What is the hardest climb in the UK?

Moonbiker

This one?

https://www.strava.com/segments/3618354

mrb123

Great Dun Fell or Hardknott for me.

I'd probably say GDF just edges it as it goes on for so long with probably about 4 nasty steep sections in total. Hardknott is brutally steep but at least the misery is fairly short lived.

dodgy

Hardknott, more so when combined with Wrynose.

shamrock134

Hardknott is the hardest climb I've done in the UK.

The combination of steep gradient, poor road surface and narrowness make it a hard slog. It's the only climb where I felt a 34-25 wasn't enough. Averaged 58rpm for the segment!

sloppyschleckonds

I took a girlfriend to Wales once, to Bangor

kiteloopy

I've never been able to get up Streatley Hill

cgfw201

Boltby Bank was toughest I've been up, though admittedly haven't tried a lot of the tough ones. Only time I've had to dismount on a climb. Bloody steep.

Garry H

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

I took a girlfriend to Wales once, to Bangor

and didn't you have a lovely time...

shimanobottombracket

shamrock134 wrote:

Hardknott is the hardest climb I've done in the UK.

The combination of steep gradient, poor road surface and narrowness make it a hard slog. It's the only climb where I felt a 34-25 wasn't enough. Averaged 58rpm for the segment!

On my MTB I sometimes have a hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground going up some trails. Is this ever an issue for road bikes on the likes of Hardknott?

mrb123

ShimanoBottomBracket wrote:

shamrock134 wrote:

Hardknott is the hardest climb I've done in the UK.

The combination of steep gradient, poor road surface and narrowness make it a hard slog. It's the only climb where I felt a 34-25 wasn't enough. Averaged 58rpm for the segment!

On my MTB I sometimes have a hard time keeping the front wheel on the ground going up some trails. Is this ever an issue for road bikes on the likes of Hardknott?

On the steepest sections of Hardknott you'll almost inevitably be out of the saddle on a road bike so the problem tends to be rear wheel slippage, particularly if it's wet/greasy.

jimboyle1967

Bealach-na-Ba near Applecross in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Tough, tough, tough.

sloppyschleckonds

Box Hill

alex222

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Box Hill

Beat me to it

PTestTeam

This question all depends on how hard you go up them

vinnymarsden

Hardknott, followed by Wrynose...both tough..both ascents and descents.... Lots of "little testers" here in the Peak district too!!!

svetty

Hardknott is hard but provided you take your time and don't go into the red it is reasonably OK. Boltby is surprisingly tough I have to say. Many cobbled climbs around West Yorkshire are pretty difficult too...

mamil314

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Box Hill

You say that, but try sub 6 and it is, suddenly, not smooth sailing.

bompington

mamil314 wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Box Hill

You say that, but try sub 6 and it is, suddenly, not smooth sailing.

Not only that, but if you try it into a headwind, with your brakes on, towing a trailer with a two year-old and a large labrador, after a monumental night out...

... or alternatively, we could try and compare the climbs - hard enough given that there are different factors that make up difficulty, and they will affect different people in different ways - without throwing in extra confusions.

webboo

Mutation Raven Tor

step83

Hardest Ive done was Porlock, one I dread most if Lidlington by me, not mega steep just hard because its stop start, pulling away on a 12% gradient isn't fun.

pblakeney

PTestTeam wrote:

This question all depends on how hard you go up them

This. Very definitely. And gears. I did a tour of the Pyrenees this year. Every climb was relatively easy, because I paced myself and had easy gears (34x29).

shaunclaridge

kiteloopy wrote:

I've never been able to get up Streatley Hill

I have a sprinters body so anything above 25% is pretty much a no go.

I honestly dont think Streatley is too bad. I could get up that with my compact when I was 18 stone... its 'orrible, but its doable.

I found Hardnott a tough walk ...that was with a triple and deore long mech/large cassette.... its completely brutal from the first ramp. I kept remounting but in reality I walked the majority of it. I dont think Wrynose compares. I got 99% of the way up it before bottling it when the front wheel lifted.

I would like to make special mention for Bushcombe lane near Cheltenham... I never see it mentioned in these polls but it is over 30 % for quite a while and it has a few bends which are bloody impossible. You can also only see a few yards ahead and its got false flats ... killer.

There is another hill between Cheddar gorge and Bristol which is up there for me - its on a really nasty, tight, fast stretch of road too which adds a level of torture as you have fast moving traffic to contend with who very much dont want to have to stop behind you for a hill start. Ive done it twice on Lejogs now and would like to know the name if anyone can narrow it down?

roger_merriman

PBlakeney wrote:

PTestTeam wrote:

This question all depends on how hard you go up them

This. Very definitely. And gears. I did a tour of the Pyrenees this year. Every climb was relatively easy, because I paced myself and had easy gears (34x29).

Gearing and pacing, can flatten most hard hills, when out on knobblies and linking fun stuff with lanes, low gears and relaxed pace means that hills that on the roadie would be a bit of a swine are reduced to sit and spin.

EarlofBarnet

Hardknott is horrible. Particularly after 90 miles on the Fred Whitton. Saying that I've rode it after 20 miles and it was no better.

I've not rode Wrynose from the Ambleside side, but can imagine that's not nice either!

First.Aspect

jimboyle1967 wrote:

Bealach-na-Ba near Applecross in the North West Highlands of Scotland. Tough, tough, tough.

Not even close. Fab climb, relentless at the top, but there's nothing to throw you of a rhythm.

The hardest I've found in Scotland is here: https://www.strava.com/segments/615848 First 1.5km are savage, everything else lost in the delirium.

GDF is the hardest I've found in the UK. There's just not a nice way to get up it.

Although I've managed to avoid the Lakes, my hunch is that the nasty looking climbs are rendered truly awful by having to climb several of them in one ride.

kiteloopy

shaunclaridge wrote:

I have a sprinters body so anything above 25% is pretty much a no go.

I honestly dont think Streatley is too bad. I could get up that with my compact when I was 18 stone... its 'orrible, but its doable

Really? now I feel bad. :oops:
27...peak ironman fitness... with 34x28 and I still couldn't get past the house entrance on left. :oops: :oops:

I slow down have have to unclip & it's game over from thereon in.

overlord2

Wrynose from Coniston.
Fleet Moss from Hawes is a bit of a sod.

meanredspider

kiteloopy wrote:

shaunclaridge wrote:

I have a sprinters body so anything above 25% is pretty much a no go.

I honestly dont think Streatley is too bad. I could get up that with my compact when I was 18 stone... its 'orrible, but its doable

Really? now I feel bad. :oops:
27...peak ironman fitness... with 34x28 and I still couldn't get past the house entrance on left. :oops: :oops:

I slow down have have to unclip & it's game over from thereon in.

I think this is most of what "hardest" is about: the absolute gradient. I've not been stopped by any hill I could actually pedal on: what stops me is when I simply can't get the bike to move quick enough to stay upright. That's usually combined with trying to keep the front wheel on the ground. Shorter gears don't help you if you're going too slow to keep the bike upright.

pinno

shaunclaridge wrote:

kiteloopy wrote:

I've...Hill

I would like to make special mention for Bushcombe lane near Cheltenham... I never see it mentioned in these polls but it is over 30 % for quite a while and it has a few bends which are bloody impossible. You can also only see a few yards ahead and its got false flats ... killer.

I can vouch for that. I once got some grit trapped in between the brake block and the rim going down the damn thing. I did stay on but it was hairy. That last 50 yds is brutal.

Can I mention Butts Lane, Eastbourne and the other end of the country from Spittal of Glenshee all the way up on the A95 to the ski centre. As it's a valley, if you get a headwind, it's murder and relentless.

sloppyschleckonds

mamil314 wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Box Hill

You say that, but try sub 6 and it is, suddenly, not smooth sailing.

6 minutes lol

pblakeney

Pinno wrote:

...and the other end of the country from Spittal of Glenshee all the way up on the A95 to the ski centre. As it's a valley, if you get a headwind, it's murder and relentless.

I thought that was rather unspectacular. Overtaking cars on the way back down on the other hand... But I was much younger and even more stupid then. Bunny hopping a cattle grid at @ 55mph rather sticks in the mind. :shock: