I am not the most accomplished or fittest biker on the planet but I'm OK at some things. Point me downhill and I'll keep up with everyone else that I ride with, techy singletrack – again no problems, short technical climbs – yeah, love 'em.

But stick me on the road and within 5 minutes I'm dropping off the back, even on the flat. Worst of all, long draggy climbs. They break me. My nemesis for anyone that knows it is the road climb from Barber Booth to Mam Tor. I can't ride it without several "breathers".

Any ideas why this would be the case? Someone yesterday suggested it's because I have a Supertacky tyre on the front but it's got to be more than that. Is it because I'm 6ft 6" and the best part of 18st? Is it just general fitness? Any tips on how to improve?

Thanks in advance.

Rockitman – simply, it's because you are not fit enough. Sure, riding an MTB over some of the lumpy terrain round there is always going to make things harder. As is weight, which has a massive bearing on ability to go up hill (I have to be able to prodice more power than my skinny mates to go uphill at the same speed as them).

It depends how bothered you are about it. If, in the grander scheme of ytour riding, it makes no odds, then cool. If it does, then time to eat less (though you're not altogether short) and do lots, lots and lots more riding.

if you tend to 'sit and spin' on an mtb but only have 'standard' gearign on your road bike you'll struggle. Try fittign a compact (or triple if you can bear the ribbing) chainset on your road bike.

Other solution si to ride your road bike mroe – you'll soon learn to pedal through the pain…

weight is a big enemy when climbing and more so on longer constant climbs than technical ones where your effort is more varied. I re-trained myself to climb better on the road be spinning more as i used to grind up in a big gear.

oh and that is no small climb, it'd kill many a man!

i get better at climbing by climbing more, not scientific really but works for me. After a couple of weeks of twiddling a very heavy touring bike round scotland i feel light as a flee on the carbon road bike

Just fitness, with a bit of technique and a chunk of willpower thrown in.

You need to find a level where your breathing is steady. Hard, laboured maybe, but steady. (I call it my 80% level. I dunno if it is, but when I find it I can climb forever) And stick to it. if it hurts too much, slow down, but you must not stop!
That's the willpower bit.
You're saing in your head "Imuststopnow! Imuststopnow! Imuststopnow!" and you must ignore it!

And you've gotta keep on doing it, over and over again. They you get fitter! 🙂

you are overweight
you are unfit
you have a stoopid heavy tyre on

what bike is it? are you losing yet more effort to lovely plush suspension?

Is it because I'm 6ft 6" and the best part of 18st?

I'm similar dimensions. Well, close enough. If you can't see your abs then dropping weight is the simple fix.

Seat height would be the other thing. With long legs it's easy to end up running the seat too low. Get the seat set roadie high (straight leg with your heel on the pedal). If that's too high for off-road get a remote seatpost.

Cos it's boring?

Perhaps not as blunt, but SOOBalias is right!

I'd say fitness, but definitely a good slice of wot PeterPoddy and saxabar said.

Something tough and boring is always going to be more difficult than something tough and interesting.

I find fireroad climbs really demoralising, as you said, I find myself dropping off the back. I don't have the same problem on long techy climbs. If there's always another little obstacle to keep my momentum up for, another rocky step to stamp on the pedal and lift over, I'll keep looking up and ahead and stay focussed.

There are some parallels to other areas of my life in there too!

There's a secret to long draggy climbs, and it is rather dull – patience. And acceptance. OK so that's two.

Thanks for the feedback.

Fitness it is then…

I'm not that bad fitness wise – ran 10k a couple of weeks ago in just over the hour, run a couple of nights a week, usually 4 miles each time, eat healthly, get one decent ride (4hours+) every weekend. Best just stick at it!

Weightwise – I am beginning to believe this is my natural weight. 4 years ago I was hopelessly out of shape, double chins, smoking, drinking etc. I weighed exactly the same as I do today.

Bike is a Yeti 575. It's an XL but still comes in under 30lbs, tyre is a High Roller. Don't think it's excessive really…

your not built like a climber then… skinny people are naturally better climbers than stocky people, who have more power.

You are talking about a road bike on the road aren't you?

Power to weight
Position
Saddle height
Cleat set up
too soft a soled shoe
attitude
Tyre pressures
To name a few

You also need to get outr that saddel more often

Sounds more like it's in your head. If you're doing all that running you must be pretty fit.
Have you given in before you even start? Do you have regular rest places? There are lots of head techniques for climbing, two that work for me are to a) break the climb into smaller sections e.g. to the next road sign, and make yourself do it, alternate sitting and standing; b) for groups you need to imagine that you're tied by a bungie cord to the rider in front, if you slip back, beast yourself to catch up and join the group.

You also need to get outr that saddel more often

Not if you're heavy you don't. You'll pump in seconds and that's it. Game over.

glenp is on the button with acceptance.

when you are still holding onto the 2nd to last riders wheel, you are probably much more motivated than when that rider has opened up a 10' gap on you, then you are last, dropped, useless, lonely, depressed.

if you can sit back at that point, relax, get into your own pace and plod up the rest of the way. Who gives two hoots if the skinny bugger is stood around in the cold for five minutes waiting for you.

Once you can do a climb without stopping, you have the mental battle dealt with, from there you can argue with your legs and your lungs for future fights.

You need a bike that fits you better.
26 inch wheeled transport at your weight is going to look mighty silly! 😉
Can I suggest trying a 29er?
And "Other solution is to ride your road bike more – you'll soon learn to pedal through the pain… " is a smart idea.

And as above – seat height is wrong maybe.
But most likely it is simply fitness levels if you're having to stop to catch your breath.

You are talking about a road bike on the road aren't you?

No, he's talking about a 30lb full sus with a supertacky front tyre!

To be fair that's a bitch of a climb, it's almost impossible to get into a rhythm on it cos of the constant gradient changes. But other than that, what SOOBalias said ^^… 😉

Ah right 575, my mate can climb like a Demon on his so it must be you 😉

Oldgit – No, I mean a MTB on the road. Sorry for the confusion.

Don't make a habit of riding on the roads, but yesterday we seemed to do quite a lot of it riding between sections.

Copmment about getting out of the saddle is very interesting. Yeti is a real "Sit down & pedal" bike. On with a hardtail build at the moment…

Sorry, how has no one contributed…

MTFU

🙂

Yep, it is in your head. I'm very fit and very light and the only thing I have struggled with sometimes is keeping up with people on road sections especially uphill. I call it "tarmac fatigue"! And the reason for this is that it is boring! Recently I have started either just go along at my own pace and think about other things to stop it from being boring which means I'm last up the hill or use the same psycology as for a difficult off road climb and attack it mentally (forget that you are tired, you are not, it is in your head!!) and then I'm one of the fastest! Same bike! Just different attitude. Stop thinking you are slow, you are just bored!!

I don't mean to offend you rockitman as you've been about a bit, but youre not pedling like a mental in a too easy a gear are you.

road riding is boring, end of

simply, it's because you are not fit enough

sounds like a fair assessment. Get out and practice long draggy road climbs and you'll soon get better at them. Next question

kimbers – it's only boring if one is rubbish at it.

if you can sit back at that point, relax, get into your own pace and plod up the rest of the way. Who gives two hoots if the skinny bugger is stood around in the cold for five minutes waiting for you.

Once you can do a climb without stopping, you have the mental battle dealt with, from there you can argue with your legs and your lungs for future fights.

Exactly right. Mountain bikes have ludicrously low 22×34 type gears. There is no road anywhere that can't be ridden up with that gear, and certainly not a long but not terribly steep climb like the one you're talking about. If you feel the need to stop, then stick it in bottom gear and keep going rather than actually stopping.

Basically, if you're dying and actually having to stop on a road climb, you are going off too fast for your fitness level due to trying to keep up with fitter and faster mates. Go out and ride it again, all in low gear, just to prove you can do it, and don't worry about how fast other people are going. Once you know you can do it, you can start thinking about increasing fitness to keep up with people.

Joe

George is your problem climbing up hills or climbing up hills on the road? Are you getting dropped by people on a road climb that you could normally stay with on an off-road climb?

If it's just the roads, it's your tyres; Peachos has lent me a Hi-Roller Super Tacky and while I can get it up hills off road, it is a complete anchor on the road. It makes me mad, every time I ride it on the road, though I should really just get some tyres of my own!

pace yourself.
simples

Rocky, it's a bit of both really. I'm not the best climber but I can usually hang on to your shirt tails. Stick me on the road though mate and it's a real battle, even on the flat. Thus I would say it's tyres, except you and others are running the same…

kimbers – I agree completely
paddy – I agree completely 🙂

Thanks everyone for the feedback

6ft6" and best part of 18 stone. Let's face it you're never were gonna be cut out as a grimpeur. Just keep riding and your fitness will improve it's simple but in no way easy ( training on the road is particularly good for improving cardio fitness). If a climb keeps defeating you try to attempt to get further up it before stopping than you did last time breaking it down to acheivable goals.

It's about power zones. When you hammer up a short climb you are using completely different metabolic pathways than when you are spinning up a long climb – that is, the energy in your muscles is generated a different way. There are three ways of generating energy; one for sprints like 30 seconds, one for say efforts under 20-30 mins and one for all day efforts.

MTBing probably trains the first two a lot (depending on the trails you do and where you live). If you want to be able to do longer efforts more then train for that. So it's long long slower rides and steady paced climbs. Pick a pace where you don't have to stop and have a breather.

Oh and make sure you are riding either a compact double or a triple on your road bike (preferably triple as it's much nicer gear spread). Double chainsets on big hills are for really good climbers, but most people don't want to admit that so still run them 🙂

here's my 2p's worth

As with most cycling games going uphill is about stacking the odds in your favour in the first place and making things easy for yourself.

First of all make sure your seat height is right and your getting the right amount of leg extension through the pedal stroke. This is crucial for efficent up hill pedalling

When your cycling up the hill make sure you go slow enough, spin steadily. Don't get caught racing or going at others pace, settle into the grind right from the start. Ideally you should be going at a pace that allows you to hold a conversation with the person next to you, this means your below your aerobic threashold and that the exercise is sustainable. REMEMBER YOU CANNOT GO TOO SLOWLY

When your spinning the pedals think in smooth steady circles. Dont spin out, if your spinning like a loon then change to a stiffer gear.

If your bike isn't low enough geared to allow you to steadily spin an easy gear then invest in a cassette with a wider spread. I use a 34-11 on my enduro and its brilliant. The bike is a big hefty fat tired beast but will grip on the ups like nothing else I've every ridden. Really low gearing allows me to cycle past the light n fiesty bikes and riders with a smile on my face.

So keep is steady and be determined not to stop, ensure you plan right from the start not to stop. Problem you've got is you've got into the habit of stopping, you need to break that habit. Instead of starting the new you on the Mam Tor climb think about an easier one that you can 'just' do without a pause and try taking it A LOT slower and steadier. Hopefully you'll find it easier. REMEMBER YOU CANNOT GO TOO SLOWLY. Work through a few challenge climbs and build on successes before tackling your nemisis.

Once you've unlocked the secret of riding the ups it will make a difference to your fitness and this can all catch you up in a spiral that will lead to significant improvements in your technique and fitness

Hope this helps

Ian

Oddly, I'm putting my road bike back on the road to get in some of the afore mentioned long hill climbs on tarmac to build up my endurance as my local mountain biking is perhaps limiting my overall cycling fitness, strength and power.

Does anyone here use road bike training to improve their mtn bike abilities & agree with my supposition?

REMEMBER YOU CANNOT GO TOO SLOWLY.

erm you can you fall over 😆

From my roadie days as a youngster I used to look at the road no more than a few metres
in front of my front wheel but never to the top of the hill. Seeing how far you still
have to go can break you a bit mentally. I find I can pace myself much better like this.

This method still serves me well – you can also just lock on to a back wheel of the rider in front.
Anyone else do this? :unsure:

Ti29er
You're Hertfordshire based aren't you, if so you've got some terrific road riding on your doorstep.
I'll be on the road training again in a weeks time, feel free to hook up.
I'm also having a 50th birthday ride next month, well when I say ride we're cycling up to Wendover Woods cafe to drink coffee and read the papers and chat and fettle before going home again.

Depends on the type of ride. I would suggest you'd be better at 'spinning' up a climb rather than 'pushing' a big gear. Also depends who your riding with, if people are going stupidly hard up climbs and making people struggle then that isn't fair, and it also makes them look an idiot. Not one likes a winter racer..(unless it's a dedicated training ride..) Don't attack climbs either, as oxygen debt will soon catch you out. Would agree with the above to, regarding not looking far up the road.

Find a local club run to tag along with, usually there will be a faster group, and a slightly more sedate group. The miles rack up easy, and climbs won't be such a chore after a couple of months.