Commuting uphill.
 

I'm pretty much a committed commuter now, on my Carrera Subway 8, and I enjoy taking leisure rides, as often as I can. But after 2 years of such cycling, I still hate hills, big or small. I believe I know why, though I have gears, I fail constantly to use them correctly, fail to find a comfortable rhythym, and so get tired, too quickly and easily. I know this means my technique is rubbish, so how do I improve, any advice out there?

You need to try to maintain your cadence. Shifting gears is how you do that. Try buying a cheap cyclecomputer with cadence and experimenting with it. When you hit a hill, unless it is a really short one, you should gear down until you can keep up the same cadence you would on flat ground. It looks like your bike has an 8-speed hub, so you should have an easy time shifting, because you don't have a front derailer to shift.

Or, you could experiment with standing when you climb. It works better for some people.

Personally, when I am on a short hill, or an overpass, I just power through it standing up, it is easier and faster than staying seated and gearing down. But for longer hills, I have to gear down otherwise I get tired really quickly.

And shift down a bit sooner to keep your cadence up.
Your engine runs most efficiently at a certain speed, regardless of the bike speed.

Ride more hills:thumb:

get a fixie-- then you don't have to worry about shifting :)

train safe-

Other than cadence (which is certainly very important), a lot has to do with how you set up your bike.

Too extreme in any factor like saddle height and fore-and-aft tends to rob you of power, which becomes especially evident on hills. Some conventional wisdom you can read about on the internet may be wrong for some people, like the idea that the saddle should be farther back. The thighs can put down a lot of power like that, but they also tire very quickly.

Good positioning of the handlebars makes a big difference also, because you want to lean forward without being too stretched. It's hard to explain, but it's kind like making your body into a big spring (and this involves both the arms and the legs). A spring isn't good for anything if it's already stretched out). The hoods need to be where they are optimal for both seated and standing climbing so you can do both efficiently.

But no matter what you do, hills are always hard if they are long and steep enough, and as you get older, it gets worse. So it helps to have good gearing for it when you need it. That's why I spec'd my road bike with a racing triple. I don't actually use the small ring that often, but it's there if I feel the need to use it. It can be essential in maintaining a good cadence when climbing.

I second the recommend to get a computer. I'd never had one until I bought my latest bike, which came with Flight Deck compatible brifters. I found an older model Flight Deck on eBay for cheap so I went ahead and got it, just thinking it would be a neat toy to have but not particularly useful. I was amazed at how I'd been apparently mashing for years and have started to make a concerted effort to keep my cadence up, and I believe it really is helping. I'm still a bit of a masher, most comfortable at about 60 RPM or so, but I'm trying to improve that by deliberately spinning it up a bit by staying in a lower gear than I ordinarily would.

As far as technique goes, you need a set up where you can climb out of the saddle at least part of the time.

Then you can actually gear up a little and find a comfortable pace.

I love hills. No lie. Bring on the mountains! :)

I have a monster hill going and coming back from my commute - relyt put into words what I do to conquer that w/o burning myself out. Check your spin on level roads, where you're most comfortable at spinning - you want to maintain that spin rate going uphill. So, as you begin climbing the hill start dropping down one gear at a time until you are spinning at the same rate you would be on the flats. Hope that makes sense...

I have a fairly steep quarter mile hill on my commute that I would ride up five days a week and for over a year I was always out of breath when I got to the top. This past winter I mashed my way up this hill on a single speed bike for three months. When I went back to the geared bike I was able to sit and spin up the hill and now it is no problem (unless I am really tired). I know because I ride six days a week I generally don't ride hard enough to push my body to get stronger and I don't ride slow enough to recover. Maybe you could look at the hill as a goal and train to ride up it comfortably. Do intervals and ride fast sometimes to reach the goal. Also, +1 on the low gear and spin technique.

Vary your route and shift into low.
 

I have always ridden in very hilly, and sometimes mountainous, country. Alas, I've never been a great climber; but I have always enjoyed climbing in some weird way. I do get tired of it sometimes...especially while commuting. My commuter is not really set up for out of the saddle climbing, so I just shift lower, scoot back on the saddle, and settle into a comfortable pace.

My commute is only about 4 miles each way, but in the last half a mile or so I gain around 250 feet in elevation. I usually avoid the most direct approach, which goes straight up the steepest part. Most of the time I vary my route up the hill. Sometimes I ride up one block, cross over to the next block, then up again... zigzagging my way up. Other times I ride around the hill to a street that has a longer but less steep ascent.

For less steep, but long, climbs I may also vary the route from time to time. If you follow the same route every day, you know exactly what's coming and it's easy to dread. If you vary your route a bit you break up the monotony and the climb is over before you know it.

Triple chainrings are great if you haul a lot of gear on your commute. Using a super low gear will drag things out a bit, but if you can keep your cadence up you'll be amazed at how long you can pedal up hill. Start off in your lowest gear, concentrating on keeping that cadence up. After awhile you'll notice that you can keep the same cadence with the next gear, and maybe the next one after that.

Sean

+1 on buying a bike computer
+1 on riding more hills

I actually find that I can get up hills easier if I increase my cadence going into the hill. I cruise at around 90 rpm normally, but when I want to get up a hill, I kick it up to around 100. I discovered this completely by accident. One day I was riding home and I found myself actually increasing speed on a hill that normally kicked my butt. I looked down at the computer and saw that my cadence was way up. Practice comfirmed that this works for me (though it may not work for everyone).

As for improvement, check out the tips on this link:

http://bikenhike.com/page.cfm?pageid=22&tipid=65

My normal commute has the two biggest hills stacked right on top of each other with a dip in between, so it is perfect for building climbing strength. That reminds me of one other thing, if you've got a dip in front of a hill, don't go all out trying to build up speed to take the hill. It wears out your legs before you start. If you've got a situation like this, spin gently down the incline and be ready to work on the hill.

Just remember: If you're commuting, that means you're probably riding the same route home as you rode in the morning. Which means, for every hill you've had to climb, there's a real nice downhill to feel the wind in your hair and go, "WHEEEEEEE!" at the top of your lungs.

I learned years ago that the above makes hills bearable.

Hills don't have to be that hard, I think generally people just try and ride them too fast when they are not experienced.
I have recently written a short article on my blog on cycling up hills made easy.
Hope it helps.

I just bought my first road bike and plan to start commuting very soon. My commute isn't very long (4 miles each way), but does have some very challenging hills. I plan to get out and ride some of the hills prior to beginning my commutes, that way I will (hopefully) be ready for them.

Ignore this advice.

Is this an internal geared hub?
IF so, sometimes these don't have the best gear spacing for certain riding conditions.

Ignore the ignore.

For me, the technique you suggest definitely helps, but I am only guessing when thinking that something similar is going on when we are that engine instead of a car or truck motor.

I learned the technique, but way back -- back when I was learning to drive an auto, and not by accident: in that context they call it downshifting, and I can only guess that it has something to do with the power curve of our 'engines' ;-) I'll bet that there are researchers that can tell us more.

That said, I am able to finely tune my cadence, but that is because I have 14 even-sized gear jumps, an internal geabox chosen specifically to allow me to do that on my commute, just with a simple single twist shifter. Simpletons like me need things to kept simple.

I always shift down a few and stand up. I try to keep my bike on the highest gear possible in order to build up the strength of my legs so that eventually hills will become less difficult.

This is just my opinion, not based upon any science, but...

I have two short, but steep, hills to and from work. When I am on my commuter bike with my 30 lbs of junk on the rear rack, the bike climbs like a dog. Whn I have all of my junk in a backpack/shoulder bag, it is much easier.

I do not know why this is, however, 30 lbs of crap in a should back often time sucks more that a sluggish ride of a hill.

Heh, I can shift gears all right, but I hate hills anyway. :D Here are a few helpful(?) tips:

Shift down...

If you want to fight the hill, you can stand on the pedals, but that might not even be faster when big hills are concerned, because you'll tire yourself. Gear down so you can maintain your cadence.

...but not too far down!

If you select a gear that's too low, you're just going to lose momentum and end up going slowly with just as much effort as going a little faster would have been.

Shift early...

If you wait too long to shift, you won't be able to do it smoothly: the chain will jump from cog to cog sharply, causing you to lose momentum and maybe even balance. Or it might just refuse to shift altogether. Anticipate when the pedalling at the given gear is going to get too difficult, and shift just before then.

...but not too early!

If you shift down too early, you'll end up losing momentum and gaining nothing.

Pedal in circles

It's harder to pedal in circles going uphill than at other times, because the pedals don't have as much momentum to carry over the "dead" point (pedals at 12 and 6 o'clock). If you find it absolutely impossible to do circles, and have to mash the pedals down, that's a hint that you're trying to do it in too high a gear (unless the hill is really steep :)). It's not going to be "perfect" cirles - a hill pretty much always means you will probably deviate from your normal technique towards a bit more mashing, but the difference shouldn't be extreme.

Just for an experiment, pick a long hill, put the bike in an easiest gear that you have and ride up the hill in that gear, not worrying about how long it takes. It will take you forever, and you might wobble a little bit even (due to such low gear/speed), but it's not going to be exhausting at all. Then try the same hill again in a somewhat higher gear, until you find a comfortable balance between speed and level of exertion.

I hate hills. HATE THEM. (Almost, but not quite, as much as I hate head winds... apparently I whine a lot when I bke :p). The only way I can get up them is to stand and pedal. I actually find spinning in a low gear more tiring than standing to pedal at a moderate cadence in a moderate gear - I don't feel I'm mashing, but maybe by some definitions I am? Anyway, the geometry of my body and my bike makes standing my best option right now.

(If it's really bad, and nobody is looking, I'll walk partway. If there are witnesses, though, I will pedal till my lungs explode. One has one's pride, after all...)

I'd say, get in a nice low gear early and take it nice and slow - don't try to zoom up the hill, pedal hard, or worry about how slow you're going. It'll take twice as long, but you'll still feel fresh at the top. A mistake people make in low gears is trying to go too fast and pedal too hard, instead of taking their time and going slow and steady. Don't stress -enjoy the ride!

Tie an invisible rubber band around an object at the top of the hill and back to your bike. Feel the invisible rubber band help PULL you up the hill. (Hey whatever works, right?)

If you are commuting, think of all those ladies on the granny bikes with the loaf of french bread sticking out of the basket. I don't see them workin' and sweatin'. Just take your time and enjoy it.

+10

move to saskatchwan

Hills + headwind!

I just met my first today... it was fun.

Riding up hills is hard. Riding into the wind is hard. Riding up hills into the wind is ........

I found this online calculator that lets you work out how much power you need to output to ride in various conditions (hills & wind). Basically I worked out that cycling 15mph into a 10mph headwind needs the same effort as cycling 15mph up a 3.5% slope - ouch. The details of this are in one of my blog posts - Blowing in the Wind

The calculator website lets you work out the aerodynamic drag and propulsive power of a cyclist. It also has some other interesting content on aerodynamics.

coolio