Help...Bike for big hills.

[Boon 51]

Is a hybrid run on road or mtb gearing..

 

[BDK]

Depends on the bike but I think somewhere inbetween.A roadbike will be lighter,stiffer hopefully and with a good tyre pumped to the recommended psi would be easier to climb with once you get your gearing right.I think you mentioned you arent using clipless pedals,which if you did use with a proper shoe with its stiff sole would also help.You can pull up on the pedals and use the full pedal stroke which helps greatly.Stick at it and you will improve.Hills hurt but couchs kill...

 

[Boon 51]

Depends on the bike but I think somewhere inbetween.A roadbike will be lighter,stiffer hopefully and with a good tyre pumped to the recommended psi would be easier to climb with once you get your gearing right.I think you mentioned you arent using clipless pedals,which if you did use with a proper shoe with its stiff sole would also help.You can pull up on the pedals and use the full pedal stroke which helps greatly.Stick at it and you will improve.Hills hurt but couchs kill...

Alas as I live on a 1700m mountain so my riding is all hills, but this is where I'm at with my road bike.

I went to see a bike shop in Malaga and asked if they could get me a 11-36 rear cassette for my road bike, they asked me what the bike was fitted with and I said 105 shinamo , the guy in the shop said yes we can get a cassette but we will have to order it and we will let you know when it arrives in the shop.
This was 10 days ago an I've not heard nothing, so I looked on chainreaction's web site and I cant see a 11-36 for a road bike but I can for a mountain bike, hence the question.
If I've not heard by Friday I'm guessing they cant get one so I will have to have a re think.

I am getting a Specialized Sirrus Comp flatbar which I've read is about the same weight as my road bike ( 10kg) so i will perhaps get new wheels for the comp and use that.
The Comp has 48/34F and 11-36 R.. which will be perfect for the hills..

 

[pubrunner]

If you really want to stay with a double then maybe 42/26.

What chainset will run such as low combination as a double ?

I know that some of the older Stonglights (80, 99 & 100) could run combo's that low, but I wasn't aware of any modern chainsets that can ?

 

[Boon 51]

Just thinking aloud here..

If I can't get a 11-36 cassttee for my bike I might give the idea up because even if I could get the gearing right the cost would be so dear I would be spending more then the bike is worth..

The Specialized comp is as near as I can get to it on a road bike set up.

There is of course the Ridgeback Flight 03 and the Scott 20X both triple's with 48/36/28 front's which would do the trick..or.
I could get another set of wheels for my Trek Elite mtb and fit road tyres on them as I can lock the front suspension.
The gearing on my mtb bike is 11-36 Rear and 44/32/22 on the Front which is ideal.

 

[MacB]

What chainset will run such as low combination as a double ?

I know that some of the older Stonglights (80, 99 & 100) could run combo's that low, but I wasn't aware of any modern chainsets that can ?

would need to be a homespun conversion, alter a 52/42/30 triple or a MTB 42/32/22 - if you go square taper you can put the 42t in the middle ring position, the 26t inner and then select the BB to give the chainline you want. Not sure if this could be done with an external bearing BB setup.

Getting it working with FD and shifters is another step but very easy if the front shifter is a barend on friction.

 

[Boon 51]

Just an update..
I have another cassette fitted now with an 11-34 set up, so I have two lower cogs of 30 and 34 over the standard 11-28..

As soon as it stops raining I will give it a test..

 

[Si_]

my suggestion would be to source a second set of "climbing wheels" with a lower set or ratios on the rear. if 36f 28r isn't low enough to maintain a cadence, then a 36 32 just might be. you may need a medium or long cage mech

 

[Boon 51]

Not sure on the true facts but it seems there are plenty of mtb gear around with big cogs but very little for road bikes..

 

[Kevin Airey]

Can't believe nobody has made the suggestion that has made a world of difference for me, I live on the coast and everything behind is hills and mountains. A Scott Scale 910 29er has solved it for me, weighs the same as my Orbea Orca road bike, cruises on the flat and up the hills, tarmac and trails! Would fly with road tyres on, first time out wiped 20 minutes of a 43KM mountain route done on an ally 26" MTB.

As somebody once said to me on here a hybrid is a good all-rounder but excels at nothing. Sell the MTB and instead of getting a 3rd bike grab a carbon 29er... Test ride mine you won't look back :-)

 

[Boon 51]

Hi Kevin..

I'll not get rid of the mtb as I love it to bits and its the gearing on the mtb that is key to what I want..

My mtb has 46/32/22 front and a 11-36 rear and I can climb a Cat 3 hill on it almost to the top where I have to change to the 22 front just for the last bit, and thats with mtb tyres on. So £ 550 ish would get me some better wheels and roads tyres plus an 11-36 rear cassette which would make it climb even better but thats not the route I want to go by keep swoping wheels..

My road bike has 50/36 front and an 11-28 rear and know way geared right for me plus I only ride it on the hoods anyway and never on the drops hence the flat bar..

A Specialized Sirrus Comp has a 48/34 front and a 11-36 rear and its just about the same weight as my road bike and runs on 700/ 28cc tyres which I could put 25cc tyres on to make it even better.

I was looking at fitting a 42/26 or 40/24 or 38/22 front compact to the Sirrus Comp which has an 11-36 rear cassette already fitted, this would make it just about Ideal for what I want.

 

[RiflemanSmith]

To build strength in a muscle I would go for low number of reps with high weight.

If you can do more than 10 in each leg before failure, I suggest that you come up out of the squat at roughly half the speed you went down in. That will work the muscle much harder :P i know from pain in the gym lol

Good luck

I wouldn't go to build strength first, I would go for high reps.
No point powering up a hill getting up half way and you legs are gone from muscle fatigue.

Do as many as you can do for four sets every other day for a couple of weeks.
Then continue to do both.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/07/19/high-reps-vs-low-reps/

 

[Cyclist33]

Boon, I think the point is, yes it's always nice to bling up or upswish your bike, but what is the sense of achievement to get up a previously-unconquered hill as a result? All you can do is sit back, suck on your pipe and go "Aaaahh!!! I spent money and made it!", as opposed to "Aaaahhh! I trained and made it!"...

Stu

 

[Kevin Airey]

...and once your up that hill, you'll need a 4th bike to get up the next

If you can do it on the MTB then for the purposes of "training" keep doing it on that and forget the hybrid, time it, do it faster and faster and dropping the gears, make it hard and when its easy get the road bike back out. I am training for something similar here but Peñas Blancas is 1,000m of climbing over 19Km with ramps of up to 30%, it just goes on and on, I can't do it without breaks on the road bike, but using the MTB 29er I can, plus see improvements each time out and push harder each time. What takes me 2 hours the pro's do in 40 minutes!

I think you will be very disappointed with a hybrid and there's no point buying it for the cogs!

My new Scott has 38/24 crank and 11-36 cog and is a better all round bike than any hybrid at 10Kg

 

[Boon 51]

I wouldn't go to build strength first, I would go for high reps.
No point powering up a hill getting up half way and you legs are gone from muscle fatigue.

Do as many as you can do for four sets every other day for a couple of weeks.
Then continue to do both.
http://www.builtlean.com/2012/07/19/high-reps-vs-low-reps/

I have now got some weights but not used them yet, I've got so much work on I'm a bit knacked at the end of the day but will return to training any day soon..