Bloody hills

jed1978

Just back from a "heavy" run (for me).

1 x 8% climb and 1 x 10% climb.

covered 27.61 miles in 1hr 47 (avg 14.3)

max speed 32.1mph

anyone know of/use steeper hills (nearly killed me, went on for approx 2 miles)

new to this though

Denny69

Don't know the exact grades but there's a couple of good 'uns in my vicinity that leave your legs screaming....or if you're a total masochist you could go into the North york moors and try to do Rosedale Chimney.....a genuine 1 in 3 and has been seen on the Tour of Britain a few times.

Aidocp

I regularly do 14% (1in7) hills you can't get away from them here. The steepest I've recorded is 21% (1in5, Dunning to Middle Third/ Pathstruie/ Path of Condie) but I'm sure other folk have done steeper. Where are you based Jed? I'm sure somebody knows some tough climbs in your area.

feel

strange person that i am, i now search out routes with steep hills :shock:

10% hills are now friends

FSR_XC

Non of the hills round here have signs to say how steep they are.

Maybe they're not steep enough????

Is there anywhere on the net (google maps for example) that I can find out how steep they are?

schilbach

FSR_XC wrote:

Non of the hills round here have signs to say how steep they are.

Maybe they're not steep enough????

Is there anywhere on the net (google maps for example) that I can find out how steep they are?

Plot your ride on MapMyRide.com and it'll give you a chart of elevation - so you can see where the big hills are and how far you've climbed - Although doesn't give you a total for how fa you've climbed.

nasahapley

FSR_XC wrote:

Non of the hills round here have signs to say how steep they are.

Maybe they're not steep enough????

Is there anywhere on the net (google maps for example) that I can find out how steep they are?

Hi FSR,

I may be wrong, but I don't think you'll often see hills that are less than 10% signposted. Living as you do in Cornwall, I don't think you'll have trouble finding hills far steeper than this - it would probably cost too much to signpost them all!

On bikely.com you can plot a route and get an elevation profile with a total climb figure, but it won't tell you how steep individual hills are. I find that good old-fashioned paper OS maps are best for this; anything more than 14% gets a chevron, anything over 20% gets two. Use them for a while and you'll be able to differentiate between lesser gradients using the contour lines too.

FSR_XC

I'll have a look at an OS map. At least I'll get an idea if I am riding any steep hills.

Thanks for the info.

hambones

Stop using the brakes on the downhills!!! To only hit 32 coming DOWN the other side of those climbs means you must have been on the half-squeeze all the way

SCR Pedro

Aidocp wrote:

I regularly do 14% (1in7) hills you can't get away from them here. The steepest I've recorded is 21% (1in5, Dunning to Middle Third/ Pathstruie/ Path of Condie) but I'm sure other folk have done steeper. Where are you based Jed? I'm sure somebody knows some tough climbs in your area.

Hello, I did this one on Saturday, and even with a 30/25 I was out of the saddle and grinding away. Dunning is certainly not for the faint hearted. I was also at Path of Condie (or Col du Path de Condie as I call it). The hairpin bend is 1:6 but in my opinion, the 1:8 opposite the hairpin is more challenging, as it as at least twice as long until the road levels out. I stopped at the top for the first time ever today, but that was only because I looked over my shoulder, and I just had to stop to admire the view! Also, the longest continious climb that I know of in that area is approaching Stronachie from the south, that's worth about 300 metres of climbing in roughly 3km, and the view is to die for.

Anyway, I wanted to ask, how are you able to express 1:8 as a percentage? Is there a formula for doing this?

Cheers
Pedro

Simon Notley

Anyway, I wanted to ask, how are you able to express 1:8 as a percentage? Is there a formula for doing this?

Gradient = rise/run

So 1 in 8 means you are climbing 1 (the rise) for every 8 you are moving 'forwards' (the run) therefore the gradient as a percentage is 1/8 = 12.5%

Note that this means a 100% hill is 1:1 or 45 degrees, not vertical as you might suppose...

Simon

jed1978

Live in Inverness, hill was at Abriachan nxt to loch ness.

Not a big fan of hills, prefer maintaining a good speed on the flat.

possibly not alone in that attitude

Denny69

feel wrote:

strange person that i am, i now search out routes with steep hills :shock:

10% hills are now friends

Sadist

SCR Pedro

Simon Notley wrote:

Anyway, I wanted to ask, how are you able to express 1:8 as a percentage? Is there a formula for doing this?

Gradient = rise/run

So 1 in 8 means you are climbing 1 (the rise) for every 8 you are moving 'forwards' (the run) therefore the gradient as a percentage is 1/8 = 12.5%

Note that this means a 100% hill is 1:1 or 45 degrees, not vertical as you might suppose...

Simon

Ach, of course! How obvious. I can't believe I didn't try this.

Cheers mate
Pedro

Denny69

Simon Notley wrote:

Anyway, I wanted to ask, how are you able to express 1:8 as a percentage? Is there a formula for doing this?

Gradient = rise/run

So 1 in 8 means you are climbing 1 (the rise) for every 8 you are moving 'forwards' (the run) therefore the gradient as a percentage is 1/8 = 12.5%

Note that this means a 100% hill is 1:1 or 45 degrees, not vertical as you might suppose...

Simon

Doh!!! :oops:

Anonymous

I hate hills, I think I need a tripple chainset.

On my old bike I had a compact but a real big cog at the back and could maanage to happily climb 17% hills at a steady pace and could get up long 20% climbs that had some 25% parts in but was hard work, now I got a new bike the biggest cog on the back is alot smaller so now I'm struggling like nothing I imagined , back to square one .

feel

willhub wrote:

I hate hills, I think I need a tripple chainset.

On my old bike I had a compact but a real big cog at the back and could maanage to happily climb 17% hills at a steady pace and could get up long 20% climbs that had some 25% parts in but was hard work, now I got a new bike the biggest cog on the back is alot smaller so now I'm struggling like nothing I imagined , back to square one .

Hi Willhub,
Have you considered putting a lower geared rear cassette on the back. If you count the teeth on the biggest back sprocket it will probs have 24 or 25 teeth. It is fairly cheap to replace the cassette with one that has a biger range, say 12 to 28, that will make it considerably easier to get up steep hills.

Anonymous

feel wrote:

willhub wrote:

I hate hills, I think I need a tripple chainset.

On my old bike I had a compact but a real big cog at the back and could maanage to happily climb 17% hills at a steady pace and could get up long 20% climbs that had some 25% parts in but was hard work, now I got a new bike the biggest cog on the back is alot smaller so now I'm struggling like nothing I imagined , back to square one .

Hi Willhub,
Have you considered putting a lower geared rear cassette on the back. If you count the teeth on the biggest back sprocket it will probs have 24 or 25 teeth. It is fairly cheap to replace the cassette with one that has a biger range, say 12 to 28, that will make it considerably easier to get up steep hills.

Its like £30+ I was told? I dont know if that will make it easy enough compared to say a tripple, I think my carrera Vanquish had something like a 30+. Was also told in the bike shop putting a bigger one on could cause me to loose some of my gears and stress the gear changer or something?

Cant find one with a 28 aswell.

a_n_t

i've just swapped my 11-23 for a 13-26, anything over a 15% gradient was just proving too much! Cost £33 for a veloce cassette and £9 for a new lockring [lbs changed it for free] So 40 notes, not bad.

Anonymous

Is it easy to fit the cassettes on? or should I take it to a LBS?

a_n_t

willhub wrote:

Is it easy to fit the cassettes on? or should I take it to a LBS?

it is easy but you need to buy the proper tools so if its something you're not going to do very often you may as well let the lbs do it.

Anonymous

Ah right, well at the moment my current largest ring on the cassette is 25.

Stewie Griffin

jed1978 wrote:

Live in Inverness, hill was at Abriachan nxt to loch ness.

Not a big fan of hills, prefer maintaining a good speed on the flat.

possibly not alone in that attitude

Am with you Jed, (although in NW London) hills are why we used to use Donkeys and eventually went on to invent the internal combustion engine .

I have a friend in Cumbria who cycles and has invited me up. I keep pointing out that my bike wont fit in the car Why do you all pretend that its so much fun?

Clever Pun

I dislike hills before and during but once you get over them it's great...

ColinJ

Simon Notley wrote:

Anyway, I wanted to ask, how are you able to express 1:8 as a percentage? Is there a formula for doing this?

Gradient = rise/run

So 1 in 8 means you are climbing 1 (the rise) for every 8 you are moving 'forwards' (the run) therefore the gradient as a percentage is 1/8 = 12.5%

Note that this means a 100% hill is 1:1 or 45 degrees, not vertical as you might suppose...

Simon

That is technically correct, but in practice the distance travelled is usually measured along the road surface for the obvious reason that it is easier. A 100% gradient calculated this way actually corresponds to a vertical slope i.e. a cliff.

See this thread.

W5454

This year I have down geared from 52-40 to 50-34 and 11-25 to 11-28.Hill climbing is so much easier.Now I look forwards to hilly rides.

Anonymous

25 to 28 actually makes it much easier??

I checked my old bike and the largest cog on the back is a 32, so 25 is a big step down I dont know if I should put the 32 on my new bike?

Richard_D

To quote one of the cycling authors
The downside of cycling uphill is going up, the upside is coming back down

Anonymous

Richard_D wrote:

To quote one of the cycling authors
The downside of cycling uphill is going up, the upside is coming back down

Hills are hard, I find them hard, I get annoyed going up them, but when I get to the top I always look back and think I've enjoyed climbing that hill.

inaperfectworld

i realised hills can be very enjoyable and that the rhythm of a steady cadence is the key difference. i was recently in dordogne/correze and had some long climbs sort of 11/2-2 miles. they were at a steady gradient about 6% (at a guess) so once in the right gear it was a steady constant cadence and the views opened up wonderfully. found much the same riding over the moorfoot hills from innerliethen to edinburgh, the key again being the rhythm of a steady cadence. what i hate are west yorkshire hills as gradients are always altering so you are up and down gears and can get no rhythm going at all. fair number of single arrows aroung here too and hills i could not get up on my audax bike because the gears are not low enough, have to take the tourer to do those. sometimes think about moving to york and the nicer terrain is one of my secondary reasons.

Gr.uB

Hills are the best opportunity to go by people.
Learn to hook your pedal stroke.
It breaks up the monotony of longer climbs.
It will also give you some ace looking calf muscles.
Always be positive and don't look too far ahead.
Practice makes perfect.

Hills are my friend. I love them.

I just need to learn how to descend better.