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Hill climbing

mathematicsmathematics Posts: 453
edited July 2014 in Health, fitness & training
Hi

Does anyone have any tips for climbing steeper hills please?

I find I lose traction and my steering goes all over the place. I end up losing all speed and putting my foot - it's very difficult to start again.

I can climb most hills on my roadie but when it comes to off-road I struggle. Not sure if it's bike set up or technique but I seem to true incredibly quickly whilst climbing. :-(

Thanks

Chris

Posts

  • kajjalkajjal Posts: 3,380
    It's about choosing the right gear and getting your weight balanced between front and rear wheels. Too far forward and the rear wheel loses grip, too far back and the front wheel starts lifting. On very steep climbs you can end up almost hunched over the bike as you move you weight around. The alternative is to learn more trial riding skills which takes a lot of skill , strength and practice but only really works on very rough rocky hills. Some hills just can't be ridden up as they are too steep and loose.
  • cubextcubext Posts: 47
    As above... Also I find bringing my butt forward on the saddle..helps with weight balance between front and back (which you need to adjust as you feel the bike either coming up or loosing traction) and prob helps with power through the peddles (clips for peddle efficiency)
  • njee20njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Shuffle forward on the saddle, drop your elbows/wrists, pedal smoothly. Look ahead of your front wheel to anticipate line changes.
  • Levi_501Levi_501 Posts: 1,105
    Long stem, narrow bars and of course bar ends!
  • Gibbo3771Gibbo3771 Posts: 145
    Levi_501 wrote:
    Long stem, narrow bars and of course bar ends!

    Then when you get to the top of the hill, refit to a mountain bike setup and do the downhill...
  • BLWBLW Posts: 96
    Reading this with keen interest, I nearly made it up Adders Back Climb at Dalby yesterday but over shot one of the sharp right hand bends and had to stop and then struggled to get going again but somehow managed it, boy was I panting by the time I got to the top though.

    I’ve soon realised that trail riding really does take it out of you mentally and not just physically, you’ve got to be on the ball with everything all the time, what with you gears, your brakes, your lines, looking ahead of what’s coming up, the ground conditions, your balance, where your feet/pedals are….clearly all the things I can’t combine as yet lol… but I’ll get there in a fashion!
  • njee20njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Mmmm, I'm rubbish at left hand switchbacks whilst climbing. Very annoying!
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