If you’re new to cycling, you’ll probably have worked out some, if not all of the basic
positions available to you on the bike, but knowing when to use them is a different matter.
Here’s our beginners guide to working out the best positions for riding your bike.
There are two main fundamental positions available to you. Sat here in the saddle like this,
which is where you'll be spending most of your riding time, and out of the saddle, which
is good for short climbs and accelerating.
When seated, holding your hands here on the bars on the brake hoods is where you will
spend most of your time. It’s an ideal combination of comfort – because your body is quite
upright – and control, because from here you can still brake very easily, like this,
and also change gear.
Holding your handlebars here is also the best position for out of the saddle, particularly
when climbing. It’s not quite as efficient as when you're seated, so keep time out of
the saddle to short bursts, perhaps just to stretch aching muscles or when you need to
exert a little bit more power. You can still brake, you can still change gear, and if you're
really pressing on you can pull on the bars to exert maximum power.
If you’re using clipless pedals, as well as pushing down with your feet, pull upwards.
That will help you use less force on the handlebars.
Holding your handlebars here on the drops gives you the most control of your bike. You
can pull on the brakes with the greatest amount of force and also your hands are in a really
secure position, so they're not going to get knocked off over bumps. This therefore
is the best position for descending or general fast riding.
This position makes you far more aerodynamic and it's easier to go at the same speed,
or even faster.
The faster you go, the more aerodynamic you’ll want to be, so look to get your back as flat
as possible by bending your elbows. But - if you feel a twinge in your legs, the likelihood
is you’ll be losing power, which you will have to trade off with aerodynamics.
This position also translates well to riding out of the saddle fast, particularly when
sprinting. Hold the drops to keep your shoulders low over the front of the bike. You can also
really haul on the bars to put out the maximum amount of power.
The last thing that riding on the drops can really help with is cornering. Riding on the
drops lowers your centre of gravity and helps evenly distribute your weight over the bike.
Although you don’t want too much weight over the front wheel, it is good to have some
to improve your grip.
The last position is holding onto the tops. Holding onto your bars here puts you in the
most upright position, and we’d really only recommend it for long, steady climbs. That's
because you're a long way from your brakes and gears here, so your level of control over
the bike is just a little bit less. But when you are on a nice, long, steady climb, it
is really comfortable. You can sit back in the saddle a little bit, relax, open up your
lungs and just concentrate on pedalling. If you do feel like you need to get out of the
saddle in this position, just to give your muscles a bit of a stretch, I would recommend
moving your hands back to the hoods. You can ride your bike out of the saddle on the tops,
but it’s a bit unsteady, and you look like a dork.
The more time that you spend on the bike, the easier you'll find it when changing position,
especially with your hands, and it should become second nature. It’s also worth remembering
that just slightly moving your hands on the bars isn’t unsafe in any way.
The one way you'll be spending the most amount of time is sat here in the saddle.
Actually, is that your bit?
That's my bit!