Question for bicycling enthusiasts

[iluvtofly 0]

So after getting back into my jumpsuit for the first time since November and busting a seam while climbing into the plane I decided I need to lose some major weight. So I've decided to start riding my bike to and from work with the exception of when I work night shifts.

My question is...what's the trick to going up hills? Even the smallest hill kills me and I've got some big hills to and from work. Is it just that I'm that out of shape (which I probably am ) or is there something I'm missing?

I've talked to people who have no problems going up much bigger hills then what I have to deal with and they don't seem to have any trouble (and the one person isn't much better off then I am when it comes to being out of shape).

Thanks for the help.

[PhreeZone 20]

What type of bike? Are you doing it in a low gear or a high gear?

All I know about bikes is that I frequently crash them and to go in as low of a gear as you can on big hills.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[Remster 30]

Use your gears!

What kind of bike do you have? Do you know how many speeds it has? If you are not sure, look at the chairn rings (thats the big cogs where the pedals are): there could be 1, 2 or 3 chain rings. Then look at the cassette (thats the little cogs close to the axle of the rear wheel). You could have anything from 1 to 10 cogs. Multiply the 2 numbers you got (2x9=18 for example) and thats rougly the number of speeds you have.

Assuming you have 2 chain rings, make sure you shift to the smaller one when you go up big hills. You do that by using your left hand shifter.

Anyway, let us know a bit more about your bike!

Remster

[ryoder 1,590]

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So after getting back into my jumpsuit for the first time since November and busting a seam while climbing into the plane ...

Where is the video?

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My question is...what's the trick to going up hills? Even the smallest hill kills me and I've got some big hills to and from work. Is it just that I'm that out of shape (which I probably am ) or is there something I'm missing?

Option:
a) Low enough gears that you can spin 70-90 rpm while staying in the saddle.
b) Stand up and pump the way bike racers do.

"b" doesn't need gears as low as "a", but requires stronger legs.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[Icon134 0]

I go down a hill then shortly there after go back up another hill to get to work... the only "trick" to climbing a hill is to use the lowest gear possible.

From there it's all about how hard you work... and as you get more fit it gets easier to climb the hills.

some of the hills I climb around here are tough.

Livin' on the Edge... sleeping with my rigger's wife...

[SLIDER 0]

The only way to better at riding hills is.............riding hills

"there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

[simplyputsi 0]

Yup, lower gears like everyone says.

So smalle gear up front, and then in the back it should be the larger gear or gear closest to the wheel. That is your lowest, and most won't use that. So maybe one down in the back, you'll find what works.

Biggest advice I can give though is realize that you will go no where near as fast up hills. So you might crawl up it at 5 or 6 mph, and you'll feel like you're standing still.
Standing up does use more leg muscle, and actually more energy. It has it's moments.
It's also about weight distribution. But that comes later.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[Remster 30]

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So smalle gear up front, and then in the back it should be the larger gear or gear closest to the wheel. That is your lowest, and most won't use that.

Why wouldnt you?

I dont want to get the OP all confused, but the one combo you shouldnt use is small front / small back because of deraileur geometry. Large front / large back isnt great either.

But the lowest gear available, small front / large back is definatly a gear one should use if they need it.

Remster

[simplyputsi 0]

Well, I make assumptions when I say most won't use it. Most hills don't warrant the use of it, and if they do, well they are more than your average roller. I gather she isn't going up substancial hills, but I could be wrong.
If one needs to use it, by all means use it though.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[ryoder 1,590]

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Well, I make assumptions when I say most won't use it. Most hills don't warrant the use of it, and if they do, well they are more than your average roller. I gather she isn't going up substancial hills, but I could be wrong.
If one needs to use it, by all means use it though.

Come out here to CO and I'll take you on a some rides.
The ride I do every other day has 2000' of climbs, and one of the hills hits 14% (according to my GPS unit).

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[simplyputsi 0]

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Quote

Well, I make assumptions when I say most won't use it. Most hills don't warrant the use of it, and if they do, well they are more than your average roller. I gather she isn't going up substancial hills, but I could be wrong.
If one needs to use it, by all means use it though.

Come out here to CO and I'll take you on a some rides.
The ride I do every other day has 2000' of climbs, and one of the hills hits 14% (according to my GPS unit).

14%, that's it???

Actually the hill I have to climb to get back to my house is rather steep, it's probably over 14% but it's a short climb.
Right now i'm pretty sure any hill would kick my bootie. Give me a few months though.

Skymama's #2 stalker -

[ryoder 1,590]

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14%, that's it???

Actually the hill I have to climb to get back to my house is rather steep, it's probably over 14% but it's a short climb.
Right now i'm pretty sure any hill would kick my bootie. Give me a few months though.

Well, if you want more hill, how about this:

http://www.dropzone.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2920063;search_string=Mike%20Horgan%20Hill%20Climb;#2920063

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[piratemike 0]

Quote

So after getting back into my jumpsuit for the first time since November and busting a seam while climbing into the plane I decided I need to lose some major weight. So I've decided to start riding my bike to and from work with the exception of when I work night shifts.

My question is...what's the trick to going up hills? Even the smallest hill kills me and I've got some big hills to and from work. Is it just that I'm that out of shape (which I probably am ) or is there something I'm missing?

I've talked to people who have no problems going up much bigger hills then what I have to deal with and they don't seem to have any trouble (and the one person isn't much better off then I am when it comes to being out of shape).

Thanks for the help.

Okay, hills.
So, the property of cadence in cycling usually refers to the speed that you pedal the bike. Most people pedal between 70 and 90 rpm.

The trick to hills, is to start by getting a cadence measuring bike computer(they aren't expensive). Figure out what your comfortable pedaling speed is. Lets say 70 rpm. So, when you get to a hill, down shift to the point where you are pedaling at the same speed as when you are on flat ground. You will be moving slower, but that is fine. Keep that 70 rpm up. It would even be okay to down shift to a gear where you are pedaling faster than 70 rpm.

Another trick to use for hills(and for long distance biking) is to only pedal between 12 and 3.
That is, if you consider the top of the pedal sweep 12, concentrate on only pushing on that pedal from the top to about the 3 position(45 deg past 12). This is a difficult thing to do, but it will save you energy.

[Remster 30]

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Another trick to use for hills(and for long distance biking) is to only pedal between 12 and 3.
That is, if you consider the top of the pedal sweep 12, concentrate on only pushing on that pedal from the top to about the 3 position(45 deg past 12). This is a difficult thing to do, but it will save you energy.

That seems very conter intuitive.

I have been trying to round out my pedal stroke, and definatly in hills, I get better perfornce if I apply energy to as much of the cycle as possible.

Remster

[piratemike 0]

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Quote

Another trick to use for hills(and for long distance biking) is to only pedal between 12 and 3.
That is, if you consider the top of the pedal sweep 12, concentrate on only pushing on that pedal from the top to about the 3 position(45 deg past 12). This is a difficult thing to do, but it will save you energy.

That seems very conter intuitive.

I have been trying to round out my pedal stroke, and definatly in hills, I get better perfornce if I apply energy to as much of the cycle as possible.

It is counter intuitive.

So the purpose of the 12-3 thing is to increase efficiency, not performance. The muscles you use, particularly to pull up on the pedal aren't very efficient muscles. You burn through more energy per unit work.
So, pedaling through the whole stroke gives you a better performance(a lot more power), but you burn thorough a lot more energy.

[Remster 30]

Fair enough! I wouldnt recomment a new ridder to try to round the stroke anyway, but now I get what you were saying.

Remster

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

From: dblake@popper.ucsf.edu (David T. Blake)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Spinning, and shifting to "diesel mode"
Date: 13 Jul 2000 22:27:45 GMT

Eric Salathe wrote:

> Most long grades are only 6%, which is horizontal as far as the
> gravitational vector on the body, so why must the biomechanics change?

There is a change in the force:velocity relationship duty cycle
climbing compared to riding flats. On flats, the wind resistance
is close to constant enough that pedalling very unevenly has no
penalty.

On the hills, it is quite to the contrary. Smooth pedalling
leads to nearly constant velocity and acceleration up the hill.
The pedals actually push back at you during dead spots in
climbing. The force on the pedals is proportional to the
velocity. The requirement of a minimal pedalling force through
the dead spots is significant - especially on steeper climbs.

You can easily see that people who do not train in the hills
might very well be poorly adapted to climbing, and assume a very
different pedal stroke.


--
Dave Blake
dblake@phy.ucsf.edu

Ref: http://yarchive.net/bike/spinning.html

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[ryoder 1,590]

"CYCLING PERFORMANCE TIPS - Hills/Climbing Tips"

http://www.cptips.com/climb.htm

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[billvon 3,070]

>what's the trick to going up hills?

1) Low gears. Your lowest gear is when the chain is on the smallest front chainring and the biggest back gear.

2) Lower gears. You can replace your rear cluster pretty easily to get lower gears. You can go to a triple chainring up front (which adds a 'granny gear') but that takes a little more work since you have to change the derailer. A bike shop can do either one for you.

3) High cadence. Most beginning bikers stay in way too low a cadence while climbing. Your feet should be spinning faster than 60 times a minute. (As a guide, if you think they're going way too fast, that's probably about right.)

4) Basic maintenance. Your wheels and bottom bracket (the bar between the pedals) should spin freely without binding up or making all sorts of noise. Your tires should be inflated as high as is safe (look at your tire sidewall for the highest pressure allowed.) Your brakes should not contact the wheels if you're not using them.

[iluvtofly 0]

I'm pretty sure it's a mountain bike. It's got 21 gears. I've tried the really low gears. I guess my biggest problem is how out of shape I am.

[Broke 0]

Toe clips, low gears, and spin the fuck out of them

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[billvon 3,070]

> Toe clips . . .

I don't recommend clips (or clipless pedals, which of course are the ones _with_ clips) for new riders. They're not hard to learn to use, but the danger of not being able to get out of the clip outweighs the small efficiency gains when you're starting out. IMO of course.

[Broke 0]

Quote

> Toe clips . . .

I don't recommend clips (or clipless pedals, which of course are the ones _with_ clips) for new riders. They're not hard to learn to use, but the danger of not being able to get out of the clip outweighs the small efficiency gains when you're starting out. IMO of course.

I have never hap problems with toe clips, and also for the newer rider there is the cost benefit ratio there. Is a new rider going to chunk down 50 to 100 for a pair of clipless pedals, as well as chunking down another 50 to 100 on shoes. Whereas toe clips cost like 5USD

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[wmw999 2,534]

If your feet aren't big, you can use toe clips without the straps (well, it could be that straps are passe now anyway -- my bike is the same age as my adult son). Then your feet come out easily, and you get some (though not all) of the benefits of toe clips.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)