Do you hill climb at your lowest possible gear?

[cougie uk]

Wonderful book. In the days before the internet it was my only teacher. I learned literally everything I knew from that book. I still don't know much more. That's why I struggle to fix anything on my bike that was introduced after the mid 80s.

Has it been updated, I wonder, to include sections on new kinds of bottom bracket, threadless headsets, indexed gears, cassettes and freehubs, disk brakes ...

An updated RBB with stuff on disks and electronic gearing would be brilliant. I've just got my first disc bike and it's all new to me. Bedding the discs in ? How many people do that or even know to do it ?

 

[Sniper68]

Di2 won't help you get up hills. Knowing what to do and having the legs to do it will.

I didn't say it would

An updated RBB with stuff on disks and electronic gearing would be brilliant. I've just got my first disc bike and it's all new to me. Bedding the discs in ? How many people do that or even know to do it ?

Every one who's had discs for the last 20 years
TBH it's not that critical on road bikes,moreso for MTB where grit and crud can eat away at un-bedded pads.

 

[straas]

Is there a worse feeling than going to shift down and realising you've got no gears left and just have to slog it out?

 

[ianrauk]

Is there a worse feeling than going to shift down and realising you've got no gears left and just have to slog it out?

Yes
That feeling when you very..........slowly...............come................to..............a...............stop.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Is there a worse feeling than going to shift down and realising you've got no gears left and just have to slog it out?

Yes when your limit screws are not set properly and you shift the chain into your spokes and hear that grinding and pinging sound...

 

[RichardB]

So inspired was I by this discussion that I went out and found a copy of the edition that I had (with him wearing a chunky patterned jumper on the front). Only £6. Ordered. All I will need to do is plaster it with oil and I'll have my old copy back.

I appear to have lost every copy I owned (1st edition, 2nd edition, New Bicycle Book) so I may have to do the same.

My first copy was a present from my then-wife. The joke was that I rode bikes, my name was Richard, I even looked very like the guy (I had hair then) and I HAD AN IDENTICAL JUMPER!!! That cover pic could have been me, even down to the slight chubbiness around the waist and thighs.

The technical stuff has dated badly (unless you stick to 70s bikes, of course) but the attitude and activism still ring true today.

 

[RichardB]

Is there a worse feeling than going to shift down and realising you've got no gears left and just have to slog it out?

I usually try to climb even steep hills in my second-to-lowest gear, for this very reason. Psychologically, you still have somewhere to go. In lowest-of-the-low, there is no hiding place. When you're done, you're done.

 

[Lovacott]

Many hills are not single gear friendly, with variable gradients, meaning changing gear is necessary IME to avoid spinning madly on the less steep stretches. Main thing is to limit such changes of gear to the rear derailleur as trying to change the front whilst going uphill is most likely going to result in the chain coming off due to the tension.

I do a big climb pretty early on in my daily commute which is preceded by a small downhill and a left hand bend where I use the biggest on the front and the smallest on the back to build up a head of speed. The incline starts with a stupidly steep 100 yards or so which needs the lowest gears possible to negotiate. Unless I am on the smallest ring on the front as I start the climb, I've got no chance.

After the first 100 yards of very steep road, the hill becomes a mix of 10% and 15% gradients and I use the rear gears exclusively to shift up and down to keep my level of effort consistent.

I haven't counted how many times I shift going up this hill, but it's at least ten times each climb.

The first time I tried the hill, I made it a quarter of the way up and got off and walked the rest. A few attempts later, I made it all of the way up but I was wretching my guts up by the time I got to the top.

I've done it 53 times now and I still hate it, but when I get to the top, I'm not fighting quite so much for breath as I was last week or the week before.

I've also developed thighs like tree trunks.

 

[Lovacott]

I usually try to climb even steep hills in my second-to-lowest gear, for this very reason. Psychologically, you still have somewhere to go. In lowest-of-the-low, there is no hiding place. When you're done, you're done.

Recently, I've been challenging myself by trying to use a higher gear than I did the week before on each hill. It's a bit like a weightlifter adding on an extra five kilos to his PB weight.

Most weeks I fail, but every third week or so, I succeed and from that point on, that is the lowest I will go on that particular hill.

On the very worst long climb, I can get to the top in third on a 21 speed and for the last three weeks I've been trying to make it in fourth but I'm falling about 100 yards short of my target. My aim is to build leg strength and fitness by making each ride that bit harder whilst travelling the same distance over the same route. The payback has been a decent reduction in my commute time as my fitness, strength and cycling technique have improved.

I've only been back on my bike for seven months and I'm no spring chicken, so I'm pretty pleased with where I am today.

 

[Mike_P]

I usually try to climb even steep hills in my second-to-lowest gear, for this very reason. Psychologically, you still have somewhere to go. In lowest-of-the-low, there is no hiding place. When you're done, you're done.

Sometimes its the condition of the road that is the issue. Went up Cote du Blubberhouses during the World's last year when the A59 was meant to be closed, it wasn't, with intent of not changing down but the road surface was that rough I ended up doing so.

 

[Lovacott]

Sometimes its the condition of the road that is the issue. Went up Cote du Blubberhouses during the World's last year when the A59 was meant to be closed, it wasn't, with intent of not changing down but the road surface was that rough I ended up doing so.

One of the farm roads I use has a nasty gash right across it about a third of the way up a fairly steep incline. I almost have to grind to a halt to negotiate what is best described as a "slit trench" and bunny hop over it. This forces me into my lowest gear to enable me to get moving again. The trench has been formed by years of field run off traversing the road on its way downhill and it's only going to get worse. I'm toying with the idea of filling it and sealing it myself (it's an unadopted road).

 

[Tigerbiten]

The other way to build up your strength/stamina is to set a minimum speed vs minimum gear.
That way you can either stand and grind or sit and spin.
Stand and grind is more about building up your leg strength, while sit and spin is more about building up your cardiovascular stamina.
You really need both to climb faster.

Luck ...........

 

[DaveReading]

I was reminded yesterday (albeit only on a middling steep hill) that if you attempt to climb it in second-bottom gear, and then decide halfway up that you really needed bottom gear, you're stuffed.

 

[Eribiste]

Yes
That feeling when you very..........slowly...............come................to..............a...............stop.

...and you haven't unclipped soon enough!

 

[Mike_P]

...and you haven't unclipped soon enough!

Realised that once and found an extra milligram of strength to make it to the top of the climb having realised that just the attempting to unclip could result in the bike ceasing all forward motion and and gain a quick motion to the horizontal.