Conference noted::bicycle

    
    You mentioned your new bike has a steeper seat tube angle than your
    older bike....that's probably why you don't feel comfortable sitting
    and pushing up hills. Road racing bikes have their seat tube angles
    back a bit vs. criterium bikes just for that reason...it gives you
    more leverage when sitting.
    
    From a racer's point of view, whether sitting or standing on hills
    is a matter of energy efficiency. If you're doing a steady pace,
    then sitting is preferable. But if it's a hill prime, you bet I'm
    standing and throwing the bike all over the place. The point where
    the transition takes place is a function of so many things....do
    what's most comfortable for you.
    
    Jam on it
    CdH
    

       about sitting versus standing during climbing is a matter of
    what situation you are in at the time. during training I only stand
    on hills that are very steep or very short and I want to get up
    them in a hurry. I have also found that if you are going to stand
    up and hammer on a hill use a gear that is a little tougher to pedal
    (a 42x19 instead of a 42x21) to get further use of the added power
    that standing on a hill gives you. if are sitting use a gear that
    will allow you spin as easy as you can but still keep up a good
    pace. During most of the races that I have been in (cat IV) all
    but the steepest and longest hills are taken out of the saddle at
    a very fast pace because that where most of the racing takes place
    during a road race if you cant keep up on the hills the strong people
    just plain leave you in the dust.
    
    
        the whole message here is to learn what works best for your
    particular style of riding. this can only be done getting on your
    bike and riding different types of hills and consciously feeling
    what your body is telling you. After doing this for a while you
    will learn what works best for you and an apply this to your riding.
       And a different bike can make all the difference in the world.
    
    
    
                                                          JOHN
    

    You can exert more force on the pedals standing than sitting. On
    hills steeper than 10% it begins to get difficult to spin the pedals,
    so why not stand and let your body-weight help? From a touring point
    of view, I've found standing the only way to get up really steep
    hills. You can help to avoid tiring yourself out up a long hill
    by keeping the cadence down, and by pausing, very slightly, at the
    bottom of each stroke. I'm sure this isn't a racer's way of doing
    things, but when I'm touring, I just want to get up the hill without
    getting off and pushing (too proud for that, and I've sweated to
    prove it!).
    
    Rod

    	As a mentioned a few notes ago (the Look note that turned into
    a recumbent discussion), you use the gluteus (sp?) muscles (the
    ones you sit on) most efficiently when you are in a crouch, when
    your knees come up near your chin.  These are large, powerful, well
    excercised muscles in bike riders.  When you stand, you bring another
    bunch of - usually less tired - muscles into play.  These will tire
    quickly compared to the gluteus', so you only want to use them for
    short climbs (or train them by doing a lot of out-of-the-saddle
    riding so they won't tire on long climbs).  - Chris

    I've read alot about the BIOPACE chainrings from Shimano.  They
    appear to be real popular among tourist and mountain bikers.  Are
    they what there cracked up to be in helping you over the hills?
    Will they work equally well sitting or standing?  I recently saw
    an add for a Bridgestone that selected a traditional round crank
    because they didn't like the feel of the oval.  I've been contimplating
    putting them on my Cannondale but the rings aren't compatable
    with my cranks and I don't know if there really worth going
    the whole route for bottom brackets and crank arms.  Since I'm
    kind of heavy and live in Mont Vernon (difficult local N.H. hill) I'm
    very interested in learning how to climb efficiently.  How do you guys
    rate the new sprockets?
    					Jerry

    RE: 373.5  Biopace... 
    
    I replaced the "standard" type front gearing on my bike with BIOPACE
    last year. My bike is geared more for racing than touring. I added
    the BIOPACE system because of their claims of more efficient use
    of the leg stroke. I researched the various oval and off-round sets
    and decided that the BIOPACE was for me. There is a noticeable change
    for me. For a period of time after installing them that my legs
    tended to fatigue earlier than wiht the standard gearing, but this
    began to change as I grew more accustomed to them. The supposed
    reason for this is that the round gear sets all have a dead spot
    at certain positions during the stroke (regardless of whether or
    not you use toe clips) which can act as a split second "rest" for
    your legs... whereas the BIOPACE eliminates these dead spots and
    maintains a steady force on the legs. I also read that if you switch
    from standard to off-round or oval systems and you do not notice
    any change, it is probably because it is time to switch to smaller
    gearing in the rear sprocket. I feel the BIOPACE was a good investment
    in my case.
    
    As far as hill climbing is concerned, I use the same standard
    techniques with the BIOPACE that are described in previous notes,
    with the addition that when I stand in the cleats I find it helpful
    to lean out over the front wheel at times.
               
    
    							  * MAC *

	My new bike came with BIOPACE. The problem with any comparison with the
old bike is that many other things changed at the same time. There is one thing
I have noticed. On the old bike if I was in too easy a gear and not spinning
quite fast enough there would be a split second (more or less) when the pedal
would completely lose resistence. As soon as I shifted it would go away.  This
seems to happen sooner with the BIOPACE. Sorry if the description is somewhat
hazy. Has anybody else noticed this? 

	It is interesting someone mentioned sitting and standing use different
muscles. Recently I noticed that if I was tired sitting, standing would give me
a "rest". Alternating sitting and standing seemed like a good balance. Note I
like to tour so getting up the hill the fastest way is not the issue. Getting
up the hill with relative efficiency is more my goal. 

	Someone mentioned a steeper seat tube would encourage standing. I am
wondering if a tighter gear ratio would also encourage standing since I can not
just keep down shifting?

Ed

< Note 373.6 by UGSUP6::MCDONALD >

    RE: 373.5  Biopace... 
    
          <<< GLIVET::SYS$SYSDEVICE:[NOTES$LIBRARY]TRIATHLON.NOTE;1 >>>
                           -< Triathlon Conference >-
================================================================================
Note 80.12                          BIKE BIO                            12 of 12
ARCHER::KLASMAN                                      30 lines   8-JUL-1987 19:28
                          -< Kevin thinks he knows! >-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, Kevin has his opinion.  I love it!  To begin with, I'm really sold on 
the concept.  If you think about what Biopace is trying to accomplish, i.e.,
getting your foot thru the deadspot in the pedal stroke more quickly than thru 
the power spots in the stroke, then you have less deceleration at each 
deadspot, therefore more constant momemtum instead of continual 
acceleration/deceleration, higher average speed.  The concept is a winner!  
Does Biopace accomplish this purpose?  I think it does.  I don't notice the 
odd shape of the chainrings when I'm spinning, and I regularly spin at 100-110 
rpm.  So that's good...I don't feel the least bit choppy.  The only time I do 
notice the Biopace is when I need more power, especially standing up climbing 
a hill.  Then I feel more powerful with each stroke.  Of course, I've been 
riding Biopace for a couple of years now, so I'm very accustomed to it, tho I 
don't remember ever feeling uncomfortable, even in the beginning.

Now if you take the above concept of maintaining momentum by getting you thru 
the deadspots quickly, thus minimizing deceleration, think about how 
aerodynamics affects this... I recently got a nylon disk wheel cover and I 
couldn't believe how much faster, and more noticeably, smoother, my riding 
felt.  It seemed as if there was no deadspot at all!

As for clinchers, I ride them because; they're cheaper and more reliable; 
they're as responsive as I need (and according to the tests, the new high 
performance clinchers are every bit as good, if not better, than most 
tubulars); and most importantly, I don't want to worry about rolling a tubular 
off a rim because I screwed up the glue job.  A while back, Dave Scott dropped 
out of the Nice triathlon because he didn't trust decending mountain roads on 
a hastily applied tubular.

Kevin