ZIPP2001

What are you a Masher or Spinner ?

I've always been known as a masher, and enjoy standing and attacking climbs. So today I wanted practice staying seated and spinning on climbs. So I went out and played on some hills, tad under 9 miles of climbing. I did revert to old habits several times on a couple climbs but reminded myself to practice spinning. Hey old dogs can learn new tricks, but oh how the urge to stand is hard to break. Fun day !

doctor j

Typically, I remain seated during the performance. That's why they make gears

JohnDThompson 

Both. On a geared bike, I'll spin. On my fixed gear, I don't have a choice, so I mash.

Mountain Mitch

Depends. On a short sharp hill, or a hill that I didn't see coming, I will stand and mash. Often not enough time to gear down much, if at all. Typically I use this technique on rolling trails too.

On a longer climb, especially one I have a chance to prepare for, I sit and spin (although occasionally if the hill is steep enough it's more like 'mashing on the lowest gear' than spinning).

SylvainG

I'm a spinner. Today on my 70 km challenge, a fellow cyclist overtook me just before we climbed a hill. As we climbed, I switched to a lower gear and spun. He stayed in gear and 'mashed' the pedals. Distance between us stayed the same. His cadence was less that 5 rpm! Once up hill, although he was much younger than me, he was exhausted and I overtook him easily. It took him some time to recover and even then, we kept a similar speed.

Biker395 

On long climbs, I alternate between spinning seated and honking.

bikemig 

This is the goal,

Velominati ? Look Pro: Souplesse

Barrettscv 

On a longer ride, I'll spin as much as possible. Attacking every hill by standing and mashing the pedals comes with a cumulative penalty, IMO. It can damage the knees, also.

On shorter rides, I'll stand and mash the pedals on short, steep climbs. It's a good workout, but not my primary climbing style.

02Giant 

My only comment; You are asking to be doored.

Jumpski

Wow, no rain in new England. I've always climbed seated - it's comfortable (for me).
I'm a spinner...... Stay safe......

jwalther

I spun a lot this weekend.

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europa

The thing about spinning on climbs is that it requires fast twitch muscles. IF you've been riding this way for a long time, you've got them and it's not a problem. However, as you advance further into your 50+ years, it becomes increasingly easy to loose them, and you'll lose them before anything else. If you're a mere 50 year old, you should be able to learn to spin and reap the benefits. If you're a 60 year old, as I am, and (for whatever reason) have lost the ability to spin frantically, you're going to find it hard to rebuild those fast twitch muscles. At 58, as a fixed gear rider, I could spin quite happily at over 160 rpm and on my geared bike, climbed vertical cliffs at 100 rpm. Sadly, life got in the way and especially sadly, those fast twitch muscles are the first to go. I can easily pull 110 rpm on my fixed gear... with a tail wind or a down hill, but climbing (where you need actual effort) is sadly reduced.

Like a lot of threads on this forum, we're getting advice from people who are doing it regularly to people who aren't. That is not good peeps. It only leads to a lot of lurkers being too scared to comment. That is not what this forum is supposed to be about but has anyone else noticed how elitist it can be? I for one can not afford the latest ubercarbonsupermachine nor do a century every day, yet one would be excused for imagining that this is what is required.

Realistically, spinning up hills is best and you should spin at whatever cadence suits you. Surprisingly, the same applies to the flats and down hill. To hell with the rest, if it's too hard, either change down a gear or fit a lower cog to your fixed gear or pull over for a coffee and an icecream. Too many people WITHIN this forum have been riding for donkey's years and can out perform people in their twenties. Judge yourself BY yourself. Maybe, oneday, you'll be wow'ing the superfit members of this supposedly sub-forum. Chances are, you'll be like most of us and keeping our embarrassed traps shut.

In the meantime, use your gears to minimise effort... or ponder on why you've chosen not to have gears.

Zurichman2

I guess I am not sure I agree with you. I am 66 did a 65 mile ride yesterday Tour de Cure in Manheim PA. I had free entry into the ride as I was the only one that finish the metric ride last year in monsoon conditions. I was riding with some slower riders so I would ride my pace and then soft pedal for awhile. This guy passes me and gives me the look. He was a good 50-75 yards ahead of me on a climb. I took off and looked down at my speedometer once and saw it was reading 25 mph. I guess I must still have it. The ride was only 62 miles but I decided I wasn't getting off the bike until I saw 65 miles.

Zman

practical

I am getting better at hills. I'm old and fat so hills can be a challenge, but my stamina has improved so that I'm not winded as easily and that lets me maintain a strong cadence longer. I will stand on short hills or to vary the approach but you need to shift up before you stand and if you have a lot of tension in your chain, this can be tricky.

ColnagoC40

Good post!!!!

I race Master's and as with you I find high cadence more of a challenge than years ago. I can remember spinning at 200 for short periods back then, and no way I can do that today. However, because of changes in speed ability, I specifically focus on training at high cadence and make it a priority. The result is that I actually spin more now than 25 years ago. We are all different and an accurate power meter on an indoor trainer where you can exactly replicate conditions, is probably the best tool to tell you what the highest power is you can maintain, for how long and at what cadence you can achieve the highest output. For a 1 minute, 5 minute, 20 minute session, personally, my cadence would be very different for each time period.

We are all different, however for me in racing conditions I try to keep my cadence around 100rpm when pushing above 250watts and once all those matches are burnt, I will start reducing cadence. For an FTP test, my best power output is around 95-100 and I believe years ago it was 85-90, although we did not have power meters those days.

IMHO, any one doing a stage race of 5 days or longer, mashing heavy gears will lose their legs before the end of the tour.

The other physiological difference between athletes is cardiovascular aerobic capacity. If that is a weakness, lower cadence is better. If that is a strength, higher cadence is better.

fietsbob

If my heart rate goes too high, I'm Not too proud to get off and walk the bike, at a much lower heart rate.

Pushing my touring load up a steep slope I Stop ..and hold the brake on & rest a bit..


Now my town is built up over a steep hill, I do that without the camping gear aboard..

I'll be 70 in the autumn.




....

kcblair

Spin all the way. Sometimes, as I crest the top, I'll come out of the saddle. Up until this year, my lowest gear was a 34GI. This past winter, installed new cassettes, and my new low gear is 28GI. At 70, I ain't mashing no more ......KB

ptempel

I do a little of both like @JohnDThompson. Mostly seated. But if my lower back feels a little tired, then I'll shift up and get out of the saddle to give it a break. I sometimes do an uphill mini-sprint with a guy that I commute with. Most often, I find myself on the nose of the saddle and spinning like Chris Froome.

NYMXer

I'm pretty much doing this same technique. On rolling hills, I'll tend to mash and sometimes stand up to carry more speed up and over the climb. This is good for short, but steep climbs. I'll usually always stay seated (Mtb habit) and spin but still in a gear higher than most people. Once in a while, if I am feeling like my climbing speed is "between" 2 gears, I'll stand and mash to get a little speed.

Ultimately though, spinning is easier on your heart, doesn't burn as much energy and is definitely better for your knees!

Mr IGH

I'm a spinner, I run a triple with a 24T inner ring and 14-28 9 speed cassette. I diesel my way to the top and use 7 rear cogs with my 24T front ring. I love lots of choices, I'm kinda a gear puss, gotta be in my range or I get cranky. Same story for my mountain bike, 20/36 low gear, sit and spin works for me.

Interesting about losing the ability to spin as we age. I'm 56, my power range is the same as it was when I raced USCF back in the 70's (lower power, same rpm range ). I've always been a spinner, wonder what will happen to me?

55murray

Mashing is much worse for your chain and cassette, right?

Biker395 

Not really.

1. The OP is no beginner.
2. The OP wasn't looking for advice. He was asking people what they do.

Ok, now this is unsolicited advice, and video can distort distances ... but I think 02Giant is right ... the OP might want to consider taking a bit more distance from those doors.

jppe

Like others I sit while climbing. Sometimes the hills get pitched up so steep I find I have to mash even while sitting!! On longer climbs I'll stand in slightly harder gears every 1/2 mile to use different muscles, give the butt a break and to just break the monotony. It changes the climb from a 4-10 mile ascent to lots of 1/2 mile climbs. Climbing is a lot more mental than most folks realize. It's a great opportunity for me to laugh, scream, talk to myself and say lots of prayers.........

ZIPP2001

Guys relax the camera made the cars look closer than what the really were, I had it on super wide view. Trust me I've been cycling for over 40 years and have never been doored. I approached the subject of spinning while climbing because I recently did Fleche Buffoon which had 6100' of climbing. Quite a few where good thigh burners. I rode with several people who were spinning quite high compared to me and just was wondering what others prefer. Look I love to stand and climb that's my preferred climbing style, no way is wrong or right were all different but I do mix it up once and a great while. And I agree with jppe there is a mental aspect to climbing, because my attitude is I'm not going to let a climb beat me. Where as one of the guys with us was already defeated before we reached some climbs just by listening to his talk. I was always telling him to get the negativity out of his head because your defeated before you start.

Biker395 

I thought that might be the case. That super-wide view also tends to exaggerate the speed a little bit ... a fact I take advantage of when bragging about my climbing speed.