Is standing while biking bad or good?
 

Few months ago I posted that I had some ball pain when prolonged biking while sitting on the seat. I resorted to standing most of the time since then 1-2 hours of biking 2-3 times a day. Now I feel my knees are experiencing some pressure, ever-slight discomfort while pedalling while standing and I am worried whether it has affected my knee strength. In general is standing all the time and pedalling while standing a bad or ok? Thanks.,

doing it all the time sounds like torture, but it’s a valid way of (1) temporarily relieving saddle pressure, and (2) generating more torque for sprinting or climbing. If it’s not something you do regularly, it’s going to use different muscles and hurt a bit. You need to practice and find the optimum gear to get the most out of it and not stress your knees

I occasionally stand up when I feel like I need to stretch my legs or readjust my butt on the saddle. But I don't make a habit of pedaling while standing up.

Every time this question comes up I'm reminded of when I was a kid there was another kid who had no seat on his bike and he rode the thing standing up all the time.

Feels so Good the Stand and stretch every thing.
Miss that when Trike Riding.

I stand to relieve pressure/ stretch and find myself doing it more as I get deeper into the ride. I can't imagine doing it the majority of the ride tho.

Do people that stand up all day at their work have bad knees? I stood at my last job all day long and I don't have bad knees.

Same thing applies to sitting or standing, don't constantly push a hard gear. Make sure your foot alignment on the pedal doesn't need some adjustment between your sitting position and standing position. Especially if your cleats don't allow much float.

My only gripe about standing is that it seems to use more of my energy. Probably a lot of that is I don't stand on my bike often enough to have the right muscles for it.

There are several types of standing bikes that are based on only standing. Among those, most have a modified pedal stroke, rather than just circular chainrings.

If you going to stand all the time on circular rings, you would probably be better off with shorter cranks to make things easier on your knees. I think that is typically the case for standing bikes with circular rings.

OTOH, it is generally beneficial to spend some parts of a ride standing. Periodic breaks out of the saddle help reduce saddle discomfort. I ride single speed and I think the large amount of time out of the saddle is why it’s more comfortable for me.

Otto

I recently cracked a saddle rail and had to pedal the last 15 miles home while standing. I survived.

it's good for a timely break from the saddle, or up hills

be careful doing it downhill as your body momentum is moving forward and a sudden stop or slow down could dump you over the top (I'm sure of this!)

It is certainly not doing your knees any good. Like others have posted, I stand to stretch the lower back, glutes, legs, etc. Standing most of the time is something I would not like, nor would I do so unless it was imperative due to an issue with the drivetrain. As I age, I find it is good to stop and get off the bike more often, even if it is only for numerous seconds. I have to stop more often anyway due to having to empty the bladder. It really sounds like you have a fit problem or the saddle just is not right for you.

This ^. Fit and saddle adjustment. The "pain" that you describe doesn't make sense to me. That's not a part of the anatomy that should be in contact with the bicycle at all. PG

I cant stand sitting for the entire time of a long ride without a short change in position.

There is an old guy who rides RAGBRAI every year who doesnt even have a saddle. He stands all the time now and his current bike is designed to not have a seatpost. I heard his original bike broke years ago, he rode standing, and that became his thing. Who knows.

Anyways, yeah I stand to climb. I do that on most all hills as its what I prefer and comes directly from when I was a kid and rode BMX all over town. I dont stand when riding flat or downhill because- why?

Standing for most of the time is clearly an issue of fit. Thats just not how cycling is done- you have 3 contact points with the bike and you just eliminated one of them. Go get fit properly.

whuh?

Fair point.
The original bike broke. He since has a new bike.

I use an elliptical machine for several hours at a time on high resistance, and I don't develop knee problems. For all we know, this might actually be strengthening his knees.

Staying in any one position over a long ride is going to be uncomfortable. The solution is to rotate through the different positions (seated, standing, hands on various parts of the bars) as you ride, as appropriate.

So stand up whenever your arsular region wants a break, or when your legs are getting tired, or when you are losing steam while going up a hill. Then sit back down, change hand positions, then stand up again when the ride dictates you will get the most benefit.

Generally speaking, if you switch from seated to standing you can shift to one or three cogs smaller (harder gears) because it is harder to spin fast smooth circles while standing.

Hope he inspects his cranks regularly for cracks.

You’re not alone. No one can stand sitting; you’re either doing one or the other. If this scenario occurs during a race, though, it’s all about where you sit in the standings.

I haven't heard of the RAGBRAI guy... but then on a more recent note, there's this guy: Cyclist who rode 100 miles out of the saddle to repeat ride on Zwift to prove he wasn't lying | road.cc

In general there's nothing "bad" about standing and pedalling. But it's definitely not the best solution to your "ball pain"!
You might want to look into other solutions, of which there are potentially many. It could also be a sign of a medical issue. A mate of mine was suffering on the bike recently (ball pain again) and ended up being diagnosed with a bladder stone and enlarged prostate. Maybe get a check-up just to rule things like that out?

bet if a poll was taken, the results would be on par to that assumption, but you'll have those oddball opinions that'll stand out too. Although, some may just sit it out & just be null to the topic, refraining from posting even.

don't "stand", "dance" on the pedals

Not just a good idea. It should be mandatory:
https://road.cc/content/feature/how-...brittle-261478
Cycling is unfortunately a non weight-bearing exercise, and as such could lead to bone loss. So we need to consciously stand up and pedal every chance we get. Jumping is also a good bone loading exercise. So if you can bunny hop while standing- even better!