Hill Training

willbevan

Doing a bit of hill training and myself im a spinner and find hills even in my lowest gear (28 back 34 front) very hard

Been thinking of spending some time on my mountain bike (with much lower gears, 22 front, 34 back) and choosing a gear that would make me work but won't kill my knees and slowly over weeks choose a better gear as i get stronger up them...

Any opinions on this please? or would using my road bike and pushing say 40 cadence be that much better for making me stronger up the hills

I have read about hill repeats and will be doing the varying methods, but its really asking what bike thats available would be more suitable due to my fitness (or lack of it)

Thanks

Will

Alex_Simmons/RST

Riding a bike with gears appropriate for the hill and your level of fitness is a good idea.

Eventually you may want to consider a different cassette on the road bike or maybe even a compact crank (or even a triple chainset).

Mike Willcox

willbevan wrote:

Doing a bit of hill training and myself im a spinner and find hills even in my lowest gear (28 back 34 front) very hard

Any opinions on this please? or would using my road bike and pushing say 40 cadence be that much better for making me stronger up the hills

Thanks

Will

Riding up a hill is as much about finding a rhythmn as CV fitness. At a cadence of 40 rpm the gear is too high and you will be fighting the bike and losing energy. This is OK for short sharp climbs but feven then your cadence on out of the saddle efforts should be 70 rpm or so.

On longer climbs the best technique is to develop a rhythmn in a lower gear and a higher cadence as though you were climbing a drag. Count to three and on the three push down very hard on the downstroke. Put your bum towards the back of the saddle and your arms straight holding on to the centre of the bars. This will give you leverage to push against.

oldwelshman

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Riding a bike with gears appropriate for the hill and your level of fitness is a good idea.

Eventually you may want to consider a different cassette on the road bike or maybe even a compact crank (or even a triple chainset).

Isn't a 34 a compact already?
To be honest doing 40 revs on 34 x 28 is 3.8mph or 6.2km/hr quicker to walk.

Mettan

willbevan wrote:

Doing a bit of hill training and myself im a spinner and find hills even in my lowest gear (28 back 34 front) very hard

Will

Changing your cassette to a 32T or 34T one will give you a bit more climbing scope - I've got a Shimano Altus rear mech and a Shimano HG40 32T cassette - those two work fine together and both can be bought cheaply - Altus can take up to and including a 34T cassette - admitedly its at the lower end of the range but it does a job and hasn't let me down.

Alex_Simmons/RST

oldwelshman wrote:

Isn't a 34 a compact already?

True. :oops:

nolf

Do some easier hills until you get comfortable with them the try the really steep ones. Look for longer instead of steeper- so look for less than 15% gradients!

Other than that try losing weight to improve your power to weight ratio, go on rides with lot's of undulations instead of proper hills and then get your fitness back up until you can spin a 34 compact up hill.

ut_och_cykla

oldwelshman wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Riding a bike with gears appropriate for the hill and your level of fitness is a good idea.

Eventually you may want to consider a different cassette on the road bike or maybe even a compact crank (or even a triple chainset).

Isn't a 34 a compact already?
To be honest doing 40 revs on 34 x 28 is 3.8mph or 6.2km/hr quicker to walk.

Errrm no!! walking uphill at 6 km an hour is not easy. If you've got the gears it will always be easier( but not necessarily easy) to cycle up!

ut_och_cykla

willbevan wrote:

Doing a bit of hill training and myself im a spinner and find hills even in my lowest gear (28 back 34 front) very hard

Been thinking of spending some time on my mountain bike (with much lower gears, 22 front, 34 back) and choosing a gear that would make me work but won't kill my knees and slowly over weeks choose a better gear as i get stronger up them...

Any opinions on this please? or would using my road bike and pushing say 40 cadence be that much better for making me stronger up the hills

I have read about hill repeats and will be doing the varying methods, but its really asking what bike thats available would be more suitable due to my fitness (or lack of it)

Thanks

Will

My take would be - do both. Find hills that allow you to ride at about 50-60 rpm and do strength building intervals (5-10 minutes of smooth, very focused pedaling).Use the MTB to do longer steadier climbs at a more comfortable cadence that puches your heart rate up to a lvel you can just sustain for several (20?) minutes.

But others might think differently

oldwelshman

ut_och_cykla wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

Riding a bike with gears appropriate for the hill and your level of fitness is a good idea.

Eventually you may want to consider a different cassette on the road bike or maybe even a compact crank (or even a triple chainset).

Isn't a 34 a compact already?
To be honest doing 40 revs on 34 x 28 is 3.8mph or 6.2km/hr quicker to walk.

Errrm no!! walking uphill at 6 km an hour is not easy. If you've got the gears it will always be easier( but not necessarily easy) to cycle up!

OK I meant it would be quicker to walk if even lower gears are used, not the 34 x 38.