On 1/10/2017 4:11 PM, wrote:
But light bikes do NOT make hard climbs much easier. In fact they add a lot of problems. Once the grade gets up to 18% you can't use low gears because on the light bikes it will lift the front wheel off of the ground. The bike will then pivot around the rear wheel and if you're ready for that you can lay the bike over before it turns down hill.

The way professional climbers get away with this is that they use LARGE gears. Then you don't have the leverage to lift the front wheel.

I think you need to draw a free body diagram of the forces involved.


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- Frank Krygowski