UKC

climbing Hardknott Pass now on ch24!

In reply to Sean Kelly:

He did say 33%, didn't he? Not sure I could get up that on my road bike, even with a compact on...

In reply to Sean Kelly:

Damn, forgot about it, but all the previous segments are on the website http://thecycleshow.co.uk/ under features

In reply to rousse:

Rosely Bar gets up to that sort of steepness, as does Winnat's, whilst it's not pleasant, and much gurning occurs it was OK for me on a compact

In reply to Sean Kelly:

He did keep calling it Hardknotts Pass

I'm surprised he didn't claim it was "in the Peaks" for good measure!

In reply to Sean Kelly:
I once passed a bloke going up on a kids single speed! He's knees were sticking out the side like bat wings, going a hunder RPM, wery funny. It was for charity, when I asked him how he was doing he said it was easier than the last time he did it.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Do you mean Rowsley Bar ? Not sure that get's past 25%. IIRC Riber Hall is steeper (did them both on the same day) and haven't found anything steeper in the peak. Rosedale Chimney (NYM) may be steeper - particularly if you take the bends on the inside, but did it on a MTB so hard to compare

In reply to Chris the Tall:

I thought Rosedale Chimney was reckoned to be the steepest road in the UK? There's a street in Harlech that is steeper but it's downhill only even though it's in one of the "Hundred Climbs" books.

Rosedale Chimney used to be on my commute! Not on a bike though and like yourself I've only done it on an MTB.

In reply to Bob:

There's a road over Abberley Hill in North Worcestershire which I ridden over three times now, it's definitely the steepest tarmac I've ridden. This Strava segment seems to suggest there is a 25% section http://www.strava.com/segments/6799294 It made me think about the gearing on my road bike. I have a triple on the front so I guess my bike has a reasonably low lowest gear (haven't counted teeth to really work it out). But I could only just pedal up this section. Not sure if I could do any steeper!

In reply to Chris the Tall:
To be fair I was going by what the garmin was telling me. It definitely isn't as steep for as long as winnats, and it was probably due to GPS walk it showed that steep

In reply to TobyA:

I did this - http://www.strava.com/segments/2563448 a couple of weeks ago. The overall gradient is 11% but the first couple of hundred metres are flat and the gradient eases when you leave the tarmac. But the tarmac section is the most sustained steep gradient I've been on. It probably doesn't drop below 20% for nearly a kilometre, it was a constant struggle to keep both the front wheel on the deck and traction on the back wheel. Climbs never look very steep in photos - this one does. The MTB guidebook we were following gave it the easiest grade

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Does your Garmin tell you the max gradient ? I looked for that on my Edge 800, but all it has is current gradient. Likewise Strava will show the average gradient of a segment, but not the max.

Veloviewer.com does to show the max gradient, but it doesn't seem too reliable - it was showing 360% on one segment. Though if you play around you seem to get better results, but could easily lose an afternoon !

In reply to Bob:


Funnily, the first time i did the climb i linked I remember thinking that - I was on a MTB but the last two times that wasn't a problem, it was just hard to keep the pedals turning! But I did wonder if its something to do with the wheel base or some such between the two types of bikes.

In reply to Chris the Tall:
Haven't looked for it, I just have current gradient on one my screens. I think training centre (the pc software) does though

Mine is also an edge 800

In reply to TobyA: I rode Hardknott and Wrynose the first time on my MTB. On the really steep bits I struggled to keep the front wheel down and had to sit right on the nose of the saddle. Disc brakes were handy on the way down though.

I thought that the front wheel lifting would be worse on my road bike but when I rode Hardknott and Wrynose again, this time on my road bike, it was much more stable. Braking was much more sketchy!

In reply to balmybaldwin:
GPS gradient isn't all that accurate as it relies on triangulating your position, which gets worse the slower you go so on steep stuff is less reliable. However, dedicated GPS are much better than phones and are thereabouts on steep climbs, within -/+ 5% IME.

In reply to TobyA:

It's probably body position - you sit in a more upright manner and further back on an MTB.

In reply to Sean Kelly:

As I said, you can easily lose an afternoon on http://veloviewer.com

Some recent rides:

There was a lot of pushing on this one:
http://s3.veloviewer.com/3d/a162290388.png

MTB and Road in the Peak
http://s3.veloviewer.com/3d/a117466006.png
http://s3.veloviewer.com/3d/a137831250.png

And this ends up looking a bit flat - it wasn't !
http://s3.veloviewer.com/3d/a154171888.png