I have always climbed in the traditional position with hands on the top of the bars while moving back on the saddle to power up the climb. Today I tried to climb in the TT position while spinning at a high cadence in a forward position on the saddle and found it to be easier in that I didn’t have to pull on the bars to power up and seemed to be able to accelerate quicker over the top. I don’t have any of the required information such as power or cadence but I was using a 39x28 spinning between 90-100rpm. The hill that I was climbing
I was wondering what the consensus was for climbing in the TT position. Any numbers to support. I do remember seeing Uran and Froome sticking to the TT position during some recent events.
Do whatever makes you faster. Sometimes it’s aero, sometimes it’s on the horns. I think you’ll find that climbing comfortable at 10mph aero is different than 6mph up a steeper grade though.
At 10 mph I found that since I was in the aero bars I wasn’t using up O2 pulling on the bars and was able to focus more on spinning. The hill had some steep stuff where I was going like 12-13kph in the TT position and feeling pretty controlled.
It depends on whether you are losing power while in the TT position for aero. If you are giving up power, at a certian point it makes sense to get out of the aero bars and on the bull horns.
For me … I don’t get out of the aero bars until I’m down around 12-13 mph, other than that, I stay aero … but I don’t lose much power when in the aero position compared to riding in the bull horns.
I was going to mention Uran myself. Just from anecdotal experience I’ve started climbing in the drops this years and feel like I’m putting out more power. I was always on the hoods previously though never on the tops.
This is just my opinion: If your goal is to climb using all available O2 then use all tools at your disposal. If you produce more power in the TT position than that is what you do.
If you are climbing at 10mph then you are either very strong or your definition of climbs differs than mine. I really have no idea of the effort (relative to yourself) you are putting out. All I can say is that my ability to put out large sustained efforts of power (relative to me) is much higher while on the horns than in the aerobars. Speed and grade will determine which position is faster.
With that said, once I get down under 18mph is really a personal choice for me but if I’m under 10 mph I’m not in the aerobars.
Rapp’s wind tunnel testing showed the threshold at about 14mph. That’s relative air speed, so consider head or tail winds. That’s about where I sit up. It’s about the time I’m at a low inertia point and in my last 3 gears on my cassette.
My power doesn’t change much from what I can tell. But my hip angle doesn’t change a whole lot when I sit up either. Part of that might be that since I ride sitting up about 1% of the time on most of my training routes, I only train that way 1% of the time. So there’s the issue of specificity there too. With IMWI in the Fall, I’ll be doing a lot more hill repeats so to spend more time in that position…yet staying under threshold power and ideally under SST on steeper climbs.
My rule of thumb is if I feel the wind, I’ll stay aero. If I can’t feel it, I’ll get on the horns. Ground speed it not a good indicator because it is air speed that creates drag.
I find it is easier and less taxing to spin seated forward in the TT position rather than sliding back on the saddle and going in the horns or hoods/tops
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I’m far from an expert but here’s what I’ve found. Per the Cervelo cite: Aero drag is 80-90% of the overall resistance affecting a rider. Only on climbs steeper than 5% does weight become more important than drag for the average rider.
Another site says below 11 mph the chief obstacle is the rolling resistance of your tires. It also says: When your average speed is above 25 mph we should begin to have talks on aerodynamics, and when your average speed is above 27 mph we really need to address aerodynamics. But for most riders, you’ll gain more speed by producing more power over your entire race distance rather than aiming to adopt a sleek, aerodynamic position. http://anathletesbody.com/2013/09/24/the-tipping-point-how-does-aerodynamics-impact-cycling/
If in a hard effort, i don’t climb in aero, i get in the drops. it kind of gives my legs a break, and i honestly feel more powerful since i’m using different muscles that may be a little fresher. i’ve heard alot of ppl state that it’s better to climb in aero, but i just don’t feel as good as when i am hunched over, gripping the drops, and engaging my core more.
The statement of 80-95% of the resistance being aerodynamic is unqualified. That would be true for speeds around 20MPH on level ground with no winds. Power requirements for rolling resistance increase linearly (i.e. double the velocity and the rolling resistance doubles) whereas, aerodynamic resistance increase proportional to the cube of the velocity (i.e. double the velocity and the aerodynamic resistance increases eight times). The original poster raised no question about weight. Knowing that one can reduce the power output by about 100 watts at 20 mph between the upright position and the time trial position (“Faster” by Jim Gourley) tells me that one should be taking aero improvements very serious at 20 MPH and not waiting until one is hitting 25 or 27 MPH.
The real issue is at what point in a climb does the aerodynamic position advantage becomes less than the advantage of sitting more upright with hands on the bullhorns allowing a greater expansion of the lungs and the enervation of different and more muscle mass. This will vary with each rider depending on their position on the bike, their muscular make-up, and their cardiovascular system. Each rider can develop a feel for the critical point through experience and experimentation. On a long climb, check what happens to your velocity and heart rate when you change positions. Eliminate one vaiable - maintain a constant heart rate and look for the change in velocity…or maintain a constant velocity and observe the change in heart rate.