Stopping midway up a climb, Gearing, technique, or fitness?

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Comments

  • CRAIGO5000
    CRAIGO5000 Posts: 697
    Cadence is completely relevant? The op is talking about stopping up hills with an elevated hr. Grades which are around 6% and hes on a 39 ring?

    If for instance he's mashing at 50 rpm up a 6% grade, are you saying he won't get up that hill quicker with a 34 at a more comfortable cadence at the same fitness level?
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  • VamP
    VamP Posts: 674
    The OP may (or may not) benefit from expanding his gearing range. He could also do this by using a bigger sprocket at the back, and not risk messing up his front end shifting. But mainly he'd benefit from pacing himself better, and from increasing his fitness.

    It's quite a stretch though to suggest that doubles are now outdated :D

    And a misleading red herring to go on about climbing technique and cadence. If you are comfortable at 50rpm, then there is absolutely no reason why you shouldn't be able to ride up a hill well below your threshold at 50 rpm.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    CRAIGO5000 wrote:
    Cadence is completely relevant? The op is talking about stopping up hills with an elevated hr. Grades which are around 6% and hes on a 39 ring?

    If for instance he's mashing at 50 rpm up a 6% grade, are you saying he won't get up that hill quicker with a 34 at a more comfortable cadence at the same fitness level?

    At 50rpm in a 36 (which is what the O-symmetric is equivalent to) / 28 it's 5mph. Better off walking.
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  • frisbee
    frisbee Posts: 691
    Conversely if you are a bit of big gear grinder on the flat, suddenly dropping to your lowest gear and spinning like crazy at the first sniff of an incline can wipe out your legs and lungs. I have a tendency to do that when I get on a mountain bike.

    And its hard to recover from without stopping, you can't change to a lower gear...
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,124
    38x28 should be ok. You should be able to climb the whole thing en dansant.

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  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Try with lower gearing and see how you get on... you sound fit so it's worth trying out and it's not very expensive to change gear ratios. At least then you'll know if it's that.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    bobmcstuff wrote:
    Try with lower gearing and see how you get on... you sound fit so it's worth trying out and it's not very expensive to change gear ratios. At least then you'll know if it's that.

    Changing to a 34/28 will give an extra 5 rpm at 8.5mph. Hardly a big change.
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  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    CRAIGO5000 wrote:
    What is climbing technique?

    The ability to not slam into a huge gear and convince yourself this is the quickest method as your legs fill with lactic and your heartrate spikes when you know there's about 15 mins left.

    That's not 'technique' - it's just common sense. Technique is the application of a skill. As others have said, the bottom line is fitness.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,106
    My advice would be try not putting your foot down, I'm pretty certain this hill is within the OPs capability and it isn't steep enough to make gearing an issue given they already have a fairly low gear. I think determination is the missing ingredient in this case.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Alex99
    Alex99 Posts: 1,407
    CRAIGO5000 wrote:
    omg I keep running out of gearing all the time when I'm desending at 40+ mph for hours on end and cba to aero tuck.

    Said no one. Ever...

    You're sure of that are you?
  • philbar72
    philbar72 Posts: 2,229
    NapoleonD wrote:
    Wtf is 'climbing technique'

    Im sure it's a term created to click bait sportive riders into looking at an article or to buy a magazine.

    You ride your bike in a way that's comfortable to you.

    Bottom line is, it's fitness.

    Did my climbing technique improve when I lost 10kg and got a lot fitter? No. But I got a lot faster.

    this x 10000. except I didn't lose much weight but generate a lot more power nowadays. but its true, the fitter you are the less of an obstacle these pimples ( hills) are.

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