Preparing for hills

boogi11

Can I please have some tips for hills, i tend to find I approach hills in top ring in front and small ring on the back having gradually dropped down from big to small as the gradient increased, the problem I have is when I drop the front cog to the small ring, I'm in to low a gear and lose momentum, but i can't go up through the back cog before changing as its to hard, what am I doing wrong

mattshrops

Either change to small ring before the hill or, as you change rings also change up a couple of gears on the back as well (at the same time) So LH 1 click-RH 2 clicks. Pretty easy to do.

simon_masterson

Make your gear changes beforehand. Climbing hills is about maintaining high cadences and momentum, hence avoiding gear changes is preferable. I personally try to stay in the saddle for training reasons, but some prefer different.

oldwelshman

mattshrops wrote:

Either change to small ring before the hill or, as you change rings also change up a couple of gears on the back as well (at the same time) So LH 1 click-RH 2 clicks. Pretty easy to do.

+1, just learn to use the gears you have.

StillGoing

boogi11 wrote:

Can I please have some tips for hills, i tend to find I approach hills in top ring in front and small ring on the back having gradually dropped down from big to small as the gradient increased, the problem I have is when I drop the front cog to the small ring, I'm in to low a gear and lose momentum, but i can't go up through the back cog before changing as its to hard, what am I doing wrong

Not sure you've described that right as small ring on the back and top ring i.e. outer or big ring at the front would be your highest and most difficult gear for climbing. You want the inner or small ring at the front and the bigger the sprocket at the back, the easier the gear. Agree with the technique of keeping your cadence high, staying seated and getting your gearing right before you start loading the chain.

oldwelshman

I never change gear before a climb and there is no need to, the point of gears is to have them when you need them. You can always see when a grade increses or reduces on a climb and feel it so can either chancge slightly before needed or change when you need it.
To go to lower gear when struggling you just need to push down a bit then ease during gear change this is easy to do. It is not very practical to use same gear on the whol climb , unless your on an easy ride

Graeme Jones

mattshrops wrote:

Either change to small ring before the hill or, as you change rings also change up a couple of gears on the back as well (at the same time) So LH 1 click-RH 2 clicks. Pretty easy to do.

+1