What trainer do you use?
ERG or Resistance mode?
What gearing do you tend to use on the trainer?
Iām using a Tacx Flux S on erg but having overheated trainers before I try to shift into bigger gears so that the trainer has less work to do, this normally means that during my work intervals Iām in a 52 and mid way on the cassette.
Could airflow be the answer? during climbs the air flow is a lot slower so your body is not being cooled as efficiently as when you are riding at higher speed on the flats.
Also using a fan or two indoors is likely not to be as efficient at cooling your body as the air is outdoors?
Thatās really interesting. Iām noticeably stronger climber, relative to the 2 guys I normally ride with, despite us all having similar w/kg. But where I really struggle is long drags on false-flats or into the wind, where Iām often struggling to hang on. Iāve often wondered why, and this article offers a possible explanation.
That high flywheel speed may be a factor then. We have no hard numbers, but typically that will lean more towards āflat & high momentumā feel vs small ring feeling more like āclimb and low momentumā.
And the cooling comments are quite valid. IMO, too many people consider their fans adequate when I see them as well short of what is needed. If you are dripping pools of sweat, I think that is a likely sign of insufficient airflow and cooling.
I didnāt want to start another thread so, a bit of a bumpā¦Iām back riding respectable miles and it is just striking how hard it is for me to produce the same power climbing as riding the flats. So, I circled back and tried to find some different articles or videos to find something new. While not hard science these two GCN productions address the op and may help someone down the roadā¦
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There is lots of good info in this thread! I was reading some uphill/flat musing from Jem Arnold & thought there might be some good info on this forum.
For any future readers that might be interested, here is a link to the Valenzuela observational study on pro riders uphill vs flat power (concluding uphill power is higher):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1440244022004352
And here is the Hovorka paper concluding there is no difference 
This topic is one where riders and science disagree for the most part. Probably just about every rider would say that uphill max sustained power is greater than flat max sustained power. But most actual research seems to agree with Hovorkaā¦no difference.
Either way, itās fun to read about.
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thanks for posting, always interesting to scan those studies.
FWIW here is my general experience and thought process:
- my pedaling mechanics are virtually the same on flats and climbing
- on flats, rarely do I get lazy and just āthrow the foot over the topā
- on the flats, lowering cadence from 85 to 70 will lower heart rate
- most of my >=6% climbs are 50-75rpms
- lower heart rate than expected means Iāll give it more gas
- most climbs are lower cadence, and higher than expected power-to-HR
- on flats I see a similar effect when heat adapted to 90+F afternoon rides, and then going out in 60F morning air and doing hard intervals
From my POV, given all that, not surprising that I generally see a little higher than expected power on climbs. But long climbs, say 90 minute HC climb on 6% grade, the power-to-HR is the same as training in flats. So no difference there.
Plus on the 8-10% climbs I mentally know that stopping is worse than pushing harder to reach the top.
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