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Old 08-12-09, 10:05 AM
  #21  
IanBristol
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Hill-climbing is one thing that puts many prospective bent-riders off, and can still be daunting for the first few weeks of riding. However once you know what you're doing, having found the right gears and cadence, and have built up the right muscles it's not a problem, assuming you have a decent well-designed bent. For me climbing on a bent is all about sitting back and spinning your way up in a relaxed way, enjoying the view as you go. In fact spinning on a bent feels more natural to me than spinning on an upright, I can't explain why. And as the old saying goes, any speed lost going up will be made up for going down, if speed even matters anyway.

Of course you can generate lots of force on the pedals by pushing back against the seat, I find this particularly the case on my Giro 20, which is probably the best bent I've owned for climbing on. However I only do this for very short climbs and prefer to gear down for the long haul instead of blowing my knees out and exhausting myself, thus taking the fun out of the ride.
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