Originally Posted by
Paraleisure
Do you have any tips for small riders? The hardest part of riding a fixed gear uphill for me is losing power. I weight 125 lbs and I normally climb fast but spinning a high cadence, around 70+ rpm. I find it challenging to stay on top of a gear like 42x16 on steeper climbs, I kind of bog down and go anaerobic from the muscle strain. I don't have huge leg muscles like other long distance fixed riders I've seen. Any tips are appreciated. Thanks!
Hmmmm.....
I'm 165#, which puts me on the small side, too, but there's a lot of real estate between 125# and 165#....
I was thinking that you could try longer crank arms, which would help a bit with steeper climbs, but longer crank arms are contraindicated for smaller riders (I'm assuming your height and weight are in proportion) . You might gain some slight advantage while climbing but you'll be at a disadvantage descending and on the flats, which is probably where most of your time is spent.
Other than trying gears with less rollout and trying to find one that's a better compromise between "up" and "down," the only other thing I can think of is to adjust your climbing technique so that you're out of the saddle more and using a lower cadence, and your body weight, to drive the gear.
I'll add that the shorter riders I know tend to spin quite a bit more than the taller riders. I know a guy who can hit 200+ rpm; he's probably all of 5'2" tall. It's easier to get those shorter legs around than longer ones. If you're a shorter rider, you might be able to run lower gears in general than a taller rider with an equal power-to-weight ratio.
Sorry I couldn't be more help here. Hope your ride on Monday went well!