Climbing!

Anonymous

Andrew, I think that's precisely what's going on. The old bike was optimised kinda half-way between the granny and middle, it seemed, whereas the new one is super-optimized for the middle ring.

The funny thing is, when I bought it, my fitness level was pretty low as I was recovering from an injury, this meant I was regularly using the granny ring, and I thought it was a shame the bike couldn't climb better.
As i got fitter, and regained my strength, I could use the middle ring, and it was a quantum leap in performance!

I'm convinced that some of the reviews that claim climbing is a chore on the new wolf ridge / attack trail bikes are based on granny ring climbing.

Daz555

andrewjoseph wrote:

Northwind wrote:

...
Or to summarise, in a high gear your power output is too low to spin out, the grip will exceed your ability to rotate the pedal and you'll just stand there. But in a low gear, your power output is wasted as you can't keep up with the pedals. You're most likely to spin up somewhere in the middle, where gearing gives you the best balance of power per stroke, and strokes per minute.

Thanks for that.

I'm not an engineer, just an experienced biker and coach. I know that on loose, lumpy and greasy ground, most people can spin out much easier in a low gear than in a high gear.

Indeed. But in the REALLY low gears the effect diminishes significantly.

rhext

I guess for me, thinking about it, it's all about technique. Using a low gear, you have to keep your weight centred over the bike (or the front wheel tends to lift up), and you have to think ahead (because if you haven't got enough momentum to get over the next obstacle you'll definitely spin out). So I suppose, on reflection, if you've got the fitness to pile up the hills in a higher gear you'll should be OK.

But what I do know is that for me it's much easier to keep it smooth in a lower gear, and I definitely get up the hills faster and with less traction issues. Perhaps the real effect is to do with being able to go faster, and the additional momentum helps to take you over the technical bits.

lochussie

Traction in a low gear is often good as you can stay in the saddle with weight over the back wheel. If you then have to stand up you often lose traction. So for short steep climbs it's often best to blast them in a higher gear. Eg on Glentress black, the last long climb up to Ewok Village, the wee steep bit right before you coss the fireroad.