quick question - steepest gradient and gear inches

[paranoid airbag]

What's the steepest hill you can get up (in steady state, as opposed to just hitting it with a lot of momentum), and with what gear inch? I'm a bit dissapointed with my hill climbing ability - whilst I could do with losing a few kilos, I've always had fairly strong legs, but some hills I simply don't have the strength (as opposed to the cardiovascular ability). In addition any exercises for this? I do have access to a leg press and do squats, both of which, I thought, were useful for steep hill climbing. For reference my lowest gear is 42-23, although I don't know the gradient - though it's pretty easy on a mountain bike with a lowest gear of 28-28.

[paranoid airbag]

RRS_Staffs said:

Hmmm I fear your question is a bit like comparing beach volleyball with a can of Tizer
Not at all easy

My own experience from riding in the Peak District is as follows:

On a MTB anything goes due to the low gearing, its technique that will have you off or not as opposed to your legs

On the road I admit the gearing matters
I have fit muscle bound mates who ride up anything on a 39/25 or even 39/23
My preference is for a 34/25 which gets me up Winnats @25% if I stand up and mash it

I also have a wusses 34/28 on another bike which crawls up anything

I have also ridden the Pyrenees on 34/25 including Tourmalet which is a challenging 17km climb then another col just for fun
I had to stand up occasionally on the 10% bits but it was mostly OK

Last weekend I went to the Alps and took the wussy gears mainly as I planned to hit Alpe d'Huez which is a decent climb after 95km
In reality I didnt actually use the girly cog but it was nice to have it in the bag just in case

Errr so a conclusion then right?
Well for me Id rec a compact crank ie 50/34 on the front and anything on the back
I get by in the UK with a 25 tooth cassette but found having 28 psychologically comforting after 100km
I have ridden big mountains on 25 though

I do not have big muscles

cheers

Cheers, that about tallies with my experience - I'm mainly hoping just to confirm I'm not doing anything wrong and it should be easy to spin up >20% grades with my gears - I'm definitely looking for a compact when things come up for replacement! (I am also sufficiently tight to avoid changing something if necessary, so back to the gym in the meantime)

partly an ulterior motive comes from reading the accounts of fixed wheel riders (proper ones who have heard of 'riding outside london' ) - I know that the momentum drags you over the 'dead zone' at the top and bottom of the crank rotation, but I've had the good fortune to retain my thunderthighs from rugby, so if I'm struggling on any serious grades, how in the name of starley are people managing to climb with close to normal flat gears, unless a)they're nothing but quad muscle or b)I'm much more rubbish than I should be?