Jaywalk3r

When two riders are mashing their way to the top of a hill, the one using the higher gear ratio will generally get to the top first. Keep in mind, once a cyclist starts mashing, it's as much (if not more) about upper body strength as it is about leg strength, since the downward force on the pedal is approximately equal to rider weight plus the magnitude of the upward force on the handlebar. My arms are always much more tired than my legs after a hard climb.

DVC45

Nothing wrong with that.

Steely Dan

you must be doing something wrong; i often get tailwinds on my daily commuting runs up and down the lakefront. granted, there are those super annoying days when a stiff N headwind on the ride in is followed up with a wind shift to the south and a stiff headwind for the ride home. however, i often get at least a bit of wind assist in one direction or the other, though we do frequently have winds out of the west here in chicago which means crosswinds both ways going up or down the lakefront.

Nitram612

I commute on a fixed gear with a 44/17 ratio. My old route had intimidating hills at the beginning each way. They kicked my ass at first but I'm a pretty strong climber now because of it. I regularly pass people on geared bikes slowly spinning their way up hills.

alan s 

Anything to back up your claim that you are riding up 40% grade hills at 55 gi? Elevation plot, for example? https://www.toporoute.com

Jaywalk3r

I don't use a bike computer or GPS. I am, however, a maths guy, so I'm pretty good at approximating angles visually. Note that 40% has one significant figure. That's not accidental. Judging by the pictures from the linked article to Canton Avenue, my approximation is reasonable, at least for the steeper half of the climb.

I have to admit that I'm baffled by the number of people who think it's strange that such a hill could be climbed with a fairly low gear.

zoltani

I think the issue isn't if you could climb it or not, but the fact that such grades simply do not exist on paved roads.

Again, link to a site where we can see the grade (mapmyride, bikely, google cue sheets), you don't need a GPS for this, quit dodging.

Jaywalk3r

I'm pretty sure grades between 35.-45.% (i.e., about 40%) exist in paved roads. I've encountered them and climbed them. I'm not dodging anything. The only tool precise enough to measure the incline of short sections of road that do not start and end precisely on contour lines is GPS. A map Web site isn't precise enough to accurately locate the top and bottom of a hill, let alone its maximum and minimum elevation. Local maxima and minima are not identified on the maps, and the contour lines provided are too course. I don't ride with (or want to ride with) GPS, so I don't have the data you're looking for. I know what I've claimed is true, at least to the precision given. I don't care if you believe it or not; your belief doesn't change any facts.

zoltani

Ah, didn't realize being pretty sure = fact

Jaywalk3r

Since paved roads with such grades are documented to exist, yes, in this case, pretty sure = fact.

alan s 

I'm a words guy, so I'm pretty good at detecting bs. I also ride on some pretty steep hills and know you are spewing it.

Jaywalk3r

You can think that if you want, but it won't make it true. It's really not that hard to determine that an incline is more than 1/3 but less than 1/2 of 45º, which makes it ~20º, which puts the grade at ~40%.

TurbineBlade

My penis is 11.5 inches.

mikeybikes

Fact is, we're not going to believe you until you prove it.

JusticeZero

How would one figure out such things? I know that when I was living in the area, my personal nemesis was the hills leading to the Moose Creek bridge (described here) at +61.68167, -149.04333 / 61°40'54" N, 149°02'36" W, particularly the one curving around to the west of it.

Jaywalk3r

I don't care if you believe me or not. I know it's true. That's the only thing that matters. If others want to live in ignorance about what can be done on a singlespeed, that's their problem.

Jaywalk3r

Clearly not this time.

idc

It's also really not that hard to overestimate (or over-"determine" as you put it) the grade of an incline, which is why people are giving you so much about it. Whereas if you just posted even a Google Maps link or lat/lng, it could be at least seen as plausible.

Jaywalk3r

My estimation is sound.

JusticeZero

Post a link and let's take a look.