Originally Posted by acantor
Is there REALLY such a thing as a road with a 36% grade? Or even 30%?
I find that even a couple of degrees can make a big difference when cranking up long hills. I can do a 12% grade without a lot of problems, but I struggle up 15% grades only by resting every couple of minutes. The biggest hills I have encountered have been 18%. The only way I could do these was to zig-zag up, and stop every few minutes to rest and guzzle water.
If I ever find myself facing a 20% grade, I plan to push my bike!
OK, people, tell the truth: what is the steepest grade you have ever pedalled up?
The steepest hills in England are called 1 in 3s ... that's 33%. There aren't many of them, but they do exist. More common though are the 1 in 4s ... 25% grades. When I toured there, I climbed two of those ... walking. There was no way I could ride up those with a loaded touring bike. I have an English friend who has ridden up those ... with a fixed gear.
The steepest hill in the world is Dunedin’s Baldwin Street in New Zealand. It is a 1 in 2.66 or 38% grade.
http://home.earthlink.net/~waltmeier/nz/nz7.html
http://www.bikereader.com/contributo...ley/hills.html
The same friend of mine rode it last year ... he sent me a hilarious write-up of his attempts. It took him 3 tries to make it all the way from the bottom to the top.
As for the steepest I have ridden up ... well, I'm not much of a climber ... I think the steepest has probably been 10-12%