Riding with a weight vest

Why dont you just select a higher gear ratio instead? Unless you are already climbing with a 53X11 combo ...

MacH said:

I recently purchased a 20lb weight vest. I was wondering what everyone's opinion is on doing hill training with it. Is it very helpful, or not?

I can't really see how it would be helpful. All it will do is force you to put out more power to climb the hill at the same speed. You could just as easily use that excess power to climb the hill faster. I don't see how there would be any additional training benefit in using your power to raise excess weight vs. using the power to travel faster. Plus the weight vest will likely change the handling of the bike on the descent which may not be a good thing.

If it was that simple we'd all just train on old heavy bikes, they're inexpensive enough 🙂

Why put extra load on your spine when there are other places to put it or better ways to get the same workout.

MacH said:

Is it very helpful, or not?

Only pschologically. That is, you'll feel faster when you remove the vest, but the reality is that you would've been that fast all along if you'd just ridden as hard without the vest.

The vest will certainly make it harder to climb, but it won't let you train any harder than you normally could. You're just climbing *slower*.

OTOH, if you're a triathlete it'll give you great motivation for training your swim, which may help you train harder. 😉

frenchyge said:

OTOH, if you're a triathlete it'll give you great motivation for training your swim, which may help you train harder. 😉

Oh you are awful, but I like you! ~ [censored] Emery (IIRC):p

To Thomas Cho: I think your missing the point. A bigger gear only slows down your cadence turning everything into a SE drill. The OP is looking for more resistance...

I have tried it and trust me it doesn't work! You only feel the extra resistance uphill and you get a very sore back and sore hands. If you found a fancy vest that hugged to your body nicely then sure you could try it but I don't see the point.

Use heavy tyres/ wheels/ tubes and get a steel bike! That'll be enough resistance and it wont hurt you either!

Im pretty lucky really because I only have one bike and its [censored] so I have extra resistance all the time LOL

Absolutely, get a cheap bike with a rusted chain and try to make it fly. That'll give you a far better work out on your legs than labouring your spine and wrists.

Look here friend, let me give you some wisdom.

Return the vest, get your quid back, then use that to buy yourself a few good pints. Throw a few down, watch some footie on the Tele, put some prawns on the barbie, and give it a few weeks.

You will have gained 10 kilos, had a great time, and now you can work harder up the hills without that silly vest.

No need to thank me.

MacH said:

I recently purchased a 20lb weight vest. I was wondering what everyone's opinion is on doing hill training with it. Is it very helpful, or not? Any information is appreciated. Thanks-Mac

Assuming your goal is to get the the same time to climb the hill as you did before your added 20#s. Then take the 20#s off and improve your power to weight ratio by 20#s without the loss in power, why not.

I would try to find a better place to put the weight then up high on my body. This is essentially my goal for this winter but in reverse. I have 20#s I can loose, I plan to loose that 20#s and not loose any power. This may be dificult due to the fat/muscle weight issues, but it is still my goal.

vadiver said:

Assuming your goal is to get the the same time to climb the hill as you did before your added 20#s. Then take the 20#s off and improve your power to weight ratio by 20#s without the loss in power, why not...

Why not is because in cycling it's totally unecessary. Compare it to say pull ups or other strength training. The weight vest can work because once you're strong enough to complete a set at bodyweight you may want a way to make yourself work harder. In cycling all you have to do to work at higher power levels on a hill is to speed up. As you point out it all comes down to power to weight ratio, you could artificially increase your weight or you can leave your weight alone and train at higher power.

It's not that you can't increase the power requirements on hills by adding weight, of course you can. It's just that it's an unecessary step. Beside's a lot of cyling is learning pacing, no sense in training yourself to an unusually slow pace knowing you'll speed up quite a bit once the training weight is gone. Sorry the only argument I can come up with (and this is a stretch) is if your hills are too short and you want to spend more time in the power zone by slowing yourself down. But heck if you want to do that how about setting your brakes to drag?

daveryanwyoming said:

Why not is because in cycling it's totally unecessary. Compare it to say pull ups or other strength training. The weight vest can work because once you're strong enough to complete a set at bodyweight you may want a way to make yourself work harder. In cycling all you have to do to work at higher power levels on a hill is to speed up. As you point out it all comes down to power to weight ratio, you could artificially increase your weight or you can leave your weight alone and train at higher power.

It's not that you can't increase the power requirements on hills by adding weight, of course you can. It's just that it's an unecessary step. Beside's a lot of cyling is learning pacing, no sense in training yourself to an unusually slow pace knowing you'll speed up quite a bit once the training weight is gone. Sorry the only argument I can come up with (and this is a stretch) is if your hills are too short and you want to spend more time in the power zone by slowing yourself down. But heck if you want to do that how about setting your brakes to drag?

I agree with a lot of this. And given the gearing combinations it probably is unnesseary. As someone mentioned go to the 53x11 and ride.

I guess the situation would be:

I the person spins between 90 and 95 RPM. On a flat surface they cruise about 23 - 25 MPH.

Now they could either wear a 20# vest, or shift to a harder gear and maintain the same cadence.

So the hill climb wout be the same. If they climb the hill at 90 - 95 RPM in say 39X17. Do the same climb in 39X16 (or whatever).

If this is correct, it makes sense to me. If I am not willing to shift to a harder gear without the 20#, will I push myself to stay in the same gear with the 20# dead weight? Probably not.

vadiver said:

If this is correct, it makes sense to me. If I am not willing to shift to a harder gear without the 20#, will I push myself to stay in the same gear with the 20# dead weight? Probably not.

Yeah, that's basically it in a nutshell. But since most folks don't climb at 90+ rpm they can usually bump power by just increasing cadence a bit. Whether you select one gear and increase cadence, or hold cadence in a bigger gear or use some combo, the bottom line is that the bike provides a practically unlimited way to demand more power on a hill without using things like training weights. If you're already spinning out your 53:12 on the steepest hills, well then you should use the money from the weight vest to get yourself to the world championships 🙂

Thanks for all of your opinions. Ive decided to return the vest after more thought on the matter. At the time it seemed like a good idea, because im already a very good climber I thought that I would try to maintain my higher cadence with the added weight as opposed to using a tougher gear combo. However, that really doesnt make much sense. Thanks again. -Mac

If you've got lots of hills around you then there's no point in wearing a weight vest. However if you have a very limited number of hills then adding weight to your bike (personally i would just put some touring kit on the back) is a way of taking longer to get up hills at the same power output, effectively making the hills "longer". Not by much, but maybe its worth it.

dm69 said:

To Thomas Cho: I think your missing the point. A bigger gear only slows down your cadence turning everything into a SE drill. The OP is looking for more resistance...

To DM69... putting on 20lbs, and keeping the same power output would slow your cadence down as well. Think about it. Of course, puting the 20lbs on and keeping the same cadence, in the same gear would mean an increase of power into the pedals. That could also be achieved by keeping the same cadence and shifting to a harder gear.

Like others have said it is a bad place to put the weight...just as a motivator I have pulled my kid on a trailer bike up a mountain road. It was April and the ski slope crossings were not melted yet so I had to give it up...some day I'd like to try again just to keep a little challenge going.🙂

A friend of mine used to load up his bike rack with his weight lifting set and attack the steepest hills he could find.
He's the strongest rider and climber I've ever met.

If you want to put more weight on the bike, get a large water bottle and fill it with lead, steel, concrete, etc. and put it in your bottle cage. And then tape it in securely.

While I initially disagreed with the idea of adding weight to the bike/body, I can see it being useful for hill training, in that by doing this, you can train your body for STEEPER hills than are available in your area. You will struggle in the same gear and cadence that you would normally find somewhat comfortable, and this MIGHT make you stronger.

I think the only time for adding weight is if you find your local group ride to be too slow. Even then, there is some merit in simply getting to the front and doing more than your share of pulling.

I do know a guy locally that used to show to our group ride with a car battery on a rat-trap, and a water bottle full of lead-shot. Then again, he was a national team trackie.