Chantry Hill climb
ct8282
Posts: 414
Anyone else here done the Chantry Hill climb in Sullington?
I went out last Sunday with a mate on a stunning ride and we peaked at this hill before turning back for home. I'm still fairly new to Roading, 2 months in, riding a TCR Advanced with standard gearing (not compact) and this hill nearly destroyed me. I got literally about a third of the way up in the saddle in my granny gear and then the hill got steep. I had to stand up and literally grind my way, very very slowly, up to the top.
When i got home and looked into this hill it turns out its a 1.2km long climb, averaging 10% but some areas hit 20%. My legs felt like they would burst and I had soooo many moments where I was ready to quit but I just kept thinking there's no way I will forgive myself so I churned it out. At times my pace was slow enough that balance nearly became difficult, but I dug deep and just made it to the top. My quads were huge but man the burn felt nice and the satisfaction of making it was unreal. But, it very nearly killed me.
I know a compact chainset would make a difference but I want to persist and try to become stronger so that eventually I can tackle such climbs more comfortably. Is this a foolish plan and am I hindering my progress, or do you think I can build my strength quicker by keeping the standard gearing?
I went out last Sunday with a mate on a stunning ride and we peaked at this hill before turning back for home. I'm still fairly new to Roading, 2 months in, riding a TCR Advanced with standard gearing (not compact) and this hill nearly destroyed me. I got literally about a third of the way up in the saddle in my granny gear and then the hill got steep. I had to stand up and literally grind my way, very very slowly, up to the top.
When i got home and looked into this hill it turns out its a 1.2km long climb, averaging 10% but some areas hit 20%. My legs felt like they would burst and I had soooo many moments where I was ready to quit but I just kept thinking there's no way I will forgive myself so I churned it out. At times my pace was slow enough that balance nearly became difficult, but I dug deep and just made it to the top. My quads were huge but man the burn felt nice and the satisfaction of making it was unreal. But, it very nearly killed me.
I know a compact chainset would make a difference but I want to persist and try to become stronger so that eventually I can tackle such climbs more comfortably. Is this a foolish plan and am I hindering my progress, or do you think I can build my strength quicker by keeping the standard gearing?
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Comments
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Using a compact and spinning faster up a climb will still hurt your legs, but might get you up the hill faster. The point is to get faster (for most of us anyway) so I'd definitely try a compact. Just don't let yourself sit in your granny gear all the time if you don't need it and keep pushing yourself to go as fast as you possibly can and that will make you stronger.
Grinding up in a huge gear isn't good for most peoples knees either
P.S. Do you know what the big cog on your cassette is? (how many teeth?)0 -
My bike is 53/39 on the front, 12/25 on the back.
Dude, trust me, I don't use granny unless I really have to, and I really had too! I was off the saddle and my legs were dead so I couldn't keep a consistent momentum going. Sitting down would have ended up with me just falling over. It's that horrible moment where you have no choice but to stand and just put every last ounce of everything into each pedal stroke, even though the tank was empty. It hurt like hell, but felt amazing when I made it.
I guess I'm just wondering if the compact option is better, or can I improve quick enough to avoid going that way. I like a challenge for sure and hard graft is nothing new to me as I've been training intensively for 8 years now so know what it takes to push through the pain barrier, but cycling is new for me.0 -
I rode for a while on 39/52 and 12/25...
I have since switched to a 34 on the front and a 12-28 on the back and I am a much, much stronger/faster rider now... It's just a more efficient way for me to get my large frame up hills - and as I hinted, it's not about being tough and forcing a big gear, it's about going fast in any legal way possible
With a 34+28 gear being an option, I just have to be careful not to rely on it when I'm feeling lazy but I do find myself thankful for it sometimes on long tough climbs with steep ramps (I mean 5km+). 0 -
I agree: there's nothing clever about grinding up a hill in too high a gear. In my experience (backed up by my GPS), if I'm struggling to get up a hill, then I'll tend to speed up if I drop into a lower gear and spin faster. Your speed up a hill is dictated by the power output your legs can sustain, not how strong they are. A lot of people (myself included) generate more power spinning than grinding. I tend to change gears now on the basis of 'this is too easy I need to change up' rather than 'this is too difficult I need to change down'.0
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So the consensus is that there is no benefit to be had at all from sticking with the standard gearing?0
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Not unless you can spin standard gearing at a cadence of 75+rpm (which the compact setup will allow you to train your body to do). I'm still using compact and getting faster to the point of no longer relying on my lowest gear all the time - when I reach a point where I'm never using it anymore, perhaps I'll return to a standard chainset but I think that might be quite a while off yet 0
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Do you mean Chantry Lane, the one with the stream and beautiful house and pond on the left? It is a toughie! It's on my off-road route home so have been up it plenty on the MTB. Have also been up it once on the road bike which is the same gearing as yours.
I'm not sure about the advice of changing to a compact chainset, for one thing it won't be cheap (you probably ought to change the chain and cassette at the same time). I'd be tempted to try a 12-28 cassette or maybe one up from that but I don't know what would give the biggest change - a toothier cassette at the back or a less-toothy granny ring?
I'd stick with it and see if you can improve; if you don't change the bike and you notice the hills getting easier/taking less time then you know it is down to you getting better.
I read a review of a 52/36 chainset somewhere recently, which I think would give the best of both worlds.
If you have an MTB, try Barns Farm Hill from Washington or the climb from Church Street in Storrington that comes out on Kithurst Hill; they are both close to Chantry Lane and another level of difficulty up, in my opinion!
And if you come down Chantry Lane on your road bike, watch the speed bumps. I had a nasty pinch puncture the one time I did it, hitting one of those buggers too fast. I would say Chantry Lane is more a MTB-road than a road-road
(Especially when the tractors have been out and covered it in mud) 0 -
DaveP1 wrote:Do you mean Chantry Lane, the one with the stream and beautiful house and pond on the left? It is a toughie! It's on my off-road route home so have been up it plenty on the MTB. Have also been up it once on the road bike which is the same gearing as yours.
I'm not sure about the advice of changing to a compact chainset, for one thing it won't be cheap (you probably ought to change the chain and cassette at the same time). I'd be tempted to try a 12-28 cassette or maybe one up from that but I don't know what would give the biggest change - a toothier cassette at the back or a less-toothy granny ring?
I'd stick with it and see if you can improve; if you don't change the bike and you notice the hills getting easier/taking less time then you know it is down to you getting better.
I read a review of a 52/36 chainset somewhere recently, which I think would give the best of both worlds.
If you have an MTB, try Barns Farm Hill from Washington or the climb from Church Street in Storrington that comes out on Kithurst Hill; they are both close to Chantry Lane and another level of difficulty up, in my opinion!
And if you come down Chantry Lane on your road bike, watch the speed bumps. I had a nasty pinch puncture the one time I did it, hitting one of those buggers too fast. I would say Chantry Lane is more a MTB-road than a road-road (Especially when the tractors have been out and covered it in mud)
Yep, chantry lane hill, that's the one! It's a cracker huh, but I defo agree about the down hill remark. I was riding my breaks the whole way down. It wasn't fun. I have certainly Improved a lot from when I first got the bike, and each time I go out the same hills do seem to get quicker. Not easier but quicker. Rusper hill for example I had to come out the saddle the first time I tried it on the roadie, but now I can cruise up there on the saddle, still in the granny gear but certainly much quicker and more comfortably. My preference would be to stick it out and get stronger with the standard gears but if I would improve quicker with a compact then maybe this is the better option.
I really need to have a go on a compact I suppose so I can see the difference for myself.0 -
My advice is what helped for me but a lot of the climbs switching to compact has helped on are a lot longer than 1.2km so I guess it's a judgement call for you - if you can build strength and power up on a 39/25 ratio then fine but if you're gonna climb anything longer then I'd definitely try a compact and/or big cassette 0
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It does matter how long the climb is; you'll always run out of gears on a standard before a compact . Rusper is a bigger too; think you may need to try reps on a local hill0
