in long climbs, no matter how hard they are, it is not common to see climbers climbing standing up, while in short and explosive climbs, as maximum power is sought, it is common to see cyclists on the pedals.
We cannot forget another of the relevant parameters in cycling today, aerodynamics. Not so long ago it was common to see cyclists open their jerseys on the climbs of the passes and climb up standing on the pedals. Today, especially at the tremendous speeds climbed, especially when the gradient does not exceed 8%, aerodynamics becomes a key factor, a parameter that is obviously maximized by remaining perfectly coupled to the bike so standing up also means wasting watts in the fight against the wind.
However, as we explained earlier, standing up still remains a resource for specific moments or simply to relax the muscles a little during long climbs, although biomechanics has also ensured that this is becoming less and less necessary for the cyclist.