Is it bad to bicycle standing on the pedals instead of sitting down?
Sunday, December 5th, 2010 at
9:58 pm
I see pro cyclists standing on the pedals to get started, or to get up a super steep incline.,..but the rest of the time they're on the saddle.
Unless I'm going downhill, I pedal while standing on the pedals all the time.
Is this bad ?
I ride a hybrid.
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I see a debate going on, one side saying that standing “wastes a lot of energy” and the other saying “sitting makes a better workout”.
and 70 – 90 rpm??? does anyone pedal that fast??? Wow!!!
Its not really bad for your body, but if you want to get more of a workout out of riding bike you should sit down to build up your leg muscles. i mountain bike and i try to sit as much as possible to make myself a stronger rider. But if you’re just riding for fun and dont mind standing all that time you’re fine. you wont hurt yourself.
Standing up to pedal wastes a lot of energy. It can give to more speed but you wasting energy by having to support your whole body weight. It is a lot more efficient to sit and spin the the pedals at 70-90 rpm’s. If you are standing all of the time chances are you are pedaling way too slow.
you can go faster longer if you don;t stand up
reason: you don;t waste energy holding yourself up
though you can sprint faster standing, briefly
until you run out of anaerobic reserves – which is about a minute
then you are panting for breath and have to slow down so much that your average speed is usually lower
sometimes people will stand to provide butt relief
but usually only up hill
since your wind resistance is higher when standing it makes sense to do it while going slow, which is uphill
standing is more risky than sitting
a. you are putting more force on everything- steering, drive train, frame
if anything is weak – that is when it will break
which is bad because
b. if you are standing and anything happens to change your balance [like a chain breaks, or a handlebar, or a crank, or the freehub - or the back wheel just loses traction [wet leaves or gravel]] – you are going to fall and fall harder than if you had been sitting, which would have been less likely to cause things to break in the first place
so it;s riskier and slower
i do it anyway sometimes
a. i’m not racing
b. sometimes i just don;t want to shift for a brief uphill segment
wle
BESTANSWER!
If you feel you need to stand all the time, there is a good chance that your saddle is too low making it difficult for you to pedal properly sitting down. Standing allows you to accelerate, but is much less efficient. If the pros do it that way, it is because it works best, otherwise they would be saving weight by removing the saddles from their bikes and standing all the time
I always stand on the pedals to get a super quick acceleration or to climb steep hills fast. It’s like the turbo of a motor. I don’t recommend standing on the pedals on the flats or long slight inclines because it will tire you out. The only time you should stand all the time is when you when you have malfunctioning or broken seat/seatpost.
It’s not bad if you don’t do it to excess, and do it under the right circumstances.
If you are a BMX rider and you’ve slammed your seat, you stand almost all of the time.
In that case sitting down is rather akward.
Its a matter of preference BUT it is well believed that you use more energy by pedaling standing up.
I do it to put more power to the wheel at cruising speed.