Stand up Bicycle
Bicycles are designed to be used while sitting. You cannot imagine riding a bicycle while standing up. Well, today there are people how like the idea of riding bicycle that does not have the need of sitting. But where is the comfort in that?
Lets consider what will happen to a bicycle if it is pedaled standing up. The standing up position of the rider on a bicycle puts full weight on the pedals, excluding the weight that it is distributed to the handles, of course. So, pedals are the one that have to be strong enough to withstand the rider’s weight. This leads to bending and eventual break.
Bicycle manufactures, when designing the pedals, seriously take under consideration the fact that bicycle rider will pedal standing up from time to time. The reason for it is that standing up in spite of making more weight pressure to the pedals; it gives more power to the pedaling motion and thus driving faster. Even the up-hill pedaling is easier when pedaling is made standing up. Nowadays pedals are made stronger and durable. But cyclists need to bear in mind not to over react with pedaling standing up. Knees and joints tend to get really tired after an exhausting up-hill, and spend a lot of energy.
Riding in a stand up position has its positive characteristics to. When on a long distance ride, standing up can be a good way to rest a bit and recuperate some energy. Spending a lot of pedaling motion with the body bend forward, can be stressful for the back and shoulders. It is a lot easier and faster if a cyclist uses standing up position to overcome a hill. This technique requires the body to move side ways with the bicycle; combined with rhythmic breathing and smooth energy transfer the pedals won’t even feel the difference.
Standing up position is probably the only position that is used when it comes to a mountain bike riding. This is not about the adrenalin mountain bike riding on the hills, but a normal bicycle touring of the surrounding. The goal is not to look in front of the bicycle most of the time, but to stand a bit and enjoy the landscapes around you. Pedals won’t feel much weight as you are not stressing too much to reach faster speeds.
If you practice more standing up driving on the bicycle, always check the pedals if they are in great shape. You don’t want them to fall off in the middle of a race, do you?
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