Pop N Wood

I guess if you have something to prove than never walking is the only option

If you are out to enjoy the ride and see some scenery than walking for a bit helps one take it all in

70sSanO

I’m ashamed to say that I put a 40t on my 26”wheel mtbs. And I’m running 24/34 chainrings. So I am definitely below 1:1 with my 24:40. I’ve used it on occasion and it isn’t bad.

John

Pop N Wood

I think the problem here is you projecting your values on others, rather than attempting to understand a different point of view.

It is not that it is a challenge, in all honestly I've never owned a bike that would let me try it. It is just that on a road/tour bike by the time I need such a low gear I'm typically spent so don't enjoy the hampster wheel. Better to just stop the burn and let the legs recover.

Mountain bikes are a different story, need to low gears for short steep hills in bad terrain.

But hey, if ride at 2 mph is what defines you by all means do it.

phughes

No, it is just incredibly easier to ride a fully loaded bike uphill than it is to push it. And once again, sub 20 gear inch gearing is commonplace in the touring bike world.

There comes a time when it is better to simply admit you are wrong.

Maelochs

Irony much?

downtube42

Oh no, my gearing is too low for this climb, said nobody that matters, ever.

Pop N Wood

So in your mind anyone who choses to walk rather than ride must be doing so because they have issues balancing at low speeds?

Interesting.

but I guess that is another "straw man" comment

Maelochs

What are you planning to do with the leftover straw?

Pop N Wood

Alright this is stupid of me to respond but all I did was post a personal preference. Does that make sense to you?

phughes

That would be incredibly easy actually.

phughes

Then I guess it will be stupid for me to respond, but had you simply stated a preference, okay. Had you stopped there no one would have taken issue with anything you said. You decided to then say anyone wishing to ride uphill rather than push, have something to prove. You continue to make argumentative statements, that is why people are taking issue with what you say. You are free to prefer to walk your bike when you want to. But you keep telling others who would rather ride, and do so successfully, that they are somehow trying to prove something. We aren't, it is just easier for me to actually ride up the hill rather than try to balance a loaded bike while walking, with traffic whizzing by. When pushing the bike I make a wider target, and I prefer to stay on the bike. That isn't to say I will always ride, and never get into a position where I will have to walk, that surely can happen.

So I didn't say you were wrong in your preference, but instead wrong to say others have something to prove. There is no reason to be that argumentative. That statement served to do nothing but inflame.

Pop N Wood

Honest, last post on this. So I come on here, say I'm trying to get lower gears on my touring bike but would rather walk at times. You go on a rant, tell me I need to learn how to balance a bike, start mansplaining touring bike gearing and what it is like to walk one as if I've never ridden one, confuse me with some other poster, and now I'm the one assuming things?

Just relax dude.

Trevtassie

20-30-40 chaining 11-40 cassette. Pushing up a gravel (or any hill) hill sucks and it's easy to ride slower than you can walk, even on a heavily loaded bike.

Maelochs

These are the things you actually said.

You did express that walking on steep hills was a personal preference---but also made derogatory remarks about people who disagreed.

Maybe next time you don’t want people to respond as if you have insulted them …. Simply don’t insult them?

pdlamb

A few on-topic points:

First, I don’t particularly find it hard to walk a bike up a hill, loaded or not. One hand on the stem, or two hands on the bars, lets you keep the bike going straight. An “advanced” technique is to lean the bike toward you so you don’t bark your shins on the pedals.

Second, as I noted above, walking uses different muscles. In the middle or at the end of a long day, walking for a few hundred yards can make a refreshing change from grinding.

Third, if you stop for any reason, it’s difficult to get moving on a steep slope (say, > 15%). Many of the roads I’ve seen pitched like that are too narrow to make a U-turn if you start downhill. How many times do you want to climb that hill? It’s supposed to be a tour, or a brevet, not a hill climbing training session!

Fourth, if you’ve never found the low end of your speedometer/cyclometer registering, you can probably walk faster than that. Sure you lose style points, but getting to the top of a hill faster beats the loss in style, IMHO. YMMV.

Is #4 hard to believe? Well, consider that you’re going about 2.1 mph with a cadence of 40 on 75 gear inches (a 22x34 crank/cassette). You can probably walk faster than that, and you won’t look like a clown spinning the pedals and going nowhere fast.

Speaking of clowns:

Why are “helpful” people always found on-line, instead of offering to help you carry 10-15 pounds of your gear up to the top of that crazy steep hill when you’re touring? Could it be because they’re much better at pointing and clicking than riding a bike?

And track stands. Really? If there’s a 15 month old toddler in your neighborhood, ask the parents if you can borrow them for a race. You’re going to track stand, the toddler is going to walk two blocks. You can’t win. If the kid beats you, the parents (and neighbors) will never let you live it down. If you beat them, well obviously you need to review some videos on how to track stand, because you certainly couldn’t hold it for long.

What does a track stand have to do with riding a bike on a road? On a bike geared lower than 20 gear inches? If you tried racing on a track, you’re going to have a much bigger gear. On that 17.5 gear inch bike at 120 rpm cadence, you’ll be topping 6 mph. A track stand has no more relevance for hill climbing, with or without a touring load, than the maximum airspeed velocity of a common sparrow in level flight. Although we can debate which would be more entertaining.

phughes

Greater than 15%, I have to ride those almost every time I leave my house.

cyccommute 

I’ve done my share of hike-a-bike....sometimes for miles. I’ve walked most of a marathon in bike shoes because the handicap runner had slowed had slowed to the point where the smokers were faster. I’ve walked 25% grades at 12,000 feet because there’s just no gear that will let you ride that steep and that high without heart palpitations. I’m still not a fan. I’d rather ride then walk because bike shoes are lousy hiking shoes.

Sometimes. But if you find that you are walking more than a few hundred yards more than a few times a day, your gearing is probably too high.

That’s a technique issue and not nearly as hard as you make it out to be. I’ve started on many a steep rocky hill on mountain bikes and I’ve never thought of starting out by going downhill first. I’ve turned so that I’m at an angle to the hill and started that way. More often, however, I start on a steep rocky hill by holding the front brake, dominant foot (for me that the left one) at about 10 o’clock on the crank, and I push down on the crank while letting go of the brake. It’s fairly simple on loose ground and dead simple on pavement. Dual sided mountain bike clipless pedals make it even easier since you don’t have to fiddle with the pedals. If your foot hits the pedal, you can clip in whenever you feel like it.

That depends on the speedometer. Old Avocets stop registering around 5 mph. I never liked them because while mountain biking, there’s lots of times where you are lucky to be doing 5 mph. I had a Garmin Edge 25 which is one of their cheapest models and won’t register below 5 mph. But I don’t decide when to ride based on my speed. I decide when to ride or walk based on effort. Sometimes locations figures into the equation as well. If I’m several hours from help and/or if I’m on my own, I’ll often walk because a crash and injury has rather severe consequences. But that’s usually on downhills while mountain biking.

Well, first it’s a 17 inch gear, not a 75 inch gear (a 22/8 gear would 75” gear which isn’t made). But which looks more “clowns”, pedaling or pushing? I go for bicycle tours to ride a bike. Sometimes, I’ll agree that I have to walk, but if I’m having to walk too much, why shouldn’t I just go hiking. It takes less equipment.

As for riding at slow speeds, it’s not nearly as hard as you seem to think it is. I can even take a picture while riding up a 10% grade at only slightly faster than you say is next to impossible.

IMGP1727 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

That’s taken on a loaded touring bike with an SLR that I had to take out of the handlebar bag while riding and while holding the camera in one hand and the bar in the other. It’s wasn’t the simplest task but my skills aren’t really all that extraordinary.

Well if you want someone to carry your gear, there are loads of companies that will carry your stuff on their routes. I come here to tell people that they don’t have to stick with the gearing that Shimano or SRAM says you have to have. I don’t know of anyone else who has built bikes with gears as low as I have. I go far below 1:1 (I’m at 1:0.6) and that allows me to pedal for a whole lot longer.

I’ve ridden next to people walking (toddlers are that much slower than most people). I’ve ridden next to kids on bikes which is just about as fast as a toddler walking. Little kids can ride at the speed that little kids ride at. Are you saying that you can’t ride at that speed as an adult with far greater skill?

I’ve had to nearly stop behind walkers on bike paths when I can’t pass them. I suspect that you have had to slow down and wait for pedestrians. Do you fall over every time you do it?

I don’t run at the bicycle when I start. I can pull away from a stop at walking speed for as long as I want or, more importantly, for as long as I need. That comes in handy when turning left and I have to wait for traffic coming at me to clear. Trackstands are just an extension of that slow riding.

Being able to track stand is a balance skill. Being able to balance at slow speed...or no speed...translates to being able to ride at any speed from dead stop to as fast as the rider wants to go. I believe that people can ride at slower speeds and better low gears helps them. I’m not trying to limit them by saying they can’t ride a bike below 3mph.

tomato coupe

I knew I was in elite company!

That was fleeting. Oh well, it was nice to feel special for a short while.

adlai

Update:

I finally finished building the bicycle this spring and rode it through summer and fall.

It works well though at one point the advent derailleur hanger bent probably from a bad shift that I did. The chain may not be long enough for it.

So I did pair the advent with a double front chainring. It is a 50/34 front chainring. Advent goes from 11-42. Lowest gear is 34/42 and I do use it often for climbing the steep hills in my area.

I use a bar end shifter too. I could have used any brifter.

The only thing I would change is I would probably make the front chainring smaller. As of now I spend most of the time in the 34. The larger chainring definitely needs to be reduced to 48 and the smaller one I'm unsure if it needs to be smaller.

raqball

My bike, a 1x11, came with a 40t front and an 42t rear. I was already under a 1:1 but even though I do climb frequently, I suck at it and hate it. I wanted all the help I can get so I swapped the 42t rear out for a 46t and am very happy with it now. I still suck at climbing and I still hate it but my legs are much happier now..

phughes

Thanks for the update. Always nice to hear how things turn out.