Any additional tips for climbing steep hills (other than
holding onto your seat) ?
I’m working on some grades that are 10% or better,
and although I’m gaining respect among some
bicyclists that have to walk up, I’m still having
trouble myself. Lots of UPD’s when going real
slow.
Re: Climbing hills
hbaker1@pipeline.com writes:
>Any additional tips for climbing steep hills (other than
>holding onto your seat) ?
>
>I’m working on some grades that are 10% or better,
>and although I’m gaining respect among some
>bicyclists that have to walk up, I’m still having
>trouble myself. Lots of UPD’s when going real
>slow.
An extension is even better to hold than your typical seat – the further
from you, the better (to a point).
Longer cranks make hills easier both up and down.
Momentum is a biggie. Get some speed up before the hill hits.
Also, just as the uphill looms, pump as fast as you can. You’ll lose most
of the speed right away, but what you are left with can be very helpful.
Better balance is crucial. As my balance improves, so does my uphill
riding. I can concentrate on going up instead of weaving to keep on the
uni.
David
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
Re: Climbing hills
My advice is to just do it a lot and become very comfortable and relaxing
going SLOWLY. On steep hills (20% and more) you will be going very slowly,
practically a step at a time. Like walking up stairs. Once this is
comfortable you can do it as long as you like and hardly ever dismount. It’s
low energy and will gain you lots of respect but will take a little while to
learn.
—Nathan
<hbaker1@pipeline.com> wrote in message
news:3d7c11f1.2743076@news.pipeline.com…
> Any additional tips for climbing steep hills (other than
> holding onto your seat) ?
>
> I’m working on some grades that are 10% or better,
> and although I’m gaining respect among some
> bicyclists that have to walk up, I’m still having
> trouble myself. Lots of UPD’s when going real
> slow.
A 10% grade is a 6 degree angle. Not that steep. I’m with Nathan except I find it pretty tiring to go up a hundred yards of 15% grade (9 degree angle) but I can now do that without holding the saddle handle if I want. It is like walking up, slow and cyclic. Switch hands on the saddle occassionally to become ambidextrous.
Re: Climbing hills
I’m talking about long hills, so momentum won’t be a factor.
I guess I’m going to have to continue to practise going very slowly.
Thanks for the help.
On Sun, 08 Sep 2002 23:13:12 -0400, “David Stone” <dstone@packer.edu>
wrote:
>hbaker1@pipeline.com writes:
>Momentum is a biggie. Get some speed up before the hill hits.
>
>Also, just as the uphill looms, pump as fast as you can. You’ll lose most
>of the speed right away, but what you are left with can be very helpful.
>
>Better balance is crucial. As my balance improves, so does my uphill
>riding. I can concentrate on going up instead of weaving to keep on the
>uni.
>
>David
With 4 wheel sizes available to me, I’ve noticed some differences on hills, and the following might help.
On my first or second ‘proper’ ride on my 26, I set off up a rough surfaced track ‘advertised’ at 1:7. The incline lasts over 1/2 a mile. I found that determination and momentum were needed, but as I got more tired, the UPDs became more frequent and the mounting got harder. I failed to make it to the top. On my 3rd visit, with improved technique, I made it, but I was at the very limit of my stamina.
Later, I went through a phase of analysing crank:wheel ratios and put some 170 mm cranks on the 26 in ch wheel. Although it gave me more control on descents, it made riding up hills no easier as the pedalling action was jerkier. I put the 150s back on and was pleased with the result. Long cranks are NOT the answer, although they can help in some circumstances.
However, I tried the same hill AND a much longer and steeper one on the 24 and had little difficulty. The combination of ‘gear ratio’ and short enough cranks for a smooth action seemed to do the job.
On this Saturday jsut gone, I attacked a shorter smoother surfaced hill on the 20 and had one UPD. The 20 is less smooth than the 24, even though the ‘gear ratio’ is identical. I felt like I was going upstairs a step at a time, rather than rolling up the hill.
So, the answer to the question is find a combination of wheel size and crank length WHICH SUITS YOU and allows smooth progress.
Big wheel = smooth progress. The Coker will race up short but quite steep hills.
Short cranks = smooth progress. The wheel spins instead of jerking.
BUT big wheel + short cranks = lack of torque. If I may lapse into the vernacular: once you lose momentum, you’re stuffed.
For me, 5’7" and 10 stone 4, a 24 inch wheel and 150mm cranks seems ideal for hill climbing.
You will find that the better you are at freemounting, the easier the hills get, because failed freemounts use considerably more energy (physical and mental) than you might think.
Re: Climbing hills
On Mon, 9 Sep 2002 12:05:19 -0500, Mikefule
<Mikefule.aq3bc@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Later, I went through a phase of analysing crank:wheel ratios and put
>some 170 mm cranks on the 26 in ch wheel. Although it gave me more
>control on descents, it made riding up hills no easier as the pedalling
>action was jerkier.
>However, I tried the same hill AND a much longer and steeper one on the
>24 and had little difficulty. The combination of ‘gear ratio’ and short
>enough cranks for a smooth action seemed to do the job.
I’ve observed something similar but explain it differently. I wanted
to start a thread on it, but instead, I’ll give my observations here.
I have been riding up slopes on my Semcycle with 24x1.75 tyre and 150
mm cranks, and lately also on my UDC Max Traction with 24x3 tyre and
170 mm cranks. The UDC diameter is effectively almost 26 inch, so the
gear ratio is about the same between the two unis. Yet, the Semcycle
does the ascent significantly easier.
My analysis is different from yours though. I think the relative
difficulty in hauling the UDC up the hill stems from
(1) tyre rolling resistance (all those knobbies have to deform all the
time, and they scrape the ground as I run a lowish tyre pressure);
(2) larger weight of wheel/tyre.
Comments?
Klaas Bil
If you had this signature, I have forged it.
if it’s a long hill that’s under 30 degrees or so then try to take a lot of speed at the begining. The ways i do it are to either try it as fast as i can go, which is about the speed i go on level land, and keep that up. You get tired at the end, but my leg mucles are rock hard and it gets easyer. The other way is to go slower, with more balance. The problem is that you get tired because you think about it, so think about making it to the top of the hill
ive gotten to the point where if its pavement, i can ride it on my 24" with 170mm cranks–they can only make pavement so steep… i still have not mastered the gravel, pinecones&needles, and roots in a hill, but that seems more of a lifetime than something i can just learn right away… but i am up to a 45% grade or so on gravel. the one thing i can suggest is to get really used to standstills, and that half-rotation to stop over and over again. the most tired muscle i have is the deltoid of my stabilizing arm, from all the twisting it does–i really swing that weight around
A 30 degree slope is a 58% grade. A 45% grade is a 24 degree slope. Those are some serious hills. I think claims like these warrant measuring. The angle of repose for gravel is 30-35 degrees.
thanks for bringing my reins in…definitely not 45%, but very near the extremes for gravel, this thing gets eroded a lot of the time, im quite sure it is about as steep as they ever make gravel roads