I looked into Rans once.. but it just didn't feel right. BTW, how do those things climb?
They climb fine, something "standup" riders sometimes have a hard time understanding.
You're pushing out with your legs. So you're using a very different set of muscles. Your butt muscles get used a lot :)
I get winded pretty easy, so hills for me are a bitch. But for someone with normal lung function, hills on a 'bent are about like hills on a "wegee bike" :)