I found this very interesting, especially the story about the bike with mudguards. True Grit!
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/2021-hill-climb-national-championships-bikes/?fbclid=IwAR1OjQDS-OzDcXjwoLQEX0jE9KhPc4_KFtgtrKPmy1PLWXoqaa_g4jOjN4U

Agreed. A nice read. Thanks.

I found this very interesting, especially the story about the bike with mudguards. True Grit!

Only the top 2 this year beat it’s winning time from ‘66 too. Goes to show how necessary all the high end tech is… The irony of me posting this is not lost on me.

Conditions were foul though on Sunday. We had 9 riders from the club competing and a bus load went up to support, and it looked even worse spectating I think!

Goes to show how necessary all the high end tech is

Not really, riders in 1966 would have been all over a 4.7kg bike if such a thing had existed, I’m sure. Having read the article though there’s not a lot of modern tech on those things.

Conditions were foul though on Sunday. We had 9 riders from the club competing and a bus load went up to support, and it looked even worse spectating I think!

Absolutely, I was going to ride out to spectate but it was truly horrible weather. Extra respect for those competing.

The other thing is that the wind direction at Winnat’s can make or break it. If a (n unusual) south-easterly wind funnels up the pass it would make a huge difference. Sunday was very windy, but I don’t know what the direction was.

All depends what you call modern/high end.

To me a 700g carbon frame is modern and high end
a set of carbon rimmed wheels that weigh 1000g are modern and high end
The other components are just a case of choosing the lightest which can be older so no longer high end

I suppose ultimately though is what difference, in seconds, does a few KGs in weight matter for a 900m race even if it is all uphill. The thing here is that a rider in 1966 was as fast as a rider in 2021 (with presumably improved methods of training)

I suppose ultimately though is what difference, in seconds, does a few KGs in weight matter for a 900m race even if it is all uphill.

Quite a bit I’d imagine, given that it’s a race, it’s a steep hill and you can win or lose by tenths.

I was there spectating and supporting a mate who rode it.

Weather was horrible, it made it through my waterproof jacket and trousers.

Wind was (just about) pushing people up hill.

The vast range of bikes and riders there showed that its 99% person & 1% bike.

Absolutely, I was going to ride out to spectate but it was truly horrible weather. Extra respect for those competing.

The other thing is that the wind direction at Winnat’s can make or break it. If a (n unusual) south-easterly wind funnels up the pass it would make a huge difference. Sunday was very windy, but I don’t know what the direction was.

I did ride out and yes, it was one of the wettest rides I’ve ever done. I had two waterproofs on, the top one wetted out on the slog up Rushup Edge.

Winnats, very unusually, had a tailwind up it although the bottom half was actually very sheltered.

I’m surprised that, on a fully closed road, CTT kept their “all bikes must have a working rear light fitted” rule. I can understand it for a TT down a dual carriageway, very sensible, but on a completely closed road it seems a bit overkill.

I wondered that too.

Quite a bit I’d imagine, given that it’s a race, it’s a steep hill and you can win or lose by tenths.

The 1st/2nd places are never split by tenths though. Seems to be more like 2 – 10 seconds.

Anyway, the 1966 win was still impressive on what guessing would be a 3kg heavier bike and the winner rode 65 miles to get there.

No argument there.

Anyway, the 1966 win was still impressive on what guessing would be a 3kg heavier bike and the winner rode 65 miles to get there.

Those were the days. I remember doing club hill climbs in/around the North Downs. A lot of the South London clubs had “their” climb somewhere along that ridge. Ours was known within the club as Titsey Hill although that is actually the main road, the climb the club used was White Lane, a little side road.

Catford CC had theirs on York Hill near Sevenoaks so it was often a double header. You’d race one, ride along the ridge to the next and then race that. Then ride home.

Interesting stuff. I like that at “5.7kg, Bell’s bike doesn’t stand out as particularly extraordinary…” – but check the damn thighs on him! 😀

Catford CC had theirs on York Hill

The oldest cycle race still going isn’t it?
Double headers are still a thing down here (I used to organise a HC up leith hill).

Nice wee article, must confess I didn’t realise BikeRadar did those sort of articles, thought it was all just short reviews and adverts…

I did a ‘double header’ recently when I rode a 100km loop around the Cowal Peninsula with a heinous steep wee climb at the bottom (Clachan of Glendaruel) then drove to the Oban Sportive hill climb event up to the Cruachan dam. Granted I took the Clachan climb as easy as was possible for an 85kg rider with a 34×28 lowest gear on a steep sustained climb, but none-the-less I think I set a PB on the Cruachan Hill climb later that day.

Given how much modern road tech talks about saving a few watts with bigger jockey wheels and better lube, I wonder what the relative friction is of a singlspeed setup Vs geared? I’m sure it’s probably been tested somewhere but two jockeys wheels under tension and a not always perfect chainline must add a certain amount of extra friction.

The chainline does have an effect, IIRC the efficiency goes from something like 98% straight to about 94% at extremes – and it’s worse if dirty. As for the jockey wheels – not sure, but try spinning the pedals backwards on a SS see if they go for longer than on a geared bike.

The wattage lost from running rear mech is insignificant if you’re stuck in the wrong/incorrect gear!

Having ridden fixed for a long time and only recently got a geared bike I would rather used a fixed gear for a hill climb but the hill needs to be very consistent so the one gear is a good gear for the climb. As that never happens it is better to have a couple of gears to switch around like the steel framed bike in the original link.

13thfloormonk that Clachan of Glendaurel climb is a favourite of mine. Went over it again last month on my way to Tighnabruaich. That’s the view I got once over the top. [url=https://flic.kr/p/2mGish7]4DEAC952-DE35-4641-B0D8-D62AFE391F7F[/url] by Aberdeen_lune, on Flickr" alt="Glendaurel" />

The wattage lost from running rear mech is insignificant if you’re stuck in the wrong/incorrect gear!

Indeed – I did a bikepacking trip the other weekend with a mate who is a much better climber than me, but he was on a singlespeed. If it wasn’t too steep he disappeared up the hill, however once it got too steep he had to get off and push, at which point I caught and often passed him in my 34/46 bottom gear. Although I also used it as an excuse to push as well 🙂

Back in the day (90s) I used to ride both the Catford (Yorks hill) and the Bec (White Hill/Titsey) Hill Climbs. My mate rode his geared road bike for both and I rode fixed wheel. He always beat me in the Catford, as it has a gentler start then gets really steep at the end. I always beat him at the Bec as it is more consistently steep from the bottom.

I used to ride a Gazelle 531C track bike with the fork drilled for a front brake. I think my time for the Bec HC still holds up well today. Nice light fixed wheel bike is great on the right hill.

Cool article. Can’t resist not-quite-name dropping that I did a season of weekly chaingangs with one of the men’s podium riders.

I say chaingang, after a bit it was just sitting on and gritting my teeth ’til I got dropped really.

The chainline does have an effect, IIRC the efficiency goes from something like 98% straight to about 94% at extremes – and it’s worse if dirty. As for the jockey wheels – not sure, but try spinning the pedals backwards on a SS see if they go for longer than on a geared bike.

I’m not sure how valid that can be though.

I’ve got a square taper on my commuter and unloaded it spins forever compared to the FSA Ceramic external BB on my road bike.

I suspect that reverses when standing up swinging your full weight on the carbon cranks + 24mm hollow steel axle, Vs solid but spindly aluminium cranks and skinny steel axle. Any deflection in the ST axle will cause the (metal) bearings to bind slightly. The external BB will both have less flex, and would allow the axle to flex slightly independently of the bearings without binding.

You’d need some very accurate dyno kit to really see what’s happening though. And the trouble is the ~1% diference in efficiency is only going to work if the gradient is perfect (and I guess even parabolic so you can maintain the same speed/cadence as you sprint for the line).

There’s also a bit of familiarity. Even if you got the right gear for the hill, it might make the bike feel “wrong”, if I swap sprockets on my commuter it takes a few rides to mentally bed in. I guess on the geared bike I just start the ride in the gear that gives the correct RPE.

Chris Boardman used to do hillclimbs in a fixed-gear IIRC?

You know there is a tricycle category! Light fixed works for me, but get the gear wrong and it is simply awful.

Chris Boardman used to do hillclimbs in a fixed-gear IIRC?

Lots of people do, the main reason being that the pedals keep turning so there’s less of dead spot at the bottom of the stroke. You can (in theory) ride a slightly higher gear than if you were on a freewheel which is (again in theory) faster. That adds up to far more than theoretical marginal gains of chainline.

However, on a slope of varying steepness or if you get the weather wrong and find you’re riding into a headwind you can end up stuck in the wrong gear.

I didn’t see anyone riding Winnats last week on a fixed or SS but there were quite a few on hacked gears – only 3 or 4 sprockets for example.

Apparently two fixed riders for Winnats according to some Twitter thing the other day, one rode 38*16.

On those courses where you are held upright at the start it can get you “out of the blocks” a bit quicker too