Climbing out of the saddle

As someone who was never 'small' or lightweight (last time I was 70kg I was still in junior school in the early 80s) being in the drops wasn't something I did much, for me there was no need for me to do so as I didn't race. I do remember copying the pros and turning my non aero brake levers on my Raleigh Winner and Falcon into  a type of aero jobby so I could wrap bar tape over the cables. 

I think if you are in the drops AND out the saddle this pushes your upper body quite a bit far forward, it's not only compressing your lungs/rib cage it puts a lot more pressure/weight on your hands, arms and shoulders, isn't that actually going to be more restrictive/less efficient that simply being on the hoods and outright max power due to the restrictive and ften painful nature of that position?

 Yes you can get aero benefits even going slowly up a slope but these will be very small, climbing is as much about mental strength and comfort as it is about outright efficiency and power so I think on the hoods is better anyways.

As others, powering short sharp (and sometimes not so sharp) inclines can be great fun and a good way to get over the top. there's a very, very brief (circa 150m-200m) 4% incline on the estate road, if I get a run at the mini roundabout which the raod drops odwn to I can hit at around 20mph and IF I really cane it smashing the pedals I can get to a stratospheric 27mph, well I think 27, as I'm too fooked and gasping for air to properly look at the speedo. It's exhilarating doing it but I pay for it all the rest of the way to the supermarket

I think I read somewhere that Andre griepel had done 32mph up a 6% gradient on one of the finishes (possibly a day race?) which is absolutely insane.

In response to OP. It's a play off between 3 things, available power, aerodynamics and comfort.

Seated: least power More comfortable, most aero

Standing with hands on hoods: Most power, least aero, quite comfortable

Standing with hands on drops: more power than seated (probably), less aero than seated, generally least comfortable

Though clearly pantani found it pretty comfortable, but he was tiny, and quite the maverick

I was in the pyrennes last week, long days of climbing in fierce heat. I am not one to climb out of the saddle but it was the only way to relieve the legs and lower back. So, whatever works.

I did see a french guy, as i rode up to Col D'portet, out of the saddle for the whole time he was in view, as he passed and then dissapeared off. I had already done Peyresourde and Aspin so i let him go but it was a genuinely impressive sight, strangely effortless and elegant. Not like my out of saddle efforts!

Who cares what a pro does or doesn't do? If it makes you happy go for it. If it doesn't make you happy then don't ? I normally don't but every now and then - on rare occasions - I do because I feel like doing it.

I think there's an element of psychology to it too. As a kid it was the done thing to ride up hills standing up (3-speed SA hubs left you with little choice!) but also when you're spinning away and feel like you're getting nowhere it just feels good to stand for a few seconds and mash away. You see the pros do it, particularly in the grupetto, and I've often thought it's to relieve the boredom.

Might be of interest... www.cyclist.co.uk/tutorials/183/should-you-sit-or-stand-when-climbing

Depends on the length of the hill. I usually climb seated but will drop 4/5 gears stand and ride stood up at a slower cadence to stretch out back and use a few different muscles for a while. I would never be able to sustain a multi minute climb stood up. I am actually faster by quite a margin compared to seated, so will use it to pull away from someone then return to seated and repeat.

I climb in the drops sometimes when attacking a short climb at speed, in the belief that I can get some extra leverage from the bars as a 'power platform', I can do it without changing gear and losing rhythm, and maybe there is some aero advantage in keeping my front low.  It feels more 'eager' too, which may have a psychological benefit.

For longer climbs I'm on the tops or hoods, to keep the chest open for breathing.

Re the seated/out of the saddle argument which is probably outside the scope of your question, I find I can sustain a more power like for like out of the saddle on a climb, but for less time than seated.  It seems to use different muscle groups too, so by alternating say 10 strokes standing, 20 seated, I can get a better time on a longer climb.

Pantani sustained a relatively low cadence whilst climbing in the drops.  Looked brilliant, compared to Froome who looks like he's ridden off on a kids bike!

There's a couple of corners on my local roads which turn straight into an incline.. go in fast on the drops and power out of the corner out of the saddle still in the drops. It's probably inefficiant, but it makes me feel Iike I'm Bruce Lee on a bike  

Conventional wisdom is that climbing seated is faster. Do you mean he was on the lower part of the drops?

Position-wise I prefer climbing seated but with my hands in the drops - it feels more comfortable and gravity should do the job of braking if needed. With a 34-tooth cassette I usually just sit and spin, the only time I'm really out of the saddle is if there's a short ramp in the middle of a longer climb and I don't want to change gear/cadence. Not something I can maintain for long - my handling skills aren't good enough to get the bike swishing from side to side like Marco did.

Yo - stop slinging mud at Marco! He did nothing wrong - he was dehydrated and a life long sufferer of super-oxygenated blood.

Anyway... I don't have the coordination to climb in the drops - it's harder than it looks. Wish i did - it's pretty steezy if you can pull it off, eh?

Pantani was famous for it.