Originally Posted by
pallen
that was my first thought, but then I considered that on a treadmill walking, you might actually go up with a step and then slide back down with each step. I never really analyzed it. The difficulty of climbing is the conversion of mechanical energy into gravitational potential energy. I'm trying to figure out how that happens on a bike on an inclined treadmill.
You still have the force gravity*mass*sin(incline degrees) pushing you backward, you need to use muscle energy to oppose that force.
Although I think I understand where you're going with that. I suppose that the treadmill is actually aiding you some by helping turn the wheels, it seems to me that the only way to get a good workout then would be to use the incline feature.
I might be way off though. I suck at Physics.