Questions tagged [climbing]
Questions referring to the art and practice of riding up inclines.
65 questions
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How to achieve 24t-38t front chainrings
After staring at many a graph and crunching far too many numbers, I've concluded that a 2x, 24-38t chainring setup would provide the best gear ratios for me. I bike near the edge of a valley with ...
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Nausea during high altitude cycling climbs
Please accept my apology if this question is not related to this forum, but I am desperate to find the solution of my problem. I have a great interest in cycling climbs. However, I have a problem: ...
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Power output changes with gradient
Parallel question to this one: How does a cyclist's power output vary as gradient changes (assuming constant effort), compared to a baseline of cycling flat?
I'll state some of the obvious things:
...
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Power and climbing speed
I live somewhere very, very flat (bridges are the biggest hills around) and I'm planning some hilly routes for a bike holiday. I have a decent idea of how much power I can produce, but less sure how ...
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What features do i look for when shopping for a new xc mtb
I'm currently shopping for my biggest bicycle purchase yet. I have purchased two new bicycles in the past but both have been under $700. I'm looking more in the $2000 range and believe that an XC MTB ...
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Can a lightweight cyclist climb better than the heavier one by producing less power?
I guess it's possible because on the climbs you need to beat gravity more than the wind resistance but is there a formula to calculate how much the weight of the rider affect the climbing performance?
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Resources to find climbs by gradient [closed]
We're planning to try two variants of a bike¹ for prolonged test rides, and would like to seek out some climbs to determine which variant we will buy. The questions we want to answer in those test ...
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Maximum cassette size for 24 inch wheel and 20 inch wheel
I think 42 teeth is the maximum cassette size for a 20” bike. I built my son a 20” bike with 2.125” tyres and an 11-42T cassette driven by a Box 4 derailleur and 32 tooth chainring, and it works ...
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Advice needed to upgrade my groupset to make climbing easier
I have a Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8.0 Ultegra Di2 2020 with a rear 11/30 cassette and a 52/36 chain ring. It has a short cage rear derailleur (Ultegra Di2 R8050 SS short cage). I do long distance cycling ...
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Best handlebars for long steep hills?
I am looking for the best handlebars for climbing long steep hills (around 22km).
As part of the challenge I will be riding a fixed gear so drop bars with hoods are not an option.
I can't find ...
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What help can the domestiques provide on mountain climbs?
Why is Primož Roglič reported to have assisted Jonas Vingegaard in gaining three minutes over Tadej Pogačar during yesterday’s Tour de France 2022 Stage 11, and why would Pogačar
ask for the help of ...
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What makes a bike good or bad for climbing?
For example, is this a good climbing bike?
Can I have your general thoughts about the bike geometry? I know it is an aero frame but do you think it would be also good for climbing?
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What is most important for making biking uphill easy?
I learned how to ride a bike 6 years ago but the only bike I’ve had is a city one which I use for commuting 3km every day to work but also to go to lakes ~20-25km away one-way on Weekends which is the ...
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Should I climb out of the saddle?
I'm sure a question like this must have been asked before but I can't seem to find it.
Should one learn to climb out of the saddle? I have heard that if the climb is steep enough, then at some point ...
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Is it best to attack the flat before a hill?
...or is the extra energy used to overcome the exponentially increased air resistance on the flat best saved for overcoming gravity on the hill, when the air resistance penalty is much lower? Does ...
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Are there any route planning/mapping apps or websites that can show a chart of cumulative ascent?
Strava and Ride With GPS both show elevation charts, but they show elevation at any particular point in the ride, i.e. on a circular route with 2000m of climbing the charts will go up and down but ...
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How accurate are altimeters in bike computers?
I bought a bike computer with a pressure-based altimeter (Sigma 14.16 STS). It gives gradient of current hill with 1% resolution, current altitude with 1 meter resolution, and total climbed amount ...
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Pendulum motion when riding out of the saddle
When riding out of the saddle, you will often have to rock the bike laterally for stability.
My question is: how do most people synchronise this pendulum motion with their pedal stroke?
In which ...
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Low heart rate on climb
After trying the local "Hill" I was surprised to see my heart rate dropped substantially despite subjectively putting in a lot of effort. How can I maintain constant cardiovascular effort to all the ...
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Estimating climbing speed on climbs with variable grade
There are numerous calculators online which estimate climbing speed based on power and grade or similar. For example:
http://bikecalculator.com/
https://www.gribble.org/cycling/power_v_speed.html
...
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How hard is this climb and how long should i be taking? [closed]
This was my first attempt at this route on my several year old Avanti Giro 1.0. Ive just started riding again after quite a few years and am h
https://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/3796895674
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Uphill riding hard for me
New to riding what is the best way to ride going uphill? I live on a hill going down is fine but I have a hill to get to the main road.
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How to improve climbing speed [duplicate]
new cyclist here. I've recently started riding and have worked my way up to a 50K in 2 hours 24 minutes, averaging 21 km/h. I noticed that I really wasn't able to carry my speed through climbs and ...
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Preparing for Alpine riding
The general question: What should a reasonably fit cyclist do to prepare for alpine riding, and what adjustments should be made in route planning?
In my case I can do rides of 250 km+ with 3000&...
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Climbing techique with panniers and cleats
In the last year I started using cleats (2 bolts SPD) on my touring bike, which I often use with rear panniers on biking holiday (travelled about 2000 km with this set up).
The struggle I have is ...
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Climbing or aero bike for a light rider?
What is the better choice for a lightweight rider (173cm - 48 kg), lightweight climbing bike to get even bigger edge when climbing, or an aero bike to catch up the speed in the flat road?
Obviously I ...
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Which rear cog should I remove if I want to add a 26 for climbing?
I have an old road bike with 53-39 rings and 13-23 cassette. Although it's generally flat in my area, I like to get to the top of these hills where they put the radio antennas (without dying). Max ...
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Is there a website which lists all the climbs? [closed]
I love to ride uphill with my road bike and the longer the climbs are the better. I want to build a "climbs to ride up before I die" list. What websites should I used to build such a list? I'am aware ...
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Fastest way to get faster up hill
There's a 2.4km, fairly gentle hill near me which I want to get quite a bit faster on.
The traditional answer to my question is likely to be 'Go up the hill more often', but I also have a turbo ...
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How should a competitive cyclist approach hills?
In this answer Daniel wrote,
Mostly what ChrisW said. If you want to become a competitive cyclist you might want to do it differently, but if your goal is simply to enjoy your cycling while ...
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Will heavy tires make a difference for climbing?
I have a pair of conti 4 seasons and a pair of marathon pluses. I use the latter on a daily basis for commuting because of their puncture resistance, and haven't used the contis in a while now. I will ...
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What is the best way to improve my cycling distance over mountainous terrain?
So for years I've been doing long distance biking from my home on my mountain bike, and recently I've been trying to push north into the Hudson Valley. However, even though I'm pretty decent at ...
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Does a spinning class fixed wheel bike affect real world form?
I just had my first spinning class and hadn't realised it was going to be a fixed gear bike, when the instructor was asking us to get out of the saddle (or half out) the necessary technique felt very ...
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Gear Inches Optimal For Steep Hill Climbs
As I've gotten more into road biking, I've realized I really like climbing mountains. These climbs vary between 6-15% gradient usually and go for anywhere between 5-20 miles. I am wondering if I ...
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Is it possible to avoid anaerobic 'burn' on ascents?
As a total noob to cycling the thing that really kills me is hills steep enough I get into anaerobic territory. My general fitness lets me cycle for hours without really getting tired even working ...
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What cadence saves power when climbing?
I'm doing some amateur climbing with a hybrid bike up on a road and I have the following question:
How am I going to save more power - having a lower gear but spinning faster in order to maintain ...
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Improve my riding experience [closed]
I'm new to cycling and I've got a borrowed, older, road bike. I believe it's a 10 speed, with 700 series tires. From what I've been told it was a very expensive bike in the 90's. I'm training for my ...
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How to improve my climbing? [duplicate]
I can ride on flat at high gears all day without a problem I usually go way faster that most of riders. But once it comes to hills I die... My heart beat rate jump up my stamina go away and I get ...
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What's the proper technique for starting uphill?
I am a beginner cyclist, having not learned how ride a bike as a kid, I've started riding from scratch 3 months ago. Local "bike buddies" have helped a lot.
I'd like to ride my bike to work, which is ...
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Better tyres for Cannondale Bad Boy?
90 % I bike off road, but easy and lazy, but 2 3 times a year I go seriously up hills I mean Ventoux and that kind of stuff. I would like then to use tires that are somewhat more effective. Since I ...
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One Month to Build Endurance
I've got a seven day cycling session in the Alps coming up in about a month. Unfortunately, I've not been great about getting on the bike in the past month (or even the past year, to be honest). From ...
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Is 11- 34 rear cassette necessary?
I have a road bike with a compact crank and 11-25 rear cassette(9 rings) at the moment. And my local climb is 35k long with an incline between 10- 30%. I really struggle with it. I have to stop like 5-...
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What should I plan for on a sea-to-summit ride on Mauna Kea, Hawaii?
I've driven up to the visitor station but not up to the summit - what are the road conditions like beyond the visitor station, where can you refill water, and should I prepare for anything beyond a ...
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will increasing cadence ability hurt my climbing strength?
I tend to spin rather slow when I am riding. 50rpm is a comfortable rate for me to spin for as long as I want to ride. 90rpm seems to be the rate at which I expend maximum power... I can't spin this ...
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Great/Classic climbs near Lausanne
Are there any "classic", highly regarded, or even little known gem climbs around Lausanne - within range of Lausanne, maybe maximum 60-80 km out so it could be ridden in a day with Lausanne as a base, ...
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What's the lowest safe cadence on a climb?
I recently installed a power meter and just used it to get up some rather steep 15%+ climbs.
At my weight and lowest gearing (34f 30r) at a sustainable power level for my fitness (225w) this ...
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How do I train for climbing in a relatively flat area?
How do you best train for climbs in a flat area? I am aiming to tackle some UK climbs in N. Yorks and the Lakes come autumn but I only have access to the flat local countryside at the moment. I don’...
user12879
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Can I modify the gearing on a 2009 Jamis Aurora?
I have a stock 2009 Jamis Aurora.
I'm looking to modify my gear set-up to make climbing hills with large loads a little easier on my knees, as I constantly find myself wishing I had one or more low ...
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How can I prevent or mitigate the front wheel coming off the ground when climbing steep hills?
On one of my bicycles (a 2012 Trek Madone 4.7), when climbing very steep hills, I have had problems with the front wheel coming off the ground. This creates an extremely dangerous situation because ...
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Does weight and climbing cause strain on bike?
I‘m a heavy (260 pound) male rider using my 2011 NORCO 24 gear hybrid to commute to and from work. It’s a 6 mile trip each way with a +450 foot climb in the last 2-3 miles coming home. The ride is all ...
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