Problems With Hills & Rain

[learning2cycle]

hey, i live in a rainy & hilly area.

what could i get or do to help with the hills as the gears doesn't really help much.

how about for the rain? is there any helmets with a visor so the rain doesn't go into your eyes or sunglasses?

i saw a full size urberlla for walking once on the Web. is there one for biking/cylcying?

need help with gps nav too http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/gps-navigation-advice-please.147607/

 

[musa]

just accept it and grind hard

 

[betty swollocks]

As for hills, what gear set up do you have at the moment ie how many rings at the front and how many teeth on each? Similarly, what's your range of teeth at the back? The smaller you use at the front combined with the bigger you use at the rear, the easier it will be to pedal and thus, climb hills.
As for keeping rain out of your eyes, some helmets, notably those used by mountainbikers, have a peak. If yours hasn't, wear a peaked cap underneath. IMO peaks keep rain out of eyes very effectively.

 

[fossyant]

Practice makes perfect. Rain is rain, so just accept it. I wear sighted cycling glasses, and yes it rains, but I get used to it. As someone suggests, try a cap !

 

[Salad Dodger]

As previously mentioned by betty swollocks, mountain bike helmets usually have either an integral peak, or sometimes a detachable one.

If you want to use your existing helmet, you could take a look around canoeing equipment websites. When I was a paddler, a few years ago, you could buy a neoprene peak, fixed with velcro, that could be fitted to a canoeists bash hat. Personally, I always opted for a baseball cap under my bash hat, but for cycling use a mountain bike style helmet because I like the peak to keep some rain off my glasses.

 

[Peter Armstrong]

i saw a full size urberlla for walking once on the Web. is there one for biking/cylcying?

Ha Ha!

 

[sazzaa]

i saw a full size urberlla for walking once on the Web. is there one for biking/cylcying?

Yes, it's called a car.

 

[Banjo]

i saw a full size urberlla for walking once on the Web. is there one for biking/cylcying?

Ha Ha!

. If they made a cyclists umbrella it would have a titanium handle Ultegra folding mechanism and cost about £600 :-)

 

[learning2cycle]

Hilly problem solved: Thank you to the great & brilliant people at MIT and others for solving the hill problem --> https://www.superpedestrian.com

also forced to cancel all and any cycling trips as there are no good gps solution presently --> http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/gps-navigation-advice-please.147607

I don't think this forum has helped solved any of the problems I've asked so far................. ='(

 

[Dave 123]

N
O
B
B
E
R

 

[coffeejo]

The only way to get better at riding up hills is to keep riding up hills. Some prefer to attack, others sit back and take it slow and easy. You can talk to your local bike shop about making any changes to your gearing but the rest has to come from you. Practice, practice, practice. Fitness, stamina and determination.

(Incidentally, there's a wealth of information on here in many other threads on similar topics but I'd suggest that returning to the threads you've started to answer questions that have been posted in response is a good way to help others help you.)

 

[TheJDog]

It sounds like what you want is a car.

 

[HLaB]

. If they made a cyclists umbrella it would have a titanium handle Ultegra folding mechanism and cost about £600 :-)

Where can I buy one I would have expected £900 to £1k at least if it was Rapha branded

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I don't think this forum has helped solved any of the problems I've asked so far................. ='(

I'm afraid it doesn't help that you haven't answered the question @betty swollocks asked further up the page: What gears do you currently have? How many chain rings and how many teeth on each ring? What range of gears at the back?

Gearing can be altered on a bike if it doesn't suit you and the right gearing will get you up hills you'd never have thought you could manage. For example: changing the 48-38-28 chainset on my best bike to a mountain bike style 44-32-22 and combining it with a readily available 11-30 tooth cassette allows me to get up hills such as Asterton Bank (often listed as one of the 10 toughest climbs in Britain) or the Burway and similar low gearing got me over Hardknott Pass on my heavy knockabout bike.

For wet weather there are a few options. I use either a rain jacket and waterproof trousers (buy the best you can afford as cheaper ones will make you overheat and sweat buckets) or an old fashioned rain cape is quite handy for showery weather as it packs down quite small (but can be a handful in strong winds)

Helmet-wise, a mountain bike type keeps the worst of the rain off and covers are available to make them a bit more water resistant:

 

[mattobrien]

I don't think this forum has helped solved any of the problems I've asked so far................. ='(

Excuse me while I fetch my spare moon and stick...