Anne, Standing while climbing took me 18 months to master. No doubt I've a steep learning curve to climb with my vertigo as part of that. I read and reread and read again Grant's description of how to do it in "Just Ride." Eventually I got there, just doing it for as long as I could, especially on parts I didn't "have" to to help with the learning curve. It's still a last resort before I break out the LCG as it uses more brain energy than remaining in the saddle (and on day rides, I often need the weight in the saddle for rear-wheel traction).
Another thing that may help you is doing deep bend squats. Do them in slow motion. Add weight over your shoulders (I use a rock left over from building our house) once you find 10+squats at slow speed easy (start at full speed if slo-mo is too hard, then build up to slo-mo and then weight). I found doing so meant I climb better for much, much longer and I often am a gear or two faster than before I started it. With abandon, Patrick On Saturday, April 26, 2014 8:00:01 AM UTC-6, Anne Paulson wrote: > > Mike, sigh, you're saying what I suspected but didn't want to hear: it's > just harder to push those big wheels up a hill. I'm already thinking about > trying 2.3" tires, though it does seem silly to buy a bike that takes 3" > wheels and then not use them. In any case, I'm going to replace the heavy > tubes with lighter tubes and see what difference that makes. Half a pound > per wheel isn't nothing. > > Rather than sliding forward, which seems to put my body at the wrong > attitude toward the pedals, I've been trying leaning forward. I haven't yet > become comfortable standing on the steep climbs, but that's the next skill > I need to pick up. > > On Fri, Apr 25, 2014 at 10:50 PM, Mike Schiller > <mikey...@rocketmail.com<javascript:> > > wrote: > >> One thing most people experience when going from 26" wheeled MTB's to 29" >> MTB is that they can't climb as well. I've learned that you need to use an >> even lower gear to be able to turn the larger circumference wheels. I have >> yet to try a 29+ bike but I can guess it will need an even lower gear. On >> my 29er I run a 20-34 low combination. I'd probably go to a 20-36 on a 29+ >> bike. Maybe you can try a smaller chainring up front for your Rohloff >> equipped bike? >> Of course it takes more power to push the wider and heavier tire, >> especially uphill on dirt.. I climb much faster on the same trails on my >> cross bike with 35mm tires. Downhill is another story. >> >> One trick you may not know is to slide forward on your seat a bit on >> steep sections. That will take some weight off your rear wheel and allow >> you to climb easier. The WTB saddles even have a little drop on the nose >> for that purpose. >> >> Another option is to try some 2.3" tires. They will be easier to climb >> with then your 3" Knards. You'll lose some downhill traction but maybe >> gain a better overall ride. >> >> Good Luck >> >> ~mike >> Carlsbad Ca. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com <javascript:>. >> To post to this group, send email to >> rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com<javascript:> >> . >> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > It isn't a contest. Enjoy the ride. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
