The Importance of the Bike

This is a debate for the ages. Everyone seems to have their own preference and whether or not climbing techniques show on the split times. Personally I've always felt faster climbing hills out of the saddle. But this is my first chance to race with aero tri bars with the bar end shifters, so I don't know how much that is going to affect climbing technique. It'll be interesting to see if the need to shift is going to dictate that I stay seated and on the aero bars. As soon as the snow disappears, I'm going to be out on local roads trying to answer this very question. But bottom line is I think you should do what is the most comfortable to you. I imagine you probably are the most efficient using the technique that makes you feel the fastest.

Max

I think that it is also a question of size and weight. My cycling weight is usually between 205-210 pounds so that I have no need to stand on the pedals to get power needed to climb. I do stand once in awhile to climb smaller shorter hills but for the long steep ones, the energy output is greater than the benefit so I sit.

Climbing hills on a bike has many variables. For example: do you have a triple front ring, what is your largest rear sprocket, how much does your bike weigh, how much do you weigh, is this a road - mountain or tri bike etc. The only common or controlled variable is practice and consistency. I prefer to stay in the saddle, maintain cadence and shift BEFORE there is too much pedal pressure. Many riders are out of the saddle early and cranking big gears. You should probably schedule some hill specific workouts and try out different techniques. Be sure to note how long it takes to recover not just how fast the hill climb. I am fully recovered from climbing within 2-3 pedal revolutions of the crest and passing riders who passed me on the hill climb. I typically pass many riders on the down hills with good aerodynamics and NO FEAR! Ride hard!

I have noticed the same thing on Bike place and overall place. I have never figured out the standard of deviation for this.
On the other topic, I like to stay in the sadle as much as I can. I feel like I get lots of power out of the sadle, but I use to much energy, and can't convert all the power into speed. I like to shift down, and keep my cadance high. I get out of the saddle on the big climbs, and to stretch out once and awhile.

Another way to think about the importance of the bike leg of a traithlon is to consider the total time used in each event. Since the bike takes up nearly twice the duration of the run and 3-4 times the dcuration of the swim, being a good cyclist has a huge impact on the overall time!

Thik of it this way - suppose that you do a sprint triathlon in: 10 min swim, 40 min bike, and 25 min run. If you could improve one of those times by 10%, which one would you choose?

For me this is a little unfortunate - since the swim is my strength I have long thought I am at a disadvantage. If I swim at record pace, and am first out of the water, i probably have a 1 minutes lead. If a good runner is in the race, he will beat me by 5 minutes, and a good cyclist by 10 minutes! My one minute is easily overshadowed by skill in the dry land sports. :-(

After reviewing all of our times in the Athens tri (5-6 of us competed), the bike was where we "lost time." The big light dawned when I read that the all-time record holder is Lance Armstrong, who raced when he was 16 years old.

You can be okay in the other events, but the bike is key (at least in Athens, TX). Me on my mountain bike? Lucky to finish.

Tiger Phil,

When I train, I tend to stay in the saddle and push or power through the hills. This helps me to build strength for climbing. To get up hills faster,i.e. racing, I stand and tend to sprint more. I would say it is important in a race setting to keep your cadence high, >95 rpm's, in order to conserve some strength for the run. Sure everyone has there preference, so just try different methods and see what works best for you. ;-)

Ok I’ve been thinking about this thread overnight (obsessed? Moi?)

I agree the bike is very important but it also has to be placed in context. For a sprint how may of those top 10 bikers were just using the spritn as a arm up and are more used to longer distances – maybe they had been injiured and wanted to get the competitive feeling without doing the long distances that may aggravate their injury. Also the bike is the area where equipment makes the greatest difference – how much are those guys spending on the bike??

It seems to me that at least for sprint tris you can easily get someone stepping down to win an easy event just so thay have a win rather than compete at a more suitable level.

I’m pretty good at excuse aren’t I??? :-)

It is often said by professional triathletes that the runners usually win tris. In my (very humble) estimation the bike is extremely important for people like myself who can no longer run fast. The winners of the sprints in my area will come in the running portion in about 17 minutes...it will take me 30! So, I can only hope to, if not compete, then come in with a decent time if I excell in my cycling leg. As for how much some guys are spending for their bikes; some spend a lot and some, like myself, don't. But, as I have said before one should endeavour to get the best tools for the best job! If I were to swim fully dressed, bike on a mountain bike, and run in my work shoes, it would take me much longer than if I were to wear a triathlon suit for all three legs, ride a road bike and run in a good pair of running shoes.

My view is that the bike is the single most important component. The bike not only is the most time but it sets up the run. I can argue all day about runners always winning because I don't think they do. I think the person in the best overall shape ALWAYS wins(assuming no injuries).
If you look at the top pro's in an Ironman event the winner usually has a good marathon split for an ironman(2:40-2:50) but not necessarily a good split for a marathon (in context of course). In a big marathon 20+ people will run a sub 2:30 marathon, many of them are not pro's. If you break down the splits of a pro's run in a triathlon you'll see one of two trends 1) They maintain the pace or 2)They slow down as they go. Do they slow down because they are not a runner? I don't think so, I think that they didn't leave enough gas in the tank to maintain their run pace. Thomas Hellreigel does this alot, he seems psyched out by the "runners" and he flies through the bike, building a 10-20 minute lead only to slow down on the run and get caught. I can't help thinking that he may be more competitive with the Reid's and DeBoom's of the world if he just hung with them and left himself with energy for the run. Mark Allen took this approach in the 1989 Ironman and finally beat Dave Scott, the guy that would always catch him on the run. I realize that these are pros but the basic idea is the same for all, if you trash yourself on the bike, you're run will suck.

Ok, enough philosophy for today

My question was also slanted in this way: I have a double chainring on my bike. On the hills at my first tri, I was down to second gear (second largest cog, small chainring) in going up some of the hills. I refused to go down to first gear, because the hills were just not large enough, dadgummit. I stayed seated the whole time. Should I have come out of the saddle? Would that have made me quicker going up the hills?

Thanks again. The real answer is to put in a ton of time on the bike and get my body used to spinning moving faster, right?

Depends - are a spinner or a masher?

Spinner(stay in seat) - kick it to a smaller gear and pedal faster up the hill

Masher(out of seat) - Use a big gear and mash the pedals hard to get up the hill with strength.

I'm a spinner.

It also depends on your weight, your knees and your stamina. As I said earlier it takes a lot more energy to ride out of the saddle. Keep seated, keep your cadence up, and when the need arise go down a gear...that's why road bikes have more than one gear. This will allow you to conserve enough energy to stand and sprint to the top when you get about 100 meters (or whatever distance you can sprint) fom the summit.

I want to be a spinner. Really, I do. But I am new to cycling, so I am attempting to mold myself in the best way possible...

If you are starting, I would work on keeping the cadence up and your butt on the seat. Over time as you build endurance you will be more efficient "spinning" than you will if you are "mashing". If you have clipless pedals or cages work on using both legs to push down on the pedals and pull up on them, this will use more muscles and vary the load.

I don't have anything to add, other than to just say thanks to the folks with experience helping all of us newbies try to figure it all out. Y'all are teaching me a lot.