I had a breakthrough! Hills are my friends!

[pinkbikes]

Hey, great work! Sounds like you've got it

I too have one uphill trail that i'd like to do well on.

I think i might have partially solved an uphill issue...I use my roadie as a mtb training tool and always stay in the saddle uphill. I only had a double and was just getting really frustrated with not being able to spin esp on any steep hills in the city. Anywho, i made the call to my lovely bike shop boys & they put a compact double on my roadie this week. Tried it today & was able to get up a really steep hill that I would normally have to walk because of the grade.

I think part of my hill climbing issues off road may have been solved with the new roadie crank...Story to be continued

Oh - now that's really interesting, because all my hill issues were born from my young and image-conscious days trying to ride my old roadie with a 13-18 on the back! I could barely get up a driveway I swear! But it was what all the guys were riding in the club I was with and I was young and impressionable and thought I should be able to ride it! So I rode that bike with that bunch of gears for twenty years and hated every hill I clawed my way over! When I bought my new roadie it had a sensible bunch of gears on the back and all of a sudden I could punt over things with ease that had caused me angst in the past. Imagine my delight when I got my MTB and had more gears than I knew what to do with!

So - yes - I think you are definitely on the right track there with a set of gears that suit you better (whichever end of the chain you attack it from).

[OakLeaf]

Oh - now that's really interesting, because all my hill issues were born from my young and image-conscious days trying to ride my old roadie with a 13-18 on the back!

Too funny...

in my young days my training rear wheel had a 13-21, my race bike had a 13-18 and my small chainring was a 42, and climbing hills was so much fun I used to go back to the bottom and climb it again, sometimes twice, instead of waiting at the top for the rest of my training buddies...

now I'm old and feeble and my bottom gear is a 30x25 and hills just kick my *ss.

Anyway, great job on your breakthrough. I do love hills. Really, I miss them all winter. But they kick my *ss.

[pinkbikes]

Too funny...

in my young days my training rear wheel had a 13-21, my race bike had a 13-18 and my small chainring was a 42, and climbing hills was so much fun I used to go back to the bottom and climb it again, sometimes twice, instead of waiting at the top for the rest of my training buddies...

now I'm old and feeble and my bottom gear is a 30x25 and hills just kick my *ss.

Anyway, great job on your breakthrough. I do love hills. Really, I miss them all winter. But they kick my *ss.

You rock! I had a 42-52 on the front and I hated every minute of every hill I climbed on that sucker I think! Now my lowest is a 39-27 and I can get up all my old nemeses!

I think I'm doing the opposite of you - I was a feeble young person and I'm getting better as I get older! How long can that last I wonder? Make hay while the sun shines I figure!


PS: I might be liking them better but I don't think I'll EVER miss hills!

[OakLeaf]

I don't think I'll EVER miss hills!

Ride in the flats for four months, you'll miss them.

[sgtiger]

Pinkbikes, congrats on conquering your hill! That's awesome!

Now if I could just conquer some of mine.

[GumbyGirl]

Hey Pinkbikes!!!

That is such a cool story and had me grinning from ear to ear . I've been off the bike for 4 months due to illness that's kinda got the better of me. Still not well enough to get out and ride any distance, but that story makes me look forward to it even more than I have been! I've been on the indoor trainer a bit and I'm gonna use your story as imagery to keep me going. Can't wait!

Gumbygirl

[pinkbikes]

Hey Pinkbikes!!!

That is such a cool story and had me grinning from ear to ear . I've been off the bike for 4 months due to illness that's kinda got the better of me. Still not well enough to get out and ride any distance, but that story makes me look forward to it even more than I have been! I've been on the indoor trainer a bit and I'm gonna use your story as imagery to keep me going. Can't wait!

Gumbygirl

Love your name - I recently did a 6hour MTB race and on one lap my DH was right behind me. I managed to fall off twice right in front of him. They were particularly graceless falls - one a gorgeous "superman" kind of a deal where I flew over the bars with arms outstretched - and he told me that if I looked up "gumby" in the dictionary I would see photographs of both those falls! So maybe I should have been a GumbyGirl instead!?

Glad to hear you are still persisting with a little time on the trainer - I'm sure you will find that it pays dividends when you are able to get back out on your bike. The trip back won't be quite so long. Glad to give you a little entertainment while you recuperate. Hope you are better really soon.