How are road bikes for uphill?

[Tight Git]

Planet x do a phaart track pump for about £12.50ish - should do the job but I have no experience of one. Little ones are only for emergencies when the fairy visits on a rideout.

http://planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/TOPHGF53P/phaart_follow_through_high_pressure_floor_pump

 

[Julia9054]

Phaart follow through . . . snigger!

 

[biggs682]

surely it depends on the rider more than the bike

 

[downfader]

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

For a cheap comfort saddle if riding in normal clothes this is OK:
http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/pr...uct=G18 Suspension Gel D2 Saddle#.UgfWqdKsidk
£35 max in most shops

This is a good but inexpensive floor pump: http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/pr...product=Home Mechanic Floor Pump#.UgfXE9Ksidk ..add a tenner to the budget and the quality goes up - just make sure you check it will work with your type of inner tube!

 

[downfader]

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!

The frame, saddle, seatpost and bars are OK on it. However I do know a rider that has had the bottom bracket break on his, and since heard of another who said the pedal broke free!

My advice has always been - if you buy from Halfords (or indeed many chain cycleshops) get a second opinion on the bike to make sure its assembled correctly. Halfords are getting better at cycling gear compared to a few years back where servicing and sales were very poor.

Oh and weight is OK, strength can overcome it. I usually ride with 10 to 15kg in pannier bags on a heavy touring style of bike

 

[Milzy]

surely it depends on the rider more than the bike

True for day to day riding. If you ever fancy doing a classic of around 100 miles + & extremely hilly in a respectable time, you'll be glad of a few less KG to drag up the steep ramps.

 

[ushills]

Do the hill up and down bit 5 times around 3 days a week and within a month it will get easier. I used to search out killer hills when younger as there aren't that many in Staffordshire and repetition training will get you used to them.

 

[ayceejay]

I may be alone in this but as I see it the OP wants to make this once a week trip easier. 'The Trip' is a mile and a half downhill one way and a mile and a half uphill the other way (duh). amirite? It may be rocket science to some but the uphill part is the problem so my suggestion is to buy a scooter (£25 tops) for the downhill stage and catch the bus or walk the other way. Walking will take about 30 minutes busting a gut to cycle it will take 15, Do you want to buy a new bike with a nice comfortable saddle (seat !) to save 15 minutes? If so you sound like the average CCer so go for it!

 

[themosquitoking]

I may be alone in this but as I see it the OP wants to make this once a week trip easier. 'The Trip' is a mile and a half downhill one way and a mile and a half uphill the other way (duh). amirite? It may be rocket science to some but the uphill part is the problem so my suggestion is to buy a scooter (£25 tops) for the downhill stage and catch the bus or walk the other way. Walking will take about 30 minutes busting a gut to cycle it will take 15, Do you want to buy a new bike with a nice comfortable saddle (seat !) to save 15 minutes? If so you sound like the average CCer so go for it!

I hope you're alone with that attitude. Someone is cycling and wants to do better and your advice is don't and catch the bus instead. You could have taken this opportunity to encourage someone to get out and cycle more and learn to love cycling, i'm glad you appear to distance yourself from the average CCer as you do not appear to be representative of the good side of this site ime.

 

[ayceejay]

Or it could be satire, Pollyanna.

 

[ColinJ]

Or it could be satire, Pollyanna.

Make sure that your saddle height is correct. If it is too low, then climbing would be much harder than it needs to be. Raising it, that is what I call 'sat higher'!

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

I wouldn't bother with that TDF as the gearing looks pretty naff for hills. Sure you can get fitter, but it's always nice to have extra gears if required. Shame there are so few road bikes with triple chainsets these days. Even though I am fitter than I used to be I do not regret getting a triple ever. I spend most of my time on the middle ring which offers a brilliant spread of gears for most of my riding. Having the granny ring as a bailout option is superb and quite often used in my case.

I went from a hybrid to a road bike. It was probably slightly lighter than yours, an old Marin Mill Valley ALP, this had a triple fitted but not mountain bike gearing like some of the heavier hybrids do. It is probably closer to a flat barred road bike anyway. I decided that I wanted my road bike to have similar gearing to my hybrid as it seemed the logical choice. Hence getting a triple equipped road bike.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Have you thought of moving to Norfolk or somewhere similar with a lack of hills rather than buying a new bike.
My roadie goes much faster up the wee bumps in Norfolk than it ever did in Inverness.

I can vouch for that after my holiday there last month.The distances,and speeds i got up to were well above my usual!

 

[Nigelnaturist]

Thats just your age ;-) We're all getting that way

I don't know I am getting better.

 

[Archie_tect]

Craiigman,
Check the height of your seat... when I first started I had the seat way too low: adjusting it so that when sitting on the bike your legs atre just bent when the pedals are at the bottom of their revolution. This will help with pushing more efficiently... other than keeping the tyres pumped up hard it just comes down to getting used to changing down through the gears to pedal faster before you get to the steepest bit and going for a ride or two mid week in the fine evenings.

Good luck, it'll get easier with practise.