Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

A colleague mentioned to me that I should be really good at standing and grinding, because I ride BMX and 100% of my time on my BMX is spent standing.

So I messed around with it and discovered if I bump up 3-6 gears on a climb I can stand and grind it out for quite a while - previously I'd only ever stood when I was completely out of gear to be sitting (really steep stuff). I seem to get a bit more power out, or at least hold the same speed as sitting while changing up the muscle groups.

I'm just looking for advice or pointers on standing technique, and one thing that I'm curious about is what cadence people hold when they stand. I can hold 50-60RPM quite easily and might be able to do 60-70RPM, but once I push past that I feel like my legs get too lactic. (Apart from standing, I can't think of any other riding situations where I get lactic.)

Aside from that, I have been changing gears whilst seated. I changed up a couple of times while standing but I was pretty nervous while doing so. Certainly wouldn't be doing that if I was putting serious power down.

Thanks guys.

Sprinters hold high cadence when they stand.

brentono wrote:Sprinters hold high cadence when they stand.

As do many BMX riders

In fact many have amazing peak power outputs and ability to turn a gear with long cranks.
I'm pretty sure the highest recorded peak / 5-sec power is from a pro BMX rider. Great place to talent scout for track sprinters. The Pro BMX option is making it harder to convince them though.

Alex Simmons/RST wrote:

brentono wrote:Sprinters hold high cadence when they stand.

As do many BMX riders

In fact many have amazing peak power outputs and ability to turn a gear with long cranks.
I'm pretty sure the highest recorded peak / 5-sec power is from a pro BMX rider. Great place to talent scout for track sprinters. The Pro BMX option is making it harder to convince them though.

I've never been the strongest sprinter but have good bike control which makes up for it, I suppose.

I find spinning a BMX on flat completely different to standing climbing hills, I can spin the roadie pretty fast on flat in a sprint though

A road finish, is something to aim for, as that's the business end.
High cadence ability (from your bmx days) should benefit, and it
would seem that you only need to refine it. Out of the seat, and
the ability to accelerate, will have you finishing over the top of
tired "sluggers" trying to push their excessive gears.
Most road finishes are flat surface.
Bloke, it worked for me (longtime ago, but relevant today)
Go for Pro

A BMX background worked pretty well for some guy form Qld, what was his name again, Robbie something....

Pushing a big gear is harder work meaning you will tire quicker. Better to have a higher cadence and push an easier gear. On a long hill (several kms) you may want to alternate between sitting and standing and generally you might shift up one harder gear when standing and shift back down when seated.

Ross wrote:Pushing a big gear is harder work meaning you will tire quicker. Better to have a higher cadence and push an easier gear. On a long hill (several kms) you may want to alternate between sitting and standing and generally you might shift up one harder gear when standing and shift back down when seated.

Not debating that - although I am finding from my background in BMX I have more strength while standing than I thought.

I spend a lot of my time climbing so just looking for any tips on climbing while standing or standing while climbing or however you want to phrase it.

As an update to the original post, I found this morning that I can spin 70-80 RPM sustained on 5-10% climbs without fatiguing. Original figures were a bit modest.

Ross wrote:Pushing a big gear is harder work meaning you will tire quicker. Better to have a higher cadence and push an easier gear. On a long hill (several kms) you may want to alternate between sitting and standing and generally you might shift up one harder gear when standing and shift back down when seated.

sort of, yes, but everyone works differently, and this misses a major point.

When seated the bicycle supports the entire weight of the rider, which is why its theoretically possible to ride oneself to the point of utter collapse. Certainly it's more efficient to ascend from the seated position rather than having all that body weight supported by your muscles as it is when out of the saddle [leaving aside short bursts to employ different muscles, getting over a sharp change in gradient etc].

I havn't done much standing at all,

I have been trying to do alot more higher candence riding, keeping at around he 80 - 90 mark, once i'm in the 90 mark i change down a gear to get it back in the 80's

I'm finding doing that i'm not having to stand much, there is a strava leg where i Go across a bridge that crosses the high way and i'm standing to try and keep the speed up hill around the 35 / 40 mark, but only short burst and my legs are killing once I reach the top!

I'll work on this standing options, not many hills in darwin to really warrent standing but!

Standing and sitting helps to spread the load, both muscles groups as well as pressure points on the butt. Stand every so often is good for your organ too.

i checked what cadence the other day i could do while standing and not pushing hard was 80 something, i'll try to keep a better idea on it next time, makes it a little hard when you standing and looking ahead

Standing and sitting helps to spread the load, both muscles groups as well as pressure points on the butt. Stand every so often is good for your organ too.

+1

My cadence while climbing out of the saddle depends on the gradient, length of the climb and how hard I'm pushing.
It can be anywhere from 60 to 95. Experience has proven to me there is no one perfect cadence for me.
More importantly I try to keep my heart rate deviation no more than around 5% when out of the saddle otherwise I take too long to recover from it once i'm back in the saddle.