How do people manage it? What training would you suggest other than actually doing it, opportunities being limited?
A bike on my shoulders is just too much. Progress is slow, my legs tire quickly, it's an effort to keep balance, and I'll sweat profusely. After a while I'll resort to pushing/lifting which is probably more work overall and less efficient, but is less demanding in the moment. Once I get where I'm going, I'll be so knackered that my riding is crap.
I'm fine hiking 1000m+ days all week even with an 11kg rucksack on a multi-day trip, but say a 15kg bike and 6kg rucksack for a day trip, that extra 10kg would knock me out in an hour or two. Wearing less supportive footwear with thinner soles doesn't help either.
Would be great to do some mountain days in the Lakes and Scotland, and possibly at some point the MTB C2C.
Anyone gone from not being able to, to being able to? Cheers
Do you do any running?
Also, 6kg awful lot for a day bag.
Would be great to do some mountain days in the Lakes and Scotland
Well. If you're free, I know loads of hikesbike 🙂
Also, 6kg awful lot for a day bag
Stuff and nonsense 🙂
Stuff and nonsense 🙂
In the bag? 🙂
Do you do any running?
No. It's against my beliefs to use feet where wheels can go 😉
Also, 6kg awful lot for a day bag.
Yes, an aside in the scheme of things. That's an estimate but if I'm going up a mountain I'm going equipped. Let's see how quickly things add up:
1.0kg rucksack
2.0kg water in backpack and in bottle cage
0.2kg bottles
0.5kg food and snacks
0.2kg minimal waterproof
0.4kg warmish jacket
0.2kg multi tool and mini pump
0.1kg first aid kit
4.6kg right there without going into odds and ends.
Well. If you’re free, I know loads of hikesbike 🙂
Definitely couldn't keep up with you. You're a hike a bike machine, seen your threads on here.
Bike on one shoulder only if it's reasonably light - cross / gravel / xc mtb. If you're physically strong this is the comfiest way, but needs the bike to have an open front triangle.
Pushing is best for most mtb on easy to med gradients.
For steeps or steps then mtb inverted with downtube flat over the shoulders is the best technique. Particularly good for a heavier bike, or when you're facing a prolonged hike section.
Downtube across shoulders, RH crank in right hand, RH fork leg in left hand.
I'm usually ok, even before I took up running.
Practice makes perfect.
sounds like you need to do some squats and some exercises to strengthen your core - this will help you keep your balance when loaded up unnaturally.
other than that, start small, take your time and don’t be afraid to rest often
No. It’s against my beliefs to use feet where wheels can go
Hill reps will help. If not running, at least power walking.
Have you tried getting stronger and fitter in general? In the gym, PT sessions, Boot camps, CrossFit, etc? And generally hiking over similar terrain with a heavier load to simulate the weight of the bike. A bike is always going to be a bit harder than a pack as it’s awkward and cumbersome but there won’t be any substitute for increased strength and stamina. Get a 16kg kettlebell or dumbbell and do lots and lots of squats.
I know people love to hate on it but CrossFit or another functional fitness gym/classes does wonders for both strength and fitness. It’s helped me improve in every sport I do (swimming, kayaking, MTB, road biking, climbing, hiking, mountaineering and general dad duties).
There’s a fair amount of technique, but a lot of it is determination IMV.
If you’re going to carry it on your shoulders it’s best to have a ruck sack with shoulder straps for padding rather than a hip pack.
The mistake I think people make is that they keep stopping to catch their breath rather than walking at a slower, but more consistent pace.
If you’re pushing, have the bike on the downhill side of the path from you. On steeper bits I tend to use it like an expensive walking frame, roll it up, apply back brake, use it to stabilise yourself and pull yourself up, repeat.
I prefer to push if possible but that’s because I tend to ride packless or with a hip pack, which makes carrying unpleasant. Carrying is generally quicker in harder terrain.
How do people manage it? What training would you suggest other than actually doing it, opportunities being limited?
How much do you weigh OP? All this stuff is proportional to bodyweight. It's significantly easier for a 95kg rider to sling a 15kg bike on their back than it is for someone who weighs, say, 70kg, yet it's usually talked about on here as some sort of absolute value rather than a relative one.
I'm not saying you can't carry or push a bike if you're lighter than average, but it's relatively harder all other things being equal.
Beyond that, get stronger and practice would be my take. I'd also say 6kg is quite heavy for a mountain bike daypack, but it's always a balance between carrying enough to be safe and how much you're prepared to spend on really light, top quality kit.
For me having a backpack designed with carrying in mind (Deuter Transalp) makes a massive difference as the bike will just sit on it and I don't necessarily need to hold on to it. I strength train specifically with pushing and carrying in mind and I practice carrying for specific trips. A combination of walks with a rucksack with upto 15kg of jerrycans with water (so I can ditch the load if I have to) and carrying my bike up some of the hills on my normal rides. I start light/ short and gradually work my way up. Once fitness allows I seek out rides with an opportunity for carrying. It doesn't really become easier but you will get further faster!
I've always found I'm disproportionately slow at pushing bikes. People who I can pedal faster than are often faster at pushing. I am on the lighter side, which I'd not really considered.
How much do you weigh OP? All this stuff is proportional to bodyweight. It’s significantly easier for a 95kg rider to sling a 15kg bike on their back than it is for someone who weighs, say, 70kg,
The 95kg rider is already carting an extra 25kg up the hill and it's not usually the 70kg guys I see struggling to carry a bike.
The 95kg rider is already carting an extra 25kg up the hill and it’s not usually the 70kg guys I see struggling to carry a bike.
So hire a small child to carry your bike because their all up weight will still be low?
Only if they’re made of blubber
It doesn't matter what they're made of, a 95kg rider is still carrying 25kg more than a 70kg rider.
I get your point that there will be a point where a rider just doesn't have the necessary muscle mass but that's not 70kg and being 95kg is no advantage. Getting a bike up onto your back is (or should be) mostly down to technique and after that it's just down to fitness.
A team of small children might work.
Oompah loompah doopity dill,
We’re gonna push you up this hill.
It doesn’t matter what they’re made of, a 95kg rider is still carrying 25kg more than a 70kg rider.
Arguably it does matter. If they have a really high body fat percentage far more of that excess weight is useless blubber, plus bigger people tend to have stronger legs to cope with the extra weight they're carrying. But yes, agree that fitness and strength are a bigger factor, but - for example - even a fit, strong 55kg woman is going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to carrying a similar weight bike uphill compared to a fit, strong 80kg bloke.
+1 on a rucksack that helps carry and spread load.
+1 on hill reps with a load on.
+1 on running.
+1 on toughen up princess....
Col de la Mousiere carrying a 25kg Specialized Levo nearly ended me. It was so bad that in reflective enjoyment I thought "It can't have been that bad!", so went and did it again. It was that bad. I think I hallucinated at the Col.
Last time I climbed straight up the bowl on the west side. That was still physically hard, even on the Levo, but ridable. A full squad of Pyrenean Mountain Dogs (at least 9, plus 2 Collies) made it a memorable ride. Asseye toi!
I climbed Cairngorm via Fiacaill Ridge, with the bike (Giant Reign) strapped to my back and the wheels in my hands, using them like walking sticks. It meant I wasn't always carrying the weight, and they provided stability and balance. It worked well. Never go through the Chalamain Gap with a bike though, and defo not in the snow. 3D cold, slippy, rocky, wrestle-a-bike.
Agree with those above that suggest rounding out your exercise with some bodyweight stuff but I'll also add that hikeabike also requires a sunny disposition, it's just not everyone's cup of tea.
I wouldn't want to do it every ride but I find it very satisfying occasionally.
After our first time round the 4 passes I said never again but I enjoyed it even more the second time.
I find getting the bike off my shoulder the hardest part so I try and find a high spot to place it on.
Particularly memorable slogs for us were the push up Gasgale Crags heading towards Grizedale, I presume that we took the wrong path. And pushing up the grassy slope up Little Tongue to Grizedale Tarn.
Solid compound strength work is important, but technique matters too. Something I've learnt in the military is to make the movement as efficient as possible. So, on a hike a bike use every bit of assistance possible. What that means in practice is use every step, ledge, hole possible to reduce the need to take massive lever-like striding lunges. It looks a bit odd because you often end up taking weird little twisting routes up stuff with quick tiny steps, when the obvious choice is to take one big stride. Taking little steps means you keep your cadence up and therefore your speed whilst not rinsing your energy in big exhausting strides.
Works for me anyway. Give it a whirl.
I don't do any training at all for it, and I do a fair whack. My upper body isn't muscly. I do ride my bike absolutely loads, though.
I don't get to ride in the lakes much. Once a year maybe?
My Lakeland dwelling mates carry their bikes on their shoulders. I almost exclusively push.
Special training= repeatedly Carrying boxes of exercise books and text books up the stairs at work.
Other helpful special training- carrying a toddler everywhere 👶
Child one-4 years old. Child 2 - 2 months old.
I had forgotten how hard constantly doing stuff with a baby on one shoulder is.
Progress is slow, my legs tire quickly, it’s an effort to keep balance, and I’ll sweat profusely. After a while I’ll resort to pushing/lifting which is probably more work overall and less efficient, but is less demanding in the moment. Once I get where I’m going, I’ll be so knackered that my riding is crap.
I stop and take regular breathers. It's not like I'm racing up hill.
Sweating profusely- if its terrain for carrying, it's going to be hard work
Have a snack and a rest at the top of the carry?
Oh yeah, forgot another one, when pushing the arm nearest the bike pushes on the steerer tube with my elbow locked into my (generously proportioned) stomach, so that I’m not pushing with my arms at full extension.
An oldie trick - take a bit of cord or a strap. Loop it around the seatpost and your belt/rucksack waist strap. Then your arms are really only "guiding" the bike and not pushing it. Also - a short strap around the crank arm and chainstay will stop the cranks rotating and bashing your shins/calfs.
If you know you're going to hike a bike, don't put if off until the very last second and blow up in the process. Get walking earlier.
I have the positioning and technique sorted.
Strength I've just been doing bodyweight stuff at home with no equipment - pressups, pullups, squats, situps. I haven't been hiking with a heavily ballasted rucksack although the water idea would make this feasible as I can drop it before the descent to save my knees.
How much do you weigh OP? All this stuff is proportional to bodyweight. It’s significantly easier for a 95kg rider to sling a 15kg bike on their back than it is for someone who weighs, say, 70kg, yet it’s usually talked about on here as some sort of absolute value rather than a relative one.
70kg, bike weighs 16kg. So my total load with that and a 6kg rucksack is 22kg, 31% of my bodyweight.
The 95kg rider is already carting an extra 25kg up the hill
doesn’t matter what they’re made of, a 95kg rider is still carrying 25kg more than a 70kg rider.
Hmmm sort of, but not the whole story. Remember that the heavier rider would generally have a chunk of that 25kg in the carrying part of the equation rather than the carried.
Not particularly relevant if they're both carrying just bodyweight, but as soon as you add 20kg of luggage then the it makes a disproportionate difference to the lighter person in general. Though I think this would be more noticeable in the 55kg Anorak versus 80kg me situation, rather than the 80kg versus hypothetical 95kg you were describing.
Why do you think weight lifting is split into categories...
And if we reducto ad almost absurdum it, my 11 year old son was never going to get his 15kg full Susser up the Devil's Staircase despite being pretty damn fit...
Which probably partially explains why HaB didn't bother me up until 2 years ago.... I'd had 5 years of having to get 3 bikes and kids up the bloody hills
Getting a bike up onto your back is (or should be) mostly down to technique and after that it’s just down to fitness.
Nope. It is once you are a certain strength and size, but not below that size.
Never go through the Chalamain Gap with a bike though
Hmph. The one and only time I HaBd the gap I did it five times in quick succession. Though strictly speaking two of them were just Hs rather than HaBs 🤩
Oh, and the other thing that really works for me is counting steps. I need around 600-700 steps in HaB terrain to ascend 100 m so I find counting them tends to take my mind off it. Amazing how quickly the 700 comes around a couple of times, and if you need more than 1 set more then you're clearly on the wrong route, or not in the UK.
Yes, I know Macdui from llairig Grhu etc etc,
Something not mentioned so far, I think is the suggestion to duct tape a section of pipe lagging to your down tube above the BB, so that when it does rest on you rather than your bag, you have padding.
I'll often put it there before setting off and leave it all day, especially if the climb is as fierce as, say, Carn Liath..
25kg sand bag across your shoulders. Grip it with your hands. Climb big hill. It's harder than a ruck sack as you have to balance it and you work on your grip strength too.
When I trained for a obstacle race marathon I had my mate Sacky McSackface. One training session involved carrying it on a double summit with a saddle in the middle. Climbed the first, then down to the saddle. Dropped the sack. Scrambled up the second, ran round to the first again, up and back down to the saddle to collect the sack, climb back up the second and back down and back to the car. Torturous, but good training.
This sounds familiar to me, I hate hike a bike because I suck at it so I avoid it so I get worse at it so I hate it even more. The solution's basically obvious I think, do more of it, work on those specific bits of strength, learn the technique, git gud and it'll be less awful.
But the reality is, that'll take ages and be loads of effort and in the end it'll still be rubbish, only perverts like hike a bike. So I will carry on not doing it and sucking at it and instead ride the countless brilliant trails that you can ride to the top of like an actual bicyclist, or in extremis push
This would be a very niche thing to focus training on. I'd be inclined to just deal / suffer with it when it occurs.
The sort of training mentioned above would benefit most cyclists anyway, especially as they age, so it's not exactly wasted effort.
Anyone gone from not being able to, to being able to?
I borrowed one of those mounting hooks that strap to your camelback once. (sorry I forget the name of it) and it was night-and-day in terms of fatigue. Yes you're still carrying the weight of the bike, but it's securely located, doesn't move nearly as much, and you're not having to actively keep it in place with your arms raised up uncomfortably - my belief about much of the fatigue of hike-a-bike is the work you have to do just to keep it balanced across your shoulders. It made a massive difference - like walking with poles and not kinda difference. If I lived somewhere where I had to hike-a-bike more often I would totally get one. I'll do some googling, see if I can find it.
There's always that Restrap Hike-a-Bike Harness thing, which presumably - I've never used one - takes some of the 'how do you comfortably position a bike on your back' technique stuff out of the equation. Looks interesting.
https://restrap.com/collections/accessories/products/hike-a-bike-harness
I also wonder - and don't laugh - if lightweight trekking poles would help. I'm not a pole-using person generally, but if you're lugging an expedition pack loaded with a week's worth of camping gear, food and climbing kit around at high altitude, they come in really useful for staying in balance (note, I'm not arguing that somehow you use your arms to haul yourself around, I think it's more about balance helping your core stay consistently engaged rather than lurching around), it just makes everything more efficient.
I've never tried this with hike-a-bike stuff, but I don't see why, in combination with something like Restrap harness, it wouldn't work reasonably well. You'd need compact poles you could fit in your pack mind and a long-ish section or sections of carrying to make it work, but the principle seems sound.
Hmmm sort of, but not the whole story. Remember that the heavier rider would generally have a chunk of that 25kg in the carrying part of the equation rather than the carried.
Not particularly relevant if they’re both carrying just bodyweight, but as soon as you add 20kg of luggage then the it makes a disproportionate difference to the lighter person in general. Though I think this would be more noticeable in the 55kg Anorak versus 80kg me situation, rather than the 80kg versus hypothetical 95kg you were describing.
Why do you think weight lifting is split into categories…
Hike a bike isn't a strength exercise though (assuming your back can handle it), it's an endurance/cardio exercise.
There's no 95kg people winning hill climbs because after about a dozen reps the strength of your legs is irrelevant...
There’s always that Restrap Hike-a-Bike Harness thing
Yeah that's the thing that comes up when I google it. The one I used was a soft foam semi-rigid (stop giggling at the back) that located around the top of the straps of your rucksack and had a device which attached the bike frame, which then slotted into the hook on the rucksack. It was brilliant for a long hike-a-bike that I used it for.
Hike a bike isn’t a strength exercise though (assuming your back can handle it), it’s an endurance/cardio exercise.
I'm not sure it's that simple. I vaguely recall reading that your muscles work slightly differently once they're subjected to extra load, eg when climbing stairs carrying a heavy weight, so it may be that muscular strength is more relevant when loaded in this way and a significant factor in addition to muscular endurance and aerobic fitness.
My experience of toting bloody great mountaineering packs up big, steep mountains bears this out subjectively. Being stronger helps disproportionately ime, when loads increase.
Short of some sort of study into hike-a-biking though, I'm not sure you can come up with a definitive answer.
Definitely easier for a bigger/stronger person to carry a heavy load, than for a smaller/weaker person. That's not to say the heavier person will be actually be quicker, but the added load will normally slow them down less.
Hook-a-bike is another option. Although mines been in a drawer for a couple of years now...
https://pushcomponents.com/produkt/hookabike/?lang=en
The other really important thing in hike a bike is the word patience... Take the ultra runners' approach to hill climbing. Slow down quite a bit, take your time and don't thrash at it, that'll only make you more tired, faster..
I agree with all of the comments about adding core and upper body strength though. Helps massively, both on the up and on the subsequent down, when you're going to be in better shape to appreciate it all the more.
Hook a bike!
That's the fella. Worked well 👍
Hike a' bike is all in the mind, if you revel in suffering for your art it pays dividends!
The last bastion, where technology will not help. no cutting corners, just blood sweat and tears, once the summit is reached the view unfolds, the joy of the descent awaits, a great leveler.
There’s no 95kg people winning hill climbs because after about a dozen reps the strength of your legs is irrelevant…
As is your point. Once again, we aren't talking about bodyweight exercise here, we're talking about adding a percentage on top. In the case of a smaller person, a huge percentage.
If the hill climbs were done with people carrying large and extremely unwieldy weights then...
As is your point. Once again, we aren’t talking about bodyweight exercise here, we’re talking about adding a percentage on top. In the case of a smaller person, a huge percentage.
If the hill climbs were done with people carrying large and extremely unwieldy weights then
I'm 65kg and I'd definitely fancy my chances in a hike-a-bike race against someone 20 or 30kg heavier than me. Why? Well firstly experience of having been out on the hill with big, muscly guys and usually being quicker than them but mainly because I'm hill fit which is nothing to do with muscle bulk. Those same guys would of course absolutely destroy me on any max weight contest (say 1-5 reps) but that's not what hike-a-bike is.
Obviously there's a limit and a tiny person is going to struggle humphing a bike around but IMO it's much more to do with general fitness than strength.
My assumption is that carrying your bike uphill (as there seem to be different definitions of hike-a-bike kicking around) requires a certain level of strength and toning to comfortably lift and manage the bike - and then decent cardio fitness to progress upwards.
As a shorter-legged individual, I also feel I have a slight disadvantage at it.
As a shorter-legged individual, I also feel I have a slight disadvantage at it.
Ah, so a lower centre of gravity and thus better balance with a bike on your back. (wink)
I'm pretty sure everyone's got a disadvantage at some point or other when they're hike-a-biking. At six foot and 75 kilos, I can hoik a heavy bike around much more easily than my much shorter, 55-kilo wife but she's unstoppable once she's actually managed to wrangle a bike on to her shoulders and set off up a hill.
I’m 65kg and I’d definitely fancy my chances in a hike-a-bike race against someone 20 or 30kg heavier than me. Why? Well firstly experience of having been out on the hill with big, muscly guys and usually being quicker than them but mainly because I’m hill fit which is nothing to do with muscle bulk. Those same guys would of course absolutely destroy me on any max weight contest (say 1-5 reps) but that’s not what hike-a-bike is.
Who would 'win' if you had to carry them up the hill or vice versa? I bet it would be you 🙂
Joking aside, there's clearly a bunch of stuff going on with this - cardio vascular fitness, carrying technique, walking technique, core strength, localised muscular endurance, gradient, determination/mentality, relative load etc, etc. Some heavier people will be fast, some won't, ditto lighter people. It's clearly not just going to depend on weight or any other single factor.
I have a weird observation that maybe someone a bit more anatomically minded can either confirm or debunk:
When I have to get off and either push or carry across the back, the first ten minutes are excruciatingly slow and hard, even if I was riding effortlessly. I have a theory that hiking uphill is more hamstring dominant for me than riding which is more quad dominant. So I have been spinning or grinding away no bother, but not activating y hammies very much so they are not as warmed up as the rest of me. Combined with the added core stresses it does take me a while to get into the rhythm of it.
I remember a particularly grim day out was carrying up Carn Liath on Beinn a' Ghlo up all those bloody steps. Took me until about half way up to feel like I wasn't made of wooden planks nailed together.
I've done more hillwalking and added a few different posterior chain exercises to my routine over the past couple years and I do feel as if it's not too bad at all now.
When I have to get off and either push or carry across the back, the first ten minutes are excruciatingly slow and hard, even if I was riding effortlessly. I have a theory that hiking uphill is more hamstring dominant for me than riding which is more quad dominant. So I have been spinning or grinding away no bother, but not activating y hammies very much so they are not as warmed up as the rest of me. Combined with the added core stresses it does take me a while to get into the rhythm of it.
I (infrequently) do more stretches and such - because walking and cycling are so different in muscle use and flexibility needed.
sounds like you need to do some squats and some exercises to strengthen your core – this will help you keep your balance when loaded up unnaturally.
Core work is always a good thing. It's surprisingly easy to adapt to a really weak core, and after that it won't get stronger as the muscles get lazy. Glute bridges, hip thrusts, and one legged variations of those might help wake up a lazy core.
Although for hike a bike I'd say something more like floor to overhead dumbbell press might be closer to carrying a bike on the shoulder.
Add unweighted single legged glute bridges or hip thrusts to your warmup routine at the gym before the main lifts, 3x 20 reps. Then use the floor to overheads as a finisher, as many reps as you can in 90seconds of a weight heavy enough to slow you down (i.e. it should be <20 reps), alternating sides, rest, stretch a bit, repeat.
I have a theory that hiking uphill is more hamstring dominant for me than riding which is more quad dominant.
+1, I've been trying to resolve some issues and I've concluded that even though I can RDL 100kg for fun (my coach was mildly concerned when I sent her the video and hadn't unloaded the bar from the deadlifts!), my posterior chain and abs are really lazy. I.e it might not actually be my hip flexors giving me an anterior pelvic tilt. They are tight, but I'm suspecting it might be because they're not working against much normally.
This is sponsored but shows the Hookabike in use.
But there's no shortcut for me other than hard training.
It'd be interesting to try the Hookabike, I don't think I'd take a punt on it untried though.
That looks like hell if I'm honest. I'm no expert but I have a little experience of walking up hills with heavy thing strapped to my back, popular pastime in my old job.
But the saving grace was getting the weight as high as possible under the top flap, I think I'd find having a bike hanging off the back of my low pack an absolute grind and counter to effective uphill movement, it's basically trying to pull you backwards the entire way.
As for the weight/height convo above. I've seen very small people fly up hills with heavy things as have I seen very tall people.
All round physical conditioning is key as well as a good mindset because it's a grind. The brain always gives up before the muscles do.
The brain always gives up before the muscles do.
Didn't Nims Purja say something like, 'when you think you are ****ed you are actually only 40% ****ed'
Aye, blokes like Nims are built different.
I've seen many a fit bod (of all sizes) pile in on phys, definitely done it myself when I was younger before a more mature mindset was nurtured.
You've just got to embrace the suck and keep pushing, being physically fit and conditioned for the activity is important but so is having a strong head game to come with the discomfort.
When you think you're ****ed, you're actually just 45% ****ed.
I do 360s with a macebell and it is extremely good at shoulder/upper body and core strength all in one time efficient exercise:
and
https://youtube.com/shorts/2o7dEiynKL8?si=-OAS5meZBIX3wW-e
yesterday was the first time I tried rucking, where you put extra weight in your rucksack and go hiking, preferably up something steep.
enjoyed it so much I've bought a rucking specific rucksack from here, which looks outstanding value compared to the other strong packs out there :
https://www.yomp.store/collections/bags-rucking-backpacks/products/yomp-backpack-shadow-black
They also sell the weight plates, and also shoulder moonted sandbags which might also be good for endurance training :
https://www.yomp.store/products/yomp-basic-training-sandbag
It’d be interesting to try the Hookabike
My view on all these fancy gizmos is the same as my mate said to the barmaid when she offered him a tray to carry his beers...
" No thanks, I've got enough to carry already,"
I think I’d find having a bike hanging off the back of my low pack an absolute grind
Yep. The difference was that you didn't have to actively hold it there using your arms. Obviously you're still carrying a 15kg bike, but at least it stays put by itself, and you're not being constantly being pulled off balance by having to hold it across your shoulders with your arms up behind your head.
When you get the bike balanced in just the right spot on your back, it's sooooo much easier than pushing.
Perhaps those gadgets make that easier to achieve consistently, or perhaps they don't.
But if they did, I'd give it a go (if I lived in the Lakes or Highlands).
What do people think of the relative effort involved in pushing/occasionally carrying a bike on that sort of interim slope where it's not impossible relative to actual hike-a-biking with the bike on your back?
Obviously if I did more weighted mace, super heavy core training and deadlifted e-bikes regularly I'd just tuck the bike under one arm and run up the slope chanting 'no gain, no pain, feel the burn etc, etc'
I do 360s with a macebell
Looks cool but I wouldn't risk it indoors and not without wearing a helmet!
What do people think of the relative effort involved in pushing/occasionally carrying a bike on that sort of interim slope where it’s not impossible relative to actual hike-a-biking with the bike on your back?
I read you're asking about pushing and occasionally picking it up by your side, vs. getting it on your shoulders for a good stint. The problem I find with the former is you're carrying a heavy thing by your side but need both arms, and the leg on that side does a lot of the work. And you have the same problem as pushing on narrower trails where either you or the bike can go on the worn-in path, you end up having to lift it higher to clear rocks etc.
Push the MTB for me whenever it is reasonable to do so. Problem is the hike-a-bike we all enjoy will usually throw in obstacles that get you lifting it hither and yon, so you wonder if you were just better off carrying it. But for a smooth-ish mid grade then push feels way easier for me.
Cross bike can go on the shoulder all day, but MTB isn't great on one shoulder after a bit ime. Front triangle not designed for it, you can wrap your arm to hold the bars but not perfectly, bit heavy etc etc Bunch of sub-optimal stuff that doesn't matter for 10 minutes but is aggravating for the more fun hike-a-bikes. And I CBA with hoisting it proper over both shoulders if it's not steep.
I ticked Kinder plateau circuit on a cross bike because the MTB I wanted to take, with B+ tyres that I thought would be good, had some silly problem. Recollect being a bit annoyed riding over the flags from Chunal that I wasn't on the right bike, but 5 mins into the circuit it was clear I was on the perfect bike. Unrideable / rideable with little inbetween is good for a cross bike.