Is uphill muni really this difficult or am I just

Shorter cranks are better for hills you can "cruise" up without having
to slow down too much. This is more about fitness than steepness, so it
can't be linked to any particular piece of trail or grade of slope.

But when the going gets tough and you're going half a wheel turn at a
time, the long cranks definitely help! I had been running 145s on my
Wilder for a while, but I put on 160s for Moab and it was a great
compromise between speed and leverage. The original cranks were 170s,
which are probably the most appropriate for Moab, but are too slow for
most of the places I ride.


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johnfoss

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I normally have 170's on my 24" for me it's hard to pedal smoothly, esp.
when one of the cranks comes to the up position. A while ago, I road
Tholub's '05 KH w/ 165's & it was MUCH easier to pedal smoothly, which
supprised me, since they're only 5 mm shorter.

On gentle climbs it is easier w/ the 165's, but on slopes at the limit
of my skill my 170's are still easier (doing half wheel turns), as well
on technical terrain. The 165's take less energy and overal are much
better IMO, but since my terrain is so hard for me, I'll stick w/ the
170's for a while.

When I can make it up most of my smooth, moderate trails on my DX w/
the 170's w/ few UPD's, I'll prob upgrade to a KH 24 w/ 165's.


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I'm by no means a good climber, but can tell you that yes, practice is
what you need to do. The trails I ride include lots of uphills, both
short and long, gradual and steep. There are a lot of sections that I
still can't ride, but others that I ride regularly now that a few years
ago I couldn't make it up.

If you have (or can afford) some shorter cranks, give them a try. My 13
year old son, who rides my old 26er muni, has improved his climbing
greatly after I swapped out the 170s for 140s. I'm surprised to find
that I can climb almost everything on my 29er with 150s as my 24 with
165s (but not everything--I can still do better on the 24).

John Childs is right about the technique/fitness divide, too. I've got
reasonable technique, but run out of wind too soon on steeper, stand-up
sections. Still, I think I like climbing almost best when on rides; the
challenge is fun.


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*==========================
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"The Revolution is just a t-shirt away."
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I too am by no means a good hill climber but last spring I did a muni
ride with a beginner and recommended he let some air out of his tire to
smooth things out since he was running 35psi. Well, it got me thinking
maybe I am running to little pressure at approx 14-18psi so I tried
increasing my tire psi till I knew I was running to much and backed
down a hair from there and now I run around 24-26psi and it is amzing
how much this helped my hill climbing ability.
P.S. I am still not great uphill but I am walking ALOT less


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Daytripper63

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A lot of good feedback on here. My 2 cents is that practice is the key.
The more you try, the better your technique will get and the more
successes you will have. Last summer I could not do much on hills and
didn't really attempt them, but through the winter season I made an
effort to try each hill instead of just walking up. Sometimes
repeating them until I could make it (some are more technical than
others). I am amazed at some of the hills I have been able to do now
that 3 months ago I thought I would never be able to do. Let it be
known that I do not consider myself a great hill climber, but I am a
lot better than I use to be! So keep working at it and you will
improve. You may not notice it day to day, but if you compare how you
are doing now with how you do in 6 weeks, I'll be you'll see a big
difference if you keep working at it regularly.


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Coming back to the "pulling up on the handle" thing, I would confirm
that this is helping quite a lot - however I have a mixed experience
about it if the handle we talk about is the default handle at the front
of the seat.

Maybe this is due to the fact I am pretty tall (1.85m), but I will
always naturally try to catch a "virtual" handle that would be quite a
few centimeters LOWER than where the handle of the seat really is.

I just feel that I do not use to its maximum potential the "pull
effect" when pulling up the handle of my seat in steep uphill areas.

I do not know if someone else would share the same experience, or if
someone could explain this in a more theoritical way, but I remain
convince so far that one day I'll have to add a handle to my Muni to
replace the handle of my seat - and this new handle will be at least
5cm (2.00") below the seat.

Perhaps the new Coker handle will do the job well - I am keeping an
interested eye onto it...

Cheers, MadC.


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I use 125 on my 29'. These are the cranks I had since the beginning and
I've grown accustomed to them.

Climbing steep banks I simply grab the handle, remain seated and lean
into the hill. Then muscle my way up singing (I thing I can, I think I
can)

Works for me...


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madc-ccc wrote:

I just feel that I do not use to its maximum potential the "pull
effect" when pulling up the handle of my seat in steep uphill areas.




I get the same feeling: It seems as if the pulling force wants to be
lower and closer to the frame stem. Saddle flexing might be part of the
reason for this though.


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I think it is a lot about just holding onto the saddle so that you don't
push yourself off the seat than actively pulling up on the seat.

Just kind of lock your handle arm and pedal hard. Most riders keep
their handle hand on the handle all the time.

I don't think it can make a massive difference being tall or short, as
I've met extra tall and extra short people who are good at riding
uphill.

Also, the T7/coker style handles in front of the seat - they're no use
for muni at all, really bad.

I think technique is a bit overrated though, riding strength/fitness
makes way more difference than anything else.

Joe


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I only really pull up on the handle when clearing rough sections of
uphill. Otherwise, I try to just lightly hold on--I don't want to
waste energy unnecessarily pulling on the handle! The handle height
feels right to me, but proportionate arm lengths vary.


joemarshall wrote:
I think technique is a bit overrated though, riding strength/fitness
makes way more difference than anything else.



On short rides, strength and fitness can make up for poor technique,
but perfect technique cannot make up for lack of strength and fitness.
Good technique is most important when you want to ride far and/or fast.
Bad technique will burn you out quickly.


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