Rosedale Chimneyfoxyrider wrote:There are lots of things that influence our concept of how hard a climb is, some is subjective, some influenced by weather/season/fitness.
Certainly a climb can be harder for one rider than another - even if their fitness level is similar so it's not a fixed thing. We can certainly grade climbs by length/metres gained/max grade etc which will give an indication of difficulty but can throw up some anomalies - a short steep hill may score similar to a longer less steep climb that gains more height. Having ridden over some of the biggest Alpine passes I can certainly attest to this.
For example Holme Moss, the iconic Yorkshire climb is measured from a point above Holme village where wind rather than grade is the bogey but the climb really starts down in Holmfirth, the grades on the lower slopes enough to kill off TdF riders in 2014! Then of course a hill on a stripped road bike will probably be easier than the same on a loaded tourer even with higher gearing
As far as the UK is concerned Rosedale Chimney is a climb which I consider top of the list - grade/surface alone make it difficult, the bends add to the difficulty and the lack of run in raises the bar further.
Whilst on the CTC Birthday Rides I rode up this climb on a touring bike.
I was in 28 x 28 gear. When on one of the bend I notice something was not quite right with my rear derailleur.
I stopped and inspected it and saw that around the rivets on the body cracks had appeared.
Fearing the gear could go in the wheel in change to 28 x 24 remounted and carriers on.
I was using SPD pedals
I wonder if I could do that now?