quick question - steepest gradient and gear inches
Discussion
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.
RRS_Staffs said:
Hmmm I fear your question is a bit like comparing beach volleyball with a can of Tizer
Not at all easy![smile](/inc/images/smile.gif)
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)Not at all easy
![smile](/inc/images/smile.gif)
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
partly an ulterior motive comes from reading the accounts of fixed wheel riders (proper ones who have heard of 'riding outside london'
![hehe](/inc/images/hehe.gif)
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