% grade
05-23-06, 07:30 AM
#26
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Originally Posted by Equinox
My friend has a thing on his bike that gives you the % grade. He said some of our roads are 18 - 20% grade. Is that possible? Is that ride-able? I was looking and apparently l'alpe d'huez is about 8%.
05-23-06, 07:32 AM
#27
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i would nominate 'grunt hill' in greenville, sc as an especially cruel climb.... don't know the grade, but fairly long, comes at the end of what already is a long, tough climb, and is wickedly steep... they included it on the metric century for last year's peloton project ride that was sponsored by the greenville spinners....
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Last edited by Ostuni; 05-23-06 at 08:16 AM.
05-23-06, 07:41 AM
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Jester hill in Austin is pretty wicked. Check it out. 17% average and up to 23% at times.
https://www.kingofjester.com/course.html
https://www.kingofjester.com/course.html
05-23-06, 07:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Equinox
The MOST depressing thing about cycling for me is when I fail on a hill and have to dismount and walk up. I almost feel like giving up the sport. I think I get psychologically intimidated when I see a really steep grade ahead. I feel I should be able to handle the steepest hills in 39-27. It angers me when I can't. Any advice?
This year I am running 36-26 as my low gear (was 34-27 last year and I can sure feel the difference) and to be honest I have run into occasions at the end of some ride where I wish I still had that 34 on the front. But I am fat (~217 lbs) and not a racer or anything like that.
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05-23-06, 08:14 AM
#30
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Originally Posted by rockman450
Yes that is very possible. 8% is the average grade on the l'alpe d'huez. I have a hill by my house thats 25% grade and i bet l'alpe d'huez has hills in the 30's.
05-23-06, 08:18 AM
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Originally Posted by Grasschopper
Lower gearing. This year I am running 36-26 as my low gear (was 34-27 last year and I can sure feel the difference) and to be honest I have run into occasions at the end of some ride where I wish I still had that 34 on the front. ...
This year I am running 36-26 as my low gear (was 34-27 last year and I can sure feel the difference) and to be honest I have run into occasions at the end of some ride where I wish I still had that 34 on the front. ...
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Tom Hagen: 'Thank you for the dinner and a very pleasant evening. If your car could take me to the airport - Mr. Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news immediately.'
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05-23-06, 08:25 AM
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Originally Posted by twahl
Put it in perspective.........I take it from the first floor to the third and it will usually show somewhere between 15 and 18 feet.
The difference, scaled out, between 15 and 18 is actually huge. 3 feet doesn't sound like much, unless you look at it percentage.
There's a short hill near Nevada City or Grass Valley that says 31% grade. But its only about a 1/4 mile. Which is quite doable, when you know its coming.
05-23-06, 08:37 AM
#33
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Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
L'alpe d'huez may have ski runs in the 30's, but the road up the mountain has a maximum grade of maybe 11 or 12%. I wish I could say I road up a 30% grade, but its not correct.
05-23-06, 08:53 AM
#34
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[QUOTE=dekalbSTEEL]That's some seriously low gearing! Why no road bikes in this pic?
Because they're not geared low enough?
and a while back, hubby and I were at the bike shop and noticed a mountain bike that had the lowest gearing I had ever seen. It looked as low or lower than the guy in the picture above. We figgured it was for some serious hills.
Because they're not geared low enough?
and a while back, hubby and I were at the bike shop and noticed a mountain bike that had the lowest gearing I had ever seen. It looked as low or lower than the guy in the picture above. We figgured it was for some serious hills.
05-23-06, 09:33 AM
#35
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Originally Posted by Equinox
The MOST depressing thing about cycling for me is when I fail on a hill and have to dismount and walk up. I almost feel like giving up the sport. I think I get psychologically intimidated when I see a really steep grade ahead. I feel I should be able to handle the steepest hills in 39-27. It angers me when I can't. Any advice?
05-23-06, 10:06 AM
#36
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I guess I am not so much of a piker after all. I go up local hills and look at the tops of "stepped" block walls and/or the roof or foundation lines of houses and extend those lines to form an angle with the road/hill I am climbing. The the stepped block walls may/should be level but the foundations of houses I know are pretty close to level. I look at the angle and figure I am riding up some decent hills; the hill to my house is supposed to be an average of between 5-6% and using the method above, I know portions are steeper (and of course those portions are just before I get home.. . ). Using the above method I have ridden up some 10%+ grades, slowly and laboriously, but I got up 'em.
I had been dissappointed a while back when I found out the grade up to our house via Bikemetro.com, because I thought it was soooo steep, apparently grade riding without an altimeter is a perception thing. One's estimation of steepness the grade is directly proportional to the amount of effort you expend to climb the grade.
Who was the person a while back that posted that he didn't call it a hill untill it got over 6%? (showoff!
) Was it his estimate of 6% or actual grade measurement?
I had been dissappointed a while back when I found out the grade up to our house via Bikemetro.com, because I thought it was soooo steep, apparently grade riding without an altimeter is a perception thing. One's estimation of steepness the grade is directly proportional to the amount of effort you expend to climb the grade.
Who was the person a while back that posted that he didn't call it a hill untill it got over 6%? (showoff!
) Was it his estimate of 6% or actual grade measurement?
05-23-06, 10:24 AM
#37
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Originally Posted by twahl
Put it in perspective. 25% means you climb 25 feet for 100 feet traveled. Visualize it eaven short, that's 1 foot for 4 traveled, or 10 for 40. I have ridden hills that showed up on my computer at 26%, and I don't doubt it, but they were fairly short. My computer works on barametric pressure, but from what I've seen it seems pretty accurate. I take it from the first floor to the third and it will usually show somewhere between 15 and 18 feet.
05-24-06, 12:54 AM
#38
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I've ridden Fargo straight up on my mountain bike. I can't do it on my road bike because I run a 23-tooth in the back. I've seen guys on road bikes go nearly straight up, but they can only do it once. Road bikes don't tack as well. Here's a picture of me going straight up Fargo the only time I ever sprinted on it.
