This was good strength training!

[luv2climb]

I was a bit hesitant to post this at first after the keyboard-lashing I received in this thread from people who misinterpreted my OP, but hopefully there isn't anything controversial enough in this video to cause any problems.

Last week my father flew down from Oregon to visit. On his second day here he picked me up, drove to the next town and picked up my mother, and took us up to Amador County in the Sierra foothills. They wanted to look at antiques, so of course I did what any self-respecting cyclist who loves hills would do. I brought a bike along to do some climbing. Since we were in a rented Nissan Altima hybrid sedan with the typical too-small trunk that most newer cars have, I took my 16" wheel 1982 Dahon Da Bike folding bike. Unfortunately it is only a single-speed, so I had to work extra hard on the climbs, which had grades up to 25%. On the steepest climbs I had to weave from one side of the road to the other to make it up. This is the same technique used by riders in LA's Fargo Street Hill Climb, only those riders are using geared bikes as the grade is 33%.

At 1:13 in the video I crashed when the handlebar latch came undone when I attempted to climb out of the saddle. I laughed about it for a while, even after resuming my climb, so don't be surprised when you hear it After that incident I had to do all climbing in the saddle, so it was lots of work! Be forewarned, there is excessive heavy breathing and some NSFW language due to the effort of hauling my fat butt up steep hills on a single-speed. On the steepest part I had so much weight over the rear wheel that the deformation of the tire made it look like it was going flat, which would have sucked as I forgot my pump That caused an NSFW word to be uttered. Luckily it wasn't going flat.

The video features the two steepest climbs on the ride: Amador Creek Road (max 20% grade), and E. School St. (max 25% grade). Both of these are in Amador City.

Garmin Connect data for entire ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/86759779

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow_8b-7AfN4

The old-school handlebar latch:


Dahon Da Bike handlebar latch by kittyz202, on Flickr

My climbing gears:


Dahon Da Bike drivetrain by kittyz202, on Flickr

One of three small creek crossings I encountered before the real climbing began (the last one is featured in the video right before the climbing starts):


creek crossing on Amador Creek Road by kittyz202, on Flickr

Top of steepest climb:


Dahon Da Bike at top of School St climb in Amador City by kittyz202, on Flickr

[tprevost]

Hey, Its me Tracy, from the other forum Do you have that camera on your helmet? Your videos are great, what made you decide to start doing that on your climbing rides?

[alice]

Wow, I'm impressed! I'm a bit of a wimp, so I try to stay off big hills with my 16" wheels. You're the second person I've seen (or heard of) in the last week doing some big climbs on small wheels... maybe that's a sign that I should give it a try. Congrats on making it!

[luv2climb]

Hey, Its me Tracy, from the other forum Do you have that camera on your helmet? Your videos are great, what made you decide to start doing that on your climbing rides?

Hi there I mounted the camera to the handlebars the same way I do on my regular bikes. When I first viewed the videos I noticed that it did look like a helmet cam video. The movement of the bars was very similar to a rider's head LOL!

Last May when I started the weight loss process and all the climbing rides, I thought it would be neat to record all the tough climbs to relive the experience somewhat, and to track improvements (I didn't buy my Garmin until July-Thanks to City Bicycle Works for suggesting it). Even though I have a Garmin to track my progress now, it's still fun to relive my rides.

[luv2climb]

Wow, I'm impressed! I'm a bit of a wimp, so I try to stay off big hills with my 16" wheels. You're the second person I've seen (or heard of) in the last week doing some big climbs on small wheels... maybe that's a sign that I should give it a try. Congrats on making it!

Thanks The 16" wheel bikes climb pretty well. I used to have a 16" wheel 5-speed Dahon Stow-Away that I bought at Target back in 1988. I still kick myself for selling it. In 1992 I climbed Kingsbury Grade (the shorter 3.5 mile Tahoe side) with it, and it did great!

I think I'll just get a new 20" wheel 8-speed Dahon, since it has aluminum rims, quick release wheels, and weighs less than 25 pounds. I'm keeping the 16" wheel bike though. It's still the smallest folding bike.

[luv2climb]

Went to 4 bike shops yesterday looking for a new geared folder (good thing I was on my trike-no gas wasted and plenty of exercise). Found a 7-speed 20" wheel Dahon Speed D7 at REI for $499. Since all bikes are now 15% off, the final price before tax was $424. That was just too good of a deal to pass up, even though it is a 7-speed with nutted axles instead of the 8-speed with quick-release axles (that model is normally $699 retail). After purchasing a rack trunk, bar ends, bottle cage ($2.99-what a steal!), tire liners, new pedals, toe clips, and a spare tube, total cost after tax was still only $585.

A folder on a folder. I am car-lite. Here's proof


Worksman Port-O-Trike carrying Dahon Speed D7 by kittyz202, on Flickr


Worksman Port-O-Trike carrying Dahon Speed D7 by kittyz202, on Flickr

You can see my backpack in the shopping cart stuffed with the accessories (and my sweatshirt). I put it on my back and rode home with no problems. The ride home was almost all MUP, so that was even better.

The bike after I did my usual tweaks and got it set up the way I wanted. The background shows what kind of terrain I tested it on, of course That's what passes for hills around here.


Dahon Speed D7 by kittyz202, on Flickr


Dahon Speed D7 by kittyz202, on Flickr

It climbs great! I look forward to climbing Kingsbury Grade with it someday

[Geonz]

Do you have a picture of the mounting arrangement? I just got a little movie camera myself.

[luv2climb]

Do you have a picture of the mounting arrangement? I just got a little movie camera myself.

Here's one from the days of using a regular digital camera (I use a Kodak Playsport now). It is mounted on my road bike. The mount is a Pedco UltraClamp.


Camera mounted on my bike by kittyz202, on Flickr

[Velocivixen]

I like your post and you inspire me to do hills!

[luv2climb]

I like your post and you inspire me to do hills!

Thank you I love to promote climbing as something that can be fun. Yes it hurts sometimes and it's very hard work, but that's what makes it fun to twisted types like me The reward is the endorphin high, increased strength, decreased weight, a sense of accomplishment, and of course the descent. Climbing also has a rhythm to it that flatland riding doesn't.

[laura*]

You're the second person I've seen (or heard of) in the last week doing some big climbs on small wheels... maybe that's a sign that I should give it a try.

Me three!

Last week I went shopping on my Dahon Speed TR (20 inch wheeled folder). I tried out a "new" route. This had me dive down into a valley and back up the other side - 200 feet down, 180 feet up, all in half a mile. That means the climb averages just under 14%.

The Speed TR with all its commute goodies weighs 30 pounds. Add a big "New York" lock and panniers to that.

Because it is a folder, I have to climb sitting down. I've changed the gearing, so it was just lots of spinning - and zigzagging to make the hill less steep.

[luv2climb]

Because it is a folder, I have to climb sitting down. I've changed the gearing, so it was just lots of spinning - and zigzagging to make the hill less steep.

I have heard that people have broken the handlepost by climbing out of the saddle on Dahons, but I wonder if that applies to the new ones as well? My new Speed D7 has three different latching points on the handlepost, so it's a lot beefier than the old first-generation Da Bike I used in the video.

I haven't taken the bike on any long climbs yet, but it did great on the very, very short steep hills we have in one neighborhood here. I'm guessing that if I end up needing lower gearing I'll have to change the chainring, not the derailleur, due to the unique design of the rear derailleur. It wouldn't be as simple as buying a Shimano Deore long-cage mtb derailleur like I did with my road and hybrid bikes.

[alice]

Loved the picture of the folder in the folder! With proper precautions, I can actually strap my folder on the rear rack of my non-folder... I've never taken it anywhere, but I have considered it. It's a bit... meta. Bike on a bike!

As to the handlepost issue on the Dahons (I don't have one, but) my understanding is that that was a manufacturing issue regarding a specific model year (2008?), and the offending bikes were recalled/removed from stores.

Still, I sit down to climb on my folder (though my SO stands up to climb on it, so I guess it's a matter of preference).

[luv2climb]

That's cool! I love utility cycling. It's so much more fun and stress-free than driving.

Thanks for the info. I guess I'm safe then, as I suspect my Dahon is really a 2010 model, not a 2011. Why? Because when I looked at the tech specs for the 2011 Speed D7 on Dahon's website, it listed the tires as Dahon Roulez 20x1.5. For the 2010 they were Dahon Rotolo 20x1.75. I have the latter. Also, REI no longer lists any Dahon bikes on their website, so I'm pretty sure I bought a 2010 model since they no longer carry folding bikes. I can't understand REI. First they quit carrying the best camera mount I've ever used, the Pedco UltraClamp. Now they don't carry folding bikes.

[laura*]

I have heard that people have broken the handlepost by climbing out of the saddle on Dahons, but I wonder if that applies to the new ones as well?

I think so. I already had to replace the headset on mine and thus had that part of the bike all apart. The clamping area (height? width?) between the handlepost and steerer is about half that of a conventional threadless stem. There is just a single smallish clamp bolt - it's there to transmit steering forces, not resist flex. Finally, a large custom "bolt" threads into the inside of the steerer - it'll do a good job of keeping the parts together, but not so good at resisting flex.

Then add a 16 (14? 18?) inch lever arm on top of that wimpy connection, and you have the recipe to break parts!

I suspect my Dahon is really a 2010 model, not a 2011.

Dahon model years don't really have much relation to reality. My Speed TR is a 2008 that I bought in 2010 as "last year's" model. I think Dahon never even brought any 2010 TR's into the USA - there were too many older ones still in the warehouse.