Hi
Is there a simple answer to this question? It seems to me that if you want to go faster uphill you have to put in a whole lot more effort to go what seems like not too much faster! It seems to me that the steeper the gradient is the more potential there is to "waste" a whole lot of energy going a just a tiny bit faster, and possibly pay a heavy price in terms of the rest of the ride.
Take a bike/rider combination that weighs 85kg riding up a 10% gradient. If the rider produces 300W and is climbing comfortably he (or she) goes up the hill at x speed. So, what if our rider decides to work much harder and manages to push out one third as much power on top, 400W, will the rider's new speed up the hill also be x plus 33.3%?
What if the same rider decided this is a do or die climb and manages to squeeze out 500W in an eyeballs out effort? Will the rider now go up 66.6% faster?
I'm sure the answer is obvious to many but I'd like to know the actual facts of the matter and also does the power to climbing speed relationship hold true for any gradient?
Thanks for any help, just seems to me that if I ease back on my efforts on hills I don't go up much slower and have much more energy left for the rest of the course! I appreciate of course that easing off a bit is not an option if you need to hold onto the back of a pack!
Thanks.
PBUK
Is there a simple answer to this question? It seems to me that if you want to go faster uphill you have to put in a whole lot more effort to go what seems like not too much faster! It seems to me that the steeper the gradient is the more potential there is to "waste" a whole lot of energy going a just a tiny bit faster, and possibly pay a heavy price in terms of the rest of the ride.
Take a bike/rider combination that weighs 85kg riding up a 10% gradient. If the rider produces 300W and is climbing comfortably he (or she) goes up the hill at x speed. So, what if our rider decides to work much harder and manages to push out one third as much power on top, 400W, will the rider's new speed up the hill also be x plus 33.3%?
What if the same rider decided this is a do or die climb and manages to squeeze out 500W in an eyeballs out effort? Will the rider now go up 66.6% faster?
I'm sure the answer is obvious to many but I'd like to know the actual facts of the matter and also does the power to climbing speed relationship hold true for any gradient?
Thanks for any help, just seems to me that if I ease back on my efforts on hills I don't go up much slower and have much more energy left for the rest of the course! I appreciate of course that easing off a bit is not an option if you need to hold onto the back of a pack!
Thanks.
PBUK