Why does pedaling up hill feels harder than walking up the same hill?
In: Physics
Gearing helps a lot, but I’ve wondered this too.
Intuitively/anecdotally, I find that my line for when walking is easier is when pedaling becomes more anaerobic (think big pushes or “sprints” on the bike) in order to keep the bike balanced.
Aerobic exercise can be done longer, so for a hill it’s preferable to stay in that state as much as possible.
When you’re walking up a hill you are carrying only yourself. When you’re bicycling up a hill you are carrying both yourself and the bike.
The additional weight of the bike coupled with the fact that gravity is constantly trying to pull the bike down the hill means more effort is required to get up the hill.
Stand on a hill and place a wheel on a hill. You will notice that your feet stay in place, but the wheel will naturally roll down the hill without any additional force.
A bike wheel is designed to be as easy as possible to gain momentum, but that goes both ways. When you are riding a bike uphill, in addition to applying forward momentum, you also have to counter the natural backward momentum of the hill. You will run into the same problem with sleds or skis.
basically a bike and the way a bike works is adding more steps to your goal(which is to get up the hill) and so it requires more energy. That and the muscle groups required for you to go up a hill on a bike are different from the muscle groups required to go up a hill while walking. Also friction, on wheels, there is less friction preventing you from rolling down hill backwards, on foot your feet provide the necessary friction to prevent you from sliding backwards.
The thing nobody is mentioning is power
You walk slower than you pedal.
Even if the bike was weightless, pedaling makes you go faster than waking. And that translates in more power being delivered. That feels hard
With the proper gears, you could pedal at waking velocity and it should be as hard as waking.
Other than that, there is a matter of geometry of the pedaling vs walking. Different muscle groups and such.
Mostly because you aren’t used to cycling. I can ride for an hour uphill in the mountains at twice the speed I can walk at about the same effort level. I’m 60 lbs overweight but I’ve been cycling for 30 years.
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