I was out riding on my Soloist (back in road set-up post tris) and the question of climbing came up. Why is it considered harder to climb on tri geometry than on road?
For me, I like to scoot back in the saddle and sit up, gives me better leg extension and seems to get the core/back muscles involved a little better. You can get away with the more upright position on a climb because there is little or no aero penalty the steeper it gets. On a Tri bike with the forward seat position and bar reach, sitting up and scooting back only gets you to approximately the normal starting road position. At least that’s how it feels to me.
I have several local routes I use for persoanl time checks - the flat ones, I am still improving with my TT/Tri bike, but the hilly ones, my best times date back a few years to when I only had the road bike.
That makes sense. It must have been checked out a million times over b/c ST usually recommends a road set-up on hilly routes and races. I was just having a hard time wrapping my mind around why it was that way.
I have the exact opposite experience.
In fact I’ve changed my road and mountain bikes to mimic my tri bike position.
jaretj
the tri bike is going to be optimized to get your hip angle where you want it when you are aero.
so when you sit up it could be too open
it can also be the case that aero bars don’t let you set up where you want too.
a saddle that lets you slide back and forth adequately and aero bars that work for you when climbing should make it negligibly different I think.
I was out riding on my Soloist (back in road set-up post tris) and the question of climbing came up. Why is it considered harder to climb on tri geometry than on road?
Here’s where I think it comes from…
Most people train primarily on their road bike with a hip angle that’s somewhere (guessing here) 110 degrees.
They then get on their TT bikes and race at somwhere around 95-100 degrees.
They naturally find that they have more torque at the 110 degree angle because they always train that way…hence the belief that their road bike is better for climbing.
Oh, and many people climb (short steep ones anyway) with a high degree of torque which requires them to pull on the handlebars in response and that’s not natural on elbow pads…so that might play a factor too.
Put me down as one of those who folks who climbs better in tri geometry. I’ve heard so many explanations, and I am really surprised that there isn’t a more definitive answer out there. It seems that it depends on several elements:
1.) cycling background (roadie/triathlete)
2.) predominant training position (slack/steep)
3.) pedaling efficiency while standing
4.) hip angle
5.) other stuff 
I started as a triathlete, and have always cycled at a steep angle, so I find a tri geometry to be much more powerful and efficient (I have often tested this hypothesis by doing hill climbs with a traditional road bike). Also, I am a VERY inefficient climber when I pedal out of the saddle (my HR jumps into the red zone). Subsequently I scooch forward on the front tip of the saddle to get the most power possible. I think that folks who ride in different positions (slack or steep) make subtle but important adjustments to maximize efficiency and power.
I’m going to agree with jyeager. One position vs the other is not superior for climbing. Whatever you train to do you will improve so if you want to climb better on your tri bike then ride it more in the hills and get a feel for the proper gearing and cadence you will need.
Chad
This question has been addressed a couple of times already. The reason many riders prefer a road geometry rather than a tri geometry to climb is more because, most of the time, at some stage, you have to also ride down, and if it’s steep enough and technical enough, you’d rather have your center of gravity back and lower.
Embrun or IM France on a Tri bike would be just fine without the technical downhills with hairpins…
*Embrun or IM France on a Tri bike would be just fine without the technical downhills with hairpins… *
**
Only if your tri bike is squirrelly. I would ride my Yaqui on any course that didn’t start at the bottom and end at the top of the mountain. Descending is about your skills, experience and confindence in what your bike will do. Both times I raced World’s Toughest half I passed people riding road bikes on that course while ripping through the wicked downhills into the Green River area. I’ve ridden it off of Big Bear as well with no issues through those switchbacks.
It’s all about the bike. Oh, wait, it’s not about the bike.
Chad