Hills on single speed

[Annoying Twit]

I want to turn myself into a single speed hill climbing beast.

Looking at some hints online, it seems that most of the advice is about choosing the appropriate gear - not an option.

General hints are to practice hills, practice staying in the seat as it's more efficient, and learn to zig zag on the steepest bits.

Any additional advice? Some single speed specific suggestions?

I do a fair bit of exercise of different types. I can do a bit of hill climbing on the way to work, but the hills are short and I don't have the time to repeat them much. Will a VERY little bit of hill climbing done often have significant effects over a long time?

[531colin]

Attack the hill.
Keep on top of the gear....once you are windmilling, you've lost it.

[Annoying Twit]

Attack the hill.
Keep on top of the gear....once you are windmilling, you've lost it.

Thanks. What is 'windmilling' in this context?

EDIT: Attacked a hill on a short diversion on the way into work. Previously I had been walking on some of that hill, then progressed to standing out of the pedals. Today I stayed in the seat but found it easier than I thought, though I was puffing by the top. I need to find better hills.

[531colin]

Windmilling = turning like a windmill....ie slowly.
Attack the hill, keep on top of the gear = keep your cadence high. if you're not out of breath, you're not training.

[Si]

Don't stay in the saddle if the hill is getting the better of the gear you need power not efficiency. Also, being attached to the pedals helps so you can get power on the upstroke.
And like getting good at climbing on any other bike: The way to be fast up hills is to ride uphill fast...as often as possible. Simples.

[Vorpal]

I do a fair bit of exercise of different types. I can do a bit of hill climbing on the way to work, but the hills are short and I don't have the time to repeat them much. Will a VERY little bit of hill climbing done often have significant effects over a long time?

You are better off doing a couple of smallish hills every day than a big one one every week or two, if that's what you are asking. Best thing is to do both. Or take a detour a couple of times per week (maybe you have more time on your way home?) for a big hill.

[TonyR]

Curiously I find hills easier on a single speed than you might think. Knowing you've only got the one gear and there's nothing lower to change down into just makes you get on with it. I've surprised myself at what I've ridden up that I would have struggled with on a geared bike.

[Annoying Twit]

Thanks for the advice.

By staying in the saddle I mean finding hills that I can just manage by staying in the saddle so that they are challenging. I can do hills where I must get out of the saddle as well.

There are some hills that I find curiously easy on the single speed as well. But, there's a certain size of hill that stops me. If my cadence drops until I'm windmilling - then I'm in trouble. Though, I'm getting better at pushing through it. There were too many hills like that on the Audax I did. My legs seem adapted to any hill that I encounter on my day to day cycling. I want to find a way to push my legs + body further.

A number of smallish hills everyday is what is going to fit into my life. I can't afford to add whole new exercise sessions. I run & swim as well. So, it's going to be a matter of finding opportunities. I'm going to be cycling up this on Sunday going elsewhere: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.54781 ... 312!8i6656 It's worse in real life than it looks on google maps. Hopefully I'll feel up to repeating this hill a few times on the way. There's this one too, which again looks easier on google maps than it is in real life. A few reps instead of cycling through it once may be effective.

BTW: I'm getting out of breath after a few reps even on short (but steep) hills.

[661-Pete]

I suppose I have to ask the question: "why?"

Gears were invented to make it possible for us modest riders to get up hills. It's no shame to flip to a lower gear and cruise up the hill efficiently. Oh, I suppose some folks will never be persuaded: they must believe that cycling is meant to be a form of suffering or whatever....

Brings to my mind an incident about ten years ago, when I took part in a few nocturnal London-2-Brighton runs (aka "FNRTTC"). The then organiser, a dedicated forummer (not on this forum) posted a write-up in which he complained that, the thing that hurt him most about the run, was being "beaten up the Beacon by a pip-squeak on a fixie". He was referring, of course to the iconic Ditchling Beacon, which rears up before you like an impenetrable wall, a few miles from the finish. And the individual that pwned him on that climb was indeed what I'd call a pip-squeak, too....

As for me - I was on that same ride but I didn't beat anyone up the Beacon or anywhere else. I toiled up - on gears - in my usual snail's pace - and made it without getting off! That's good enough for me . I haven't attempted it since - gears or no gears: it'd probably kill me now.

Anyway, if you really wish to tackle such as DB on s/s - best of luck!

[Phileas]

I can't see why it matters particularly if you get out of the saddle or not. If you want to get very strong and fit, you have to ride hard frequently.
If the hill is long you have to pace yourself one way or another but it's not unusual to ride up a hill partly in and partly out of the saddle. If the gear is too high you have no choice but to get out of the saddle.

[Si]

I can't see why it matters particularly if you get out of the saddle or not.

'cos if you are riding a slope that is bigger than the gear and you stay sat then that annoying sound you hear is your knees popping! If you can't change down the only options are to stop or add more power - standing up gives more power.

Of course, if it's a slope suited to the gear then treat it just like a multi-geared bike and stand or sit as you prefer. And if it's a slope that is easily conquered by the gear then stay sat and spin.

[Annoying Twit]

I suppose I have to ask the question: "why?"

Gears were invented to make it possible for us modest riders to get up hills. It's no shame to flip to a lower gear and cruise up the hill efficiently. Oh, I suppose some folks will never be persuaded: they must believe that cycling is meant to be a form of suffering or whatever....

Well, unless you're lying on satin sheets in the back of a limo being fanned and fed grapes by lovelies of your preferred gender, then there's always going to be an easier way of doing it. Gears were invented to make it easier to get up hills. But then, engines were invented to make it even easier to get around. Why not have an electric bike, push the button, and away you go.

Also, part of what makes me want to turn myself into a hill-climbing beast is that later in the year I would like to be doing a half-marathon or marathon depending on how training goes. And if I don't get a marathon done this year, I certainly do want to next year. I believe that packing more power into my legs and getting used to pushing through barriers will be useful for me. And if I build better legs, won't that help me if I do ride a geared bike in the future (after acclimatisation)?

Finally, I got a lot of positive feedback from other riders about doing the audax I did on the single speed. Positive feedback and all that, it makes things more interesting and rewarding.

I can't see why it matters particularly if you get out of the saddle or not.

'cos if you are riding a slope that is bigger than the gear and you stay sat then that annoying sound you hear is your knees popping! If you can't change down the only options are to stop or add more power - standing up gives more power.

Of course, if it's a slope suited to the gear then treat it just like a multi-geared bike and stand or sit as you prefer. And if it's a slope that is easily conquered by the gear then stay sat and spin.

Sometimes I've lost speed, had to stand up, have been able to build up speed again, and been able to sit down again. Even without the slope decreasing.

[661-Pete]

Well, unless you're lying on satin sheets in the back of a limo being fanned and fed grapes by lovelies of your preferred gender, then there's always going to be an easier way of doing it. Gears were invented to make it easier to get up hills. But then, engines were invented to make it even easier to get around. Why not have an electric bike, push the button, and away you go.

I've never seen an electric bike attempt DB. Maybe it could take it, maybe it couldn't. Even I - no spring chicken - generally leave those monsters standing on the level at any rate. As I said before, my Beacon days are alas! long past.

I started life on singlespeed - that was the norm for kids' bikes back in the 1950s - and carried on through my teens: I think I was over 20 before I graduated to Sturmey-Archer, then finally to derailleurs. Since then, never looked back. I don't go with the adage that gears are there just to make it easier. They're there to make your cycling more efficient.

Anyway, enough said. Single-speed your way up any hill you like: Hard Knott ... Rosedale Chimney ... Bealach na Ba ... all beckon! After those, Ditchling will be a doddle!

[Annoying Twit]

I've never seen an electric bike attempt DB. Maybe it could take it, maybe it couldn't. Even I - no spring chicken - generally leave those monsters standing on the level at any rate. As I said before, my Beacon days are alas! long past.

I started life on singlespeed - that was the norm for kids' bikes back in the 1950s - and carried on through my teens: I think I was over 20 before I graduated to Sturmey-Archer, then finally to derailleurs. Since then, never looked back. I don't go with the adage that gears are there just to make it easier. They're there to make your cycling more efficient.

Anyway, enough said. Single-speed your way up any hill you like: Hard Knott ... Rosedale Chimney ... Bealach na Ba ... all beckon! After those, Ditchling will be a doddle!

Efficiency is important if your aim is to get from A to B with the minimum amount of energy expenditure and the minimum amount of effort. As soon as someone (such as myself) considers pushing their body to get fitter and/or burn calories, efficiency isn't important any more. I go out of my way to climb hills on even normal commuting journeys. Clearly that's very inefficient, but it's effective in pushing my body to become fitter and stronger and to burn calories. This is my thinking. You say that you 'graduated' to gears and more gears. In terms of riding for fitness, when I switched to single speed my thighs complained bitterly for a few days before they became used to it. (I live on a hill.) Personally in terms of riding for fitness, I feel that I 'stepped up' when I went from an 18 speed to the single speed.

Concerning e-bikes going up Ditchling Beacon. I failed to find it with a quick google, but there is a video out there where an amateur competes on a steep and long uphill against a veteran professional cyclist. (Maybe Dutch). On the first attempted, both were on normal bikes, and the veteran professional won easily. On the second attempt the amateur rode an 'electrically doped' bike with a hidden motor. The amateur on the doped bike left the veteran professional in the dust. I can't see any reason why an electric bike which doesn't have to hide its motor and battery (allowing both to be larger) running in pedal assist mode wouldn't be able to get up DB. Unfortunately I haven't cycled up DB myself (though I have been up it a few times), so can't be sure but why would they have a problem? You say you leave 'those monsters' sitting on the level. But most likely you're a fitter cyclist than the typical e-bike rider, and are probably deliberately riding faster than they choose to ride. How would you fare against an e-bike cyclist who is as fit and as motivated as you in a hill-climbing race?

[Phileas]

I can't see why it matters particularly if you get out of the saddle or not.

'cos if you are riding a slope that is bigger than the gear and you stay sat then that annoying sound you hear is your knees popping! If you can't change down the only options are to stop or add more power - standing up gives more power.

Which is essentially what I said.

My point was that if you have a choice (i.e. if the gear allows) then just ride how you want, either in or out of the saddle.