How to get better on hills....

[TrevA]

Strange how this is posted in Health and Fitness, yet most of the solutions proposed are bike-related. You can improve your climbing by losing weight (if you are overweight to start with) and by simply doing more climbing. Try different techniques - pedalling fast in a small gear, pushing a bigger gear, to see which is better. Or go hard at the bottom and try to hang on to your speed, or take it easy to start then push on further up.

I have a bike with a triple chainset - 52 - 39 -30 and 11-28 on the back. I live in a reasonably hilly area but try to not use the 30 ring unless i'm climbing anything steeper than 10%. It's nice to have it there, but I find I climb better when I have a bit if resistance to push against.

I'm not good on hills, but I try to find ways of making myself less bad. I need to lose weight to become better, but it's not easy!

Edited for typo.

[meic]

Strange how this is posted in Health and Fitness,

Probably because many of us dont pay much attention to where a thread is posted, especially if you are in the habit of using the "new posts" function.

[mjr]

Strange how this is posted in Health and Fitness, yet most of the solutions proposed are bike-related. You can improve your climbing by losing weight (if you are overweight to start with) and by simply doing more climbing. Try different techniques - pedalling fast in a small gear, pushing a bigger gear, to see which is better. Or go hard at the bottom and try to hang on to your speed, or take it easy to start then push on further up.

+1 to the above and to mix-and-matching them. Ride up lots of hills. Try to learn to recognise when you're about to blow up and need to act. Try to find your "forever pace" where you could ride up each hill at that speed forever. Try to spot when it's time to change down comfortably, before your cadence gets so low it'll strain the mechanisms changing gear and probably mean that you're then mashing the new gear too. Finally, try to learn when it's time to give it a final effort to either get to a brow, or just before you stop, breathe for a bit, have a drink, get off and start walking. Like Chris Boardman said, "Having to walk just means, a) you learned something about bikes, or b) you are pushing yourself to do something challenging. Either way, in my book, that’s a win."

[Bmblbzzz]

I think it's all been said, but: You can make your bike better at getting up hills by making it lighter and giving it lower gears so you can sit and spin. You can make yourself better at getting up hills by making yourself lighter and by riding more hills in higher gears - not so high your knees are going to explode or your heart's going to burst, but high enough that it's a real effort. Then you can use the lower gears when it's necessary, but because you've built up strength, it won't be necessary so much.

[mediumbird]

So......I was recommended a cycle mechanic to try in Edinburgh re my gearing. No problem, he can easily help me get my bike more hill ready for me. Just back from a wee 40 mile trip and it was a transformation! I am still not fast going up hills but my heart rate and breathing were no longer through the roof! Also have a great range of gears in my large crank as well. All that he changed was my rear cassette and chain to do that(but he also checked over and greased/lubed everything he felt needing done). I now have an 11-32 cassette as opposed to 12-27 I had(not 12-28 that I thought). For anyone in Edinburgh area I can highly recommend him. He's just set himself up and works from home through Facebook and word of mouth. He worked for 4 years as a cycle mechanic under the guru Sandy Gilchrist, so he definitely knows his stuff. Jbcyclesolutions for anyone that is interested. St Malo to Nice and Mt Ventoux here we come

[LollyKat]

Great result!

[Vorpal]

Glad to hear

[ianrobo]

Try to find your "forever pace" where you could ride up each hill at that speed forever. "

totally agree, even if you feel it is too slow it means you get up in comfort. If you do not measure HR or power, just climb where you feel you can speak reasonably comfortably up a hill. I have done high mountains but I still follow this rule, so even at the top of the Galibier I still can chat to the guy I was riding with for the last bit. If you go into the 'red' for whatever limit it is, it is simply not possible to recover it.