Going up hills, Do you Spin or Mash ?

[slyjackson]

I know this may have been asked before, but I want to get a good idea of which to do. On a fairly steep hill which combo would you use, 30/25 , 42/25 or 52/25 ? or should I be using a 23 or 21 instead?

I tried the first combo of 30/25 and it just burned me out "spinning like crazy" and going no where fast. I figure it may be best to just "Mash" em and get it over with than to sit there "spinning" and prolonging the agony.So there has to be formula to this and I want to know what you guys use as a combo to get up those steep hills. Thanks in advance.

 

[Scotty_Dog]

No one knows:
A) what exactly a "fairly steep hill" really is
B) your fitness level
C) your exact gearing
D) your normal cadence

There is no magical formula for every possible variation of % grade, rider fitness, gearing, cadence, etc. Therefore, use the gear combo that you can comfortably maintain for the duration of the hill.

 

[Kinema]

use the gear combo that you can comfortably maintain for the duration of the hill.

Thats what i do, nice and simple lol

 

[LewisBricktop]

i hate spinning. if i get below 53/23, i jump up 2-3 cogs and stand

 

[slyjackson]

No one knows:
A) what exactly a "fairly steep hill" really is
B) your fitness level
C) your exact gearing
D) your normal cadence

There is no magical formula for every possible variation of % grade, rider fitness, gearing, cadence, etc. Therefore, use the gear combo that you can comfortably maintain for the duration of the hill.

a) 20 -25 degrees
b) I think I'm in good shape, but everyone thinks that they are in great shape
c) 12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23,25 / 30,42,52
d) 78-85

I think what you are saying is, find a gear combo that allows me to stay within my cadence while going up the hill right? I think the 30T/23 and 25 is out of being considered. I spin like a mad man and creep up. I will try the 42T/23 or 25 today. I might even try the 52T/23 or 25 tomorrow as well.

I'm just looking for a base line of gear combos to work and build from and thought I would ask, hoping someone would help me in figure this out.

 

[Scotty_Dog]

I might even try the 52T/23 or 25 tomorrow as well.

That's one of the worst gear combos available. If you are in the 52T/23 or 25 gears, the chain is at an extreme angle which causes inefficiency and more wear to your components. To put it simply, use gear combos that keep the chain relatively straight, such as:

52T / 12,13,14,15,17
42T / 14,15,17,19,21
30T / 17,19,21,23,25

Using Sheldon Brown's gear calculator, http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/, you will see that your suggestion of using the 52T/25 combo yields 54.7 gear inches. Because that produces a very angled chainline, you could instead use the 42T/19 or 21 to yield 52.6 or 58.1 gear inches (see attached PDF file).

 

[slyjackson]

That's one of the worst gear combos available. If you are in the 52T/23 or 25 gears, the chain is at an extreme angle which causes inefficiency and more wear to your components. To put it simply, use gear combos that keep the chain relatively straight, such as:

52T / 12,13,14,15,17
42T / 14,15,17,19,21
30T / 17,19,21,23,25

Using Sheldon Brown's gear calculator, http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/, you will see that your suggestion of using the 52T/25 combo yields 54.7 gear inches. Because that produces a very angled chainline, you could instead use the 42T/19 or 21 to yield 52.6 or 58.1 gear inches (see attached PDF file).

Thanks for your help Scotty.

 

[Scotty_Dog]

Thanks for your help Scotty.

You're welcome. I believe this article by Sheldon Brown will also greatly help you: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gear-theory.html

 

[alienator]

Spin, thank you. I pic a gear that allows me to turn 80-90 on hills, and 'bout 100 on the flats.

 

[slyjackson]

Spin, thank you. I pic a gear that allows me to turn 80-90 on hills, and 'bout 100 on the flats.

You are a better man than me,during the the last leg of my 15 miler there is a hill that I have to tackle, it's a 20-25 degree hill that is about 100 yards long. Actually this hill is what triggered this thread.

This past sunday I hit the 30T/25T about a third of the way up and it killed me. I was already tired from my route where I maintained a 17.9 average.

I was spinning at a 95-97 cadence.I shifted to my 42T and that was my mistake. I went from 95-97 to about 68. Did I screw up ! I was barley moving. I stood up on the pedals, but was too tired. I made it about 3/4 of the way up and unclipped and got off the bike before I fell over on my ass.

I said to myself, that was the dumbest thing that I've done in while. Lesson learned though. I think if I had hit the hill using 42T/23 or 25 and stood on the pedals when the cadence started to slow from my 78-89 range, I would have been ok. I just can't spin with anything over 95 and be effective at this point. I'm still a rookie. I've got a lot of work to do.

 

[Scotty_Dog]

.....This past sunday I hit the 30T/25T about a third of the way up and it killed me. I was already tired from my route where I maintained a 17.9 average.

I was spinning at a 95-97 cadence.I shifted to my 42T and that was my mistake. I went from 95-97 to about 68......

Here is what I don't understand. If you were after a lower cadence, why wouldn't you simply start changing your cassette gears to 23, 21, 19, instead of making the huge jump to the 42T with your chainring gears?

 

[slyjackson]

Here is what I don't understand. If you were after a lower cadence, why wouldn't you simply start changing your cassette gears to 23, 21, 19, instead of making the huge jump to the 42T with your chainring gears?

Because I'm stupid, simply put...

I guess I panic since I slowed down so much and I just had my "Forgot to unclip" fall a week or so ago and I think I was more worried about losing momentum and falling over "clipped in" than anything else. I don't think I was really conscious of what gear I switched too due to fatigue and fear of losing momentum along with the uncertainty of which gear combo I should be using. Also with 10 or so people watching me, mostly women did'nt help much either.

There is no greater embarrassment than having 5-6 women in "Daisy Dukes" watch you fall on you ass going up a hill because you are to tired to put foot into the pedals to get over it.

The second thing is. I was using a new cassette for the first time that day.

My previous gear ratio was 11,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32 which are pretty much mountain bike gears. My new gears are 12,13,14,15,17,19,21,23,25 and I was unsure of the new gears since I had never used them before.

I had to change my cassette since I bent my rear derailleur last week during the "Forgot to unclip" fall and my new rear derailleur would not support a gear higher than 27T.

There may be other factors as well, but to answer your question, for the most part all of the above is "Why" I did what I did ....

 

[Scotty_Dog]

There may be other factors as well, but to answer your question, for the most part all of the above is "Why" I did what I did ....

Oh, it's all coming together now.

My guess is almost everyone who rides with clipless pedals have suffered from the dreadfully embarrassing low speed fall-over because they forgot to unclip when stopping - I recall at least twice for myself. Much more than twice while riding up very steep hills on my mountain bike; when it's almost impossible to unclip gracefully while pedaling, standing, and leaning over the handlebars at a 45 degree angle.

 

[slyjackson]

Oh, it's all coming together now.

My guess is almost everyone who rides with clipless pedals have suffered from the dreadfully embarrassing low speed fall-over because they forgot to unclip when stopping - I recall at least twice for myself. Much more than twice while riding up very steep hills on my mountain bike; when it's almost impossible to unclip gracefully while pedaling, standing, and leaning over the handlebars at a 45 degree angle.

I glad you understand ...

 

[Jaguar27]

I'm not a fast Climber by any means, but I've learned some things over the past few years that have helped a lot...I have a fave Climb which is around 9% which I use for repeats and this is the way I do it..

1. Treat the first half of the Climb like it's the second half, take it easy, spin (+/- 90 cadence for me)
2. I Don't look up to the top, just far enough ahead to be safe. (pschological)
3. Sit as long as I'm able, stand when I HAVE to.
4.Concentrate on exhaling rather than inhaling, empty the Lungs as much as possible, inhaling comes automaticaly, believe me. Short gasps don't seem to cut it...
5. Alternate between pushing down and pulling up on the Pedals to use different Muscle groups.
6. I try and think about something else when I'm hurting...

 

[Chavez]

I started out mashing - just power up in the highest gear possible; I changed it over to spinning - I'll sacrifice SOME cadence but want to keep the cranks turning.

I tried mashing up a hill the other day and it seems you can't go back home again once you switch.

 

[slyjackson]

You know this past week end i did a 33 miler with a classs cc group on the first leg and then rolled with the class "B" group on the final leg sice we all met up at half way point. I found out after going up hills that my best approach was to keep my A$$ in the seat and mash my 42/25 up the hill. each time I out ran or caught the lead person in the CC and B groups going up.
When i stood on the pedals, it did little more than what i could do sitting, except waste energy. i personally recover quickly when I sit and mash. it takes longer for me to recover when I stand and mash. i guess it is just my level of fittness. But as I sat and mashed, I was hanging tough with the guys who stood on the pedals. I was surprised. It hurt and it felt like my legs were going to pop, but I just pushed on and the next thing I knew, I was over the top.

One thing is for sure, sitting spinning going nowhere fast only prolongs the agony for "me". So i have answered my own question. I "Mash" my way to the top. Spinning is ok if I'm burned out, but if I still have a little more left, I mash my way up, get it over with and move on.

 

[mongooseboy]

I spin in whatever gear i need to. even if that means dumping to the small chainring on my triple...if i get off the seat my legs burn MORE and longer than just spinning up the hill slowly. and since i have to be on my feet all day at work, i try not to over-do anything on the bike

once in a while up a short hill though, ill just stand up and mash away and not even have to change gears