How are road bikes for uphill?

[Craiigman]

some inexpensive pumps can be dire at putting a decent amount of pressure in... maybe your pump is the route of the tyre issue?

On long uphills, I opt for a low gear, sit myself bolt upright and just take my time. I ride a 'citified' MTB, so not too different a machine to your hybrid.

Can you recommend me a good pump? Preferably one that's not too expensive?

 

[HLaB]

Apologies for lazily just answering the thread title in my OP, yes a road bike is generally faster but if you havent got the engine their higher gears can make things harder. It sounds like you @Craiigman need to ride more often a new bike wont be the miracle pill

 

[MontyVeda]

Can you recommend me a good pump? Preferably one that's not too expensive?

I use a cheap plastic track style pump from Wilko's, cost me about £7 or £8... that gets my balloon tyres hard enough to be unable to squeeze a dent in them... as for a decent frame pump (cheap)... I'm still looking.

 

[ColinJ]

Its strange - 50 years ago when I was 16 my road bike was really good at going uphill. Nowadays none of my road bikes seem very good at going uphill .........

I had the opposite experience ... when I was 13, my 10-speed racer wouldn't get me up the hill on the way back from school. When I was 54, a singlespeed bike let me sprint up it with a heavy rucksack on my back!

 

[Craiigman]

Apologies for lazily just answering the thread title in my OP, yes a road bike is generally faster but if you havent got the engine their higher gears can make things harder. It sounds like you @Craiigman need to ride more often a new bike wont be the miracle pill

Thanks, I think you may be right. Think you could recommend me a good saddle thats not overly expensive? I'm not really sure what I should be looking for

 

[Milzy]

Don't get a heavy Junk TDF for going up hill, they are pants in every department. You'd be better on a fixie! The TDF is even worse than a cheap cheerful Triban 3!

 

[Easytigers]

I've got one of these...it might be the best thing I bought!!!
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-high-pressure-floor-pump/

 

[Easytigers]

Many people say the Charge Spoon is a decent buy for a saddle...they're pretty cheap

 

[MontyVeda]

Thanks, I think you may be right. Think you could recommend me a good saddle thats not overly expensive? I'm not really sure what I should be looking for

Thing with saddle recommendations is... not all bums are created equal. A great saddle for one person can be terribly uncomfortable for another. If you have a TK Maxx locally, they have some half decent looking saddles now and then for not much money... and some good local bikes shops will let you try a saddle for a few days, but they tend to be not so cheap. (IME)

 

[HLaB]

Thanks, I think you may be right. Think you could recommend me a good saddle thats not overly expensive? I'm not really sure what I should be looking for

I like a narrow hard saddles (specialized BG or Fizik) (contradictory to look they are actually more for me) and other say the cheaper Charge Spoon or Plug is good but we are all different on the sit bone front so I can only really recommend you try a few.

 

[Craiigman]

Thing with saddle recommendations is... not all bums are created equal. A great saddle for one person can be terribly uncomfortable for another. If you have a TK Maxx locally, they have some half decent looking saddles now and then for not much money... and some good local bikes shops will let you try a saddle for a few days, but they tend to be not so cheap. (IME)

Yeah, they do seem a little pricey in general. I've had a look on EvansCycles what would you make of these three?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/bg-targa-saddle-ec034170#features

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/bg-sonoma-sport-saddle-ec034171#BVRRWidgetID

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/expedition-plus-saddle-ec033710#BVRRWidgetID

 

[Milzy]

Charge spoon with padded shorts should be fine.

 

[Craiigman]

Charge spoon with padded shorts should be fine.

I can only find a lime coloured on

 

[ColinJ]

I can only find a lime coloured on

You are not searching very hard ... Google returns a veritable rainbow of Charge Spoons!

 

[MontyVeda]

Yeah, they do seem a little pricey in general. I've had a look on EvansCycles what would you make of these three?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/bg-targa-saddle-ec034170#features

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/bg-sonoma-sport-saddle-ec034171#BVRRWidgetID

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/expedition-plus-saddle-ec033710#BVRRWidgetID

the third one doesn't look great.. but some people who don't do big rides week in week out prefer a comfort saddle, which is what the 3rd one is.

But that doesn't mean other saddles are uncomfortable... I'm built like a rake, have little padding on my derrière and find a saddle not too dissimilar to the chargespoon Milzy recommends, for 40 mile rides without any padding in my shorts jeans is absolutely fine... but that's just me.