Honking out of the saddle

[eileithyia]

Does anyone know when this became a 'thing' in the UK I recall my ex telling me that his father's generation were all quite surprised when this new 'fad' came to Britain. They all rode fixed and so no one got out of the saddle to climb a hill.

[mattsccm]

I would suggest about the time the safety bicycle was invented. On hills steeper than your gears let you pedal sitting you stand up. On a fixed I stand a lot more than I do with gears. I can't have a gear low enough to pedal some hills sitting and not spin out on the flat.

[simonineaston]

I was interested in the question and found this useful article about the subject.

[Jamesh]

I tend to sit on longer climbs but if there is a sharp rise in gradient I will get out of the saddle and honk!

It's what I've observed on many a grand tour stage. The best climbers climb at tempo and then get out of the saddle for hairpins, steeper sections, attacks etc.

[rogerzilla]

If you don't stand up when you run out of gears, goodbye knees. And yes, this means you stand far more on a fixie.

[De Sisti]

There's a prima donna woman in our club who honks even on the flat. She likes to show off and
be centre of attention.

[pwa]

I get a sore bum if I don't get out of the saddle for a few seconds now and again. I use short hills as the opportunity to do that, delaying or avoiding a gear change so that I can spend a few moments stood on the pedals with my bottom off the saddle. But even if I didn't rise off the saddle for that reason, the idea of staying seated when I have run out of gears seems very odd. I'd just get off and walk if honking were not an option.

[Jdsk]

They all rode fixed and so no one got out of the saddle to climb a hill.

It's that "so" that confuses me...

Jonathan

[cyclop]

There's a prima donna woman in our club who honks even on the flat. She likes to show off and
be centre of attention.

I do,occasionally,but only to relieve pressure on the backside.....possible reason?

[Bmblbzzz]

I don't ride fixed but fixie riders I know routinely get out of the saddle on hills.

It would be odd if this was a nationally determined habit. Possibly the OP is confusing the term "honking" as opposed to "dancing" and other words for the same action, with the action itself?

[Pebble]

Never known it being called "Honking"!
I find getting up on the pedals seems to help tired legs, or at least gives certain muscles a rest, and then by the time my standing up muscles start to tire the sitting down ones have recovered a little. It also allows you to rock the bike from side to side and this sort of reduces the gearing and allows my upper body to join in with the struggle.


i just like getting up on the pedals, it makes me feel fit and young again...

[531colin]

Does anyone know when this became a 'thing' in the UK I recall my ex telling me that his father's generation were all quite surprised when this new 'fad' came to Britain......

I'm 74, and I think I would remember if "honking" had suddenly appeared on the cycling scene; but I have been racking my brains to actually pin down a memory of honking many years ago.

Then lightening struck......in the summer of 1965, I turned 18, and about that time I was riding with West Kent CTC. When I was 18, Cyril who rode with us struck me as old....he was maybe 50? (Cyril Kermode, a big CTC man....probably traceable? Actually I think J. Cyril Kermode.)
Anyway, Cyril came off, and the reason he came off was because his greenspot jacket was un-zipped, and the hip pocket was unzipped, and because he was honking (probably sprinting for a village sign, as we did) and his pocket caught on the handlebar end and he lost steering.
Cyril was among the last of the west Kent members to ride Sturmey Archer gears from preference, on a pretty decent bike maybe Bates or Hobbs, one of those old builders; he had a bike with deraillers, but he preferred to ride what he was used to.

[531colin]

The advantage of honking is pretty obvious.
With cleats, or with toeclips and straps, you can readily pull up quite strongly on the back pedal; you can't do this effectively seated.
(its easier to pull up with shoe plates, clips and straps than with clips and straps alone, but it can be done without shoe plates if the straps are fairly tight )
With flat pedals you can pull up on the bars as you press down on the pedal, but only at low cadence, sometimes enough to stop stalling.

[531colin]

I was interested in the question and found this useful article about the subject.

"honking, you have to put more weight on your legs instead of on the saddle".......I look at it as transferring your whole bodyweight onto each pedal in turn

"higher heart rate and oxygen consumption but not greater energy expenditure" ........what is the oxygen consumption for, if it isn't energy production?

[Jdsk]

I was interested in the question and found this useful article about the subject.

"honking, you have to put more weight on your legs instead of on the saddle".......I look at it as transferring your whole bodyweight onto each pedal in turn

"higher heart rate and oxygen consumption but not greater energy expenditure" ........what is the oxygen consumption for, if it isn't energy production?

Have a look at the original study.:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... _positions

Jonathan