Going up hill

tonyw43

I appreciate this may sound like a silly question, but how do you go up hill. Do you:

1. Go up in the gear you were in, and shift down as your cadence drops.

or

2. Drop to the gear you think will be right, before you start to climb.

I'm interested to get peoples opinions on this, as personally I go with number 1, but am wondering if this hampers my climbing.
Whaddya think?

sonny73

Personally I drop down early and raise my cadence before I hit a climb, to not get in to oxygen debt before I begin the real hard work.
I 've always done that naturally as it just feels better for me, but I also read similar in the book Tour Climbs by Chris Sidwells, in a section on climbing tips from Lucien Van Impe (I think it was) for what that's worth.

rokkala

I used to do what you do Tony, but its a lot better getting in a more appropriate gear for the hill just before you get to it and start spinning up.

Escargot

Not a silly question at all.

I read an article in cycling plus a few months back that you should drop down in anticipation and then find your pace (this is what I currently do) but I was speaking to a mate who is massively more experienced than me and he advised to try to change down as little as possible as this will build the necessary leg strength :shock:

Personally I can believe him as his thighs are like tree trunks and him and his riding buddies are unreal going up hills. However there's no way I could do this and would blow very quickly if I even tried to emulate his style.

I've seen other people do this though and was amazed by a middle aged lady I followed at a recent charity ride. For about 20 miles I tried to keep pace with her and could see that she barely moved the gears from the smallest cogs on her cassette. There I was flicking up/down but she took all the hills sat down and between gears 16-20 whilst I spun in 11th and 12th (on a compact :oops: ).

So I guess it must work both ways but I'll be damned if I can grind it out up the hills :?

neeb

Depends on all sorts of things. If it's a short hill and you are planning to power up it out of the saddle, you will probably want to shift UP just before you hit it. Otherwise, I find the most important thing is to be in the correct chainring before you hit the gradient. If you are on the large ring and think that you will need to be in the small ring before you reach the summit, you want to change down before you hit the hill. Changing down sprockets as required while ascending is usually no problem however.

tonyw43

Thanks for the input guys, will have to try shifting down before hitting the climbs and see what effect it has.

markos1963

I find shifting down early reduces my speed suddenly and I loose the impetus that I have built up. I like to attack the hill and get up so far and when my cadence drops below 70 I start to shift down. This theory has now been blown out by the fact that I have just got a single speed and I have to attack the hill all the way up now :shock:

ride_whenever

singlespeed.

on my geared mtbs i tend to just do the chainring selection at the bottom, the rear gears work fine under load.

rhext

I''ll get into the right chainring before I start the climb. Trying to change chainrings halfway up a steep hill is asking for trouble.

deal

why do people change into small chainring before climbs? i have never had any problems changing on hills unless im doing something stupid like starting off on a hill in a massive gear while desperately trying to change gear

freehub

deal wrote:

why do people change into small chainring before climbs? i have never had any problems changing on hills unless im doing something stupid like starting off on a hill in a massive gear while desperately trying to change gear

Because if it's a really steep hill, you don't really want to be changing down on the hill especially when you are putting power through the cranks, and if you let off the power then you'll slow down quickly, imagine if someone is behind you. I used to be changing the rear gears on hills when putting the power down on hills but I've being told of for that and don't do it anymore, it really hammers the chain doing that.

Also by my crappy gear changing skills I've cracked 1 tiagra, 2x 105 and 1x ultegra front mech

nolf

Short hill, I attack up them and choose a gear that lets me do this. Out of the saddle, if it will take more than 2 minutes I'll not try and attack it but choose an easier gear that lets me spin up.

Change gear as you start to go up. The aim is to avoid losing momentum, whilst changing into a suitable gear. If the clib starts slowly thats easier as you have an opportunity to change down.

will3

deal wrote:

why do people change into small chainring before climbs? i have never had any problems changing on hills unless im doing something stupid like starting off on a hill in a massive gear while desperately trying to change gear

I;ve bent teeth on chainrings by changing down under extreme load. Generally on a long climb I find it better to not worry about caning it into the bottom as all the extra effort gains you very little, so it;s better to be prepared for the right gear for the rest of it. On a short hill though, it's big gear all the way

Tom Butcher

Yes like most others - power climb change up or same gear, longer climb that isn't that steep at the bottom same gear and then change down during the climb, steep climb get into the correct gear or at least the smaller chainring before the gradient. Sometimes you can't get the perfect solution - small chain ring is too small a gear at the bottom but if you hit it in the big chain ring you are going to have to change down under full load as you know it's just that little bit too long and steep to power over.

Soni

Change down in anticipation for a hill, otherwise if you change right at the last minute when you really need to on a steep gradient , it will place so much tension on the chain.....

I change down in anticipation for the hill, however i don't stay seated for very long, i then change up two gears before i get out of the saddle, i then find this is the perfect gear for me to stay standing up the hill, however obviously depending on the gradient, i may need to change down whilst out of the saddle, and if this is the case, i'm just careful not to place too much tension on the chain for a couple of revolutions of the crank whilst its changing down...

shockedsoshocked

Do people think about it this muc :shock:

I've always rode up hills in a similar way to what nolf suggested. If it's short and steep, leather up it in the same gear I was in at the bottom. If it's a longer one, I keep pushing my current gear until it feels too big, then shift up. Repeat until you're comfortable.

eh

Further to ShockedSoShocked comments once you've done a hill a couple of times you know what rough gear to be in anyway.

Good reason for all those racers out there to pre-ride the course, or if not at least have a quick drive around it.

oldwelshman

There is no need to reccie a course to see what gears you ride
Not sure why some guys in here even try to change under load.
It should be natural.
As others hve sid, if it is short hill just thrash up it in same gear.
If a long drg, my start in lrge chin ring and change down.
You have to be able to change gears on a hill due to changing grade and it is not difficult to do without load.
If I am on failry easy slope which I can see kicks sharply (typical uk climb) I change down to small ring front and probably up two on rear to get similar gear, then as it gets tougher change down on rear but not under load. To do this you can either change just before it gets steep or even on the steep bit by pushing on the pedal harder before easing a bit to change down to reduce load. This works especially with new gears, this was more difficult 25 years ago before they had special tooth design on casettes to make changes smooth.
Think this makes sense, sort of

Soni

oldwelshman wrote:

There is no need to reccie a course to see what gears you ride
Not sure why some guys in here even try to change under load.
It should be natural.
As others hve sid, if it is short hill just thrash up it in same gear.
If a long drg, my start in lrge chin ring and change down.
You have to be able to change gears on a hill due to changing grade and it is not difficult to do without load.
If I am on failry easy slope which I can see kicks sharply (typical uk climb) I change down to small ring front and probably up two on rear to get similar gear, then as it gets tougher change down on rear but not under load. To do this you can either change just before it gets steep or even on the steep bit by pushing on the pedal harder before easing a bit to change down to reduce load. This works especially with new gears, this was more difficult 25 years ago before they had special tooth design on casettes to make changes smooth.
Think this makes sense, sort of

Welshman, enjoyed those photos, and that bike you have is the mutts nutts, would love a bike like that, one day maybe......

oldwelshman

do the same as I did, stick it on the mortgage