Best Climbing Tips (...EVER!)

umberto said:

dont cut it, at least i wouldnt, take some more time to think about it, you will get more and more used to it, its a plus climbing, i think my monkeylite is 26in. 😕 but do whatever suits you 😎

27in just feels too wide for me even after 100 miles of riding. I end up grabbing about an inch into to the grip while riding. I'm just used to 25in which was on my previous bike, so I will cut off an inch on each side and make it into 25incher.

sungchang said:

27in just feels too wide for me even after 100 miles of riding. I end up grabbing about an inch into to the grip while riding. I'm just used to 25in which was on my previous bike, so I will cut off an inch on each side and make it into 25incher.

ok, but accuatly my bar is 27" :p also, not 26" like i thought 🙄

My rear suspension has a fox brain which allows climbing without suspension issues.

Tons of good advice here! I'll have to try the elbow thing.

I've noticed the two variances of styles too. The high rpm group vs the slow grinders. It's definitely up to personal preference on that side as well as depending on the surface. For me, I'm riding mostly here at work which has good pack at the bottom of the hills but massive dust at the top third of the sections(yeah, of course when your lungs are burning and the legs want to quit). Shifting your weight is very key as I've found out many times(burning out the rear tire and taking quite a few digs 😄 ). I'll be trying out my new FS setup so I'll have to readjust for that soon. Yay!

As for the person that asked about hiking or getting back on: I get back on. I hate to quit on a hill...ever. I like to try to ride perpendicular to the hill and start climbing again. It usually works, or I ride back down and try again.

great climbing tips! [img]cyclingforums.comicon10.gifOpen ↗[/img] hey, don't be affraid to self motovate with a little grunting. Concentrating on your path. seeing only in front of you,everything else is black.

gt id 1.0 is a great start.[img]cyclingforums.comicon14.gifOpen ↗[/img]

i'm amazed that none of you have mentioned cranksets. if there is one thing and one thing only that you can do to your bike that will improve your climbing it's getting a stiffer crankset. still riding your oldschool square taper stamped crankset? try an xt, xtr, raceface cold forged, or any reputable company cold forged crankset, with an isis (or octilink) splined bb. you will instantly notice efficiency gains. drive train efficiency loss on climbs is high. when i installed my xt crank and xtr bb, i climbed my bike up a flight of 14 steps, effortlessly.as for the rider, obviously smaller gears help. try this for very, very steep, technical climbs: a wider, riser bar, keep your rists out and down, but stand, and push and pull the front of your bike up and over obstacles, as if you were bouncing up it on a pogo stick, while keeping cadence of course. if there are a lot of close obstacles and you need constant torque, try ratcheting your cranks. learning how to shift your body weight forward and backward is crucial.

I'm not an expert but I believe spinning is maintaining a cadence higher than 85. The best road racers are spinners.

Hardtail said:

You can laugh if you want to.... but what's spin? Maybe I know the swedish word, but please explain what it is...