bulldog1935

note the switchbacks he's making, and the fact the kids are walking along with him - his low gear must be below 20"
Also like the short segment of the woman who can't walk down the street because it's so steep.

canklecat

Yikes. Steepest climbs I've tried were all around San Diego, at about 25% or so, especially Mission Hills where I lived for awhile. But that was on an unladen 10 speed, not a loaded down touring bike.

coominya

And the Darwin award for 2001 went to Ana Louise North.

Dustbin death

A student died yesterday when the wheelie bin she had climbed into to race down the world's steepest street crashed into a trailer. Ana Louise North, 19, died instantly after the collision on Baldwin Street, Dunedin, on New Zealand's South Island.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/mar/02/1

jgwilliams

Wanted to go there when we did a tour of New Zealand about 10 years ago, but we never quite made it. I understand it has to be seen to be believed - pictures just don't do it justice.

Gweedo1

If it's even steeper than how it appears in that video, it'a literally a wall!

wow, just wow..I loved how the crowd got behind him and cheered him on....so cool...not to mention he made it up, with his packed touring kit no less!

Imagine how hard it would have been to pave that road!

jgwilliams

Yes, or to build houses there.

It's funny how the Scots who originally settled there left behind their cold, damp, hilly country and when they settled in New Zealand they chose one of the coldest, dampest, hilliest areas to settle in. They must have thought 'this feels like home'.

If you've seen 'The World's Fastest Indian', I'm told that Anthony Hopkins does a very passable imitation of the Dunedin accent, which is where Bert Munro was from. If so, it's quite different from how most New Zealanders speak.

drlogik 

The Fastest Indian is a GREAT movie and Hopkins is totally believable in the roll. He's one of the best character actors of all time if you ask me. Watch it on Netflix, you'll watch it more than once, I almost guarantee it.

CliffordK

Full Panniers and camping gear?
Except, of course, dumping the front.

TimothyH

Making a joke out of someone's death is disgusting.

No one can deny that she showed poor judgment but if we examined ourselves honestly most of us would admit that we have shown equally poor judgement at one time or another and the only reason we are here is dumb luck.

You ought to be ashamed of yourself.


-Tim-

SquidPuppet

That street would be perfect for downhill coaster wheelies.




Climbing it with gear is awesome crazy tough.

indyfabz

And some of us couldn't admit such without lying. And he wasn't making a joke. Giving someone a "Darwin Award" is a common way of saying someone showed poor judgment and paid the price. This isn't the Middle Ages. Language and terms have adapted since then. (Pun intended.)

bud16415

18 GI he would move 4.7 feet per revolution of the crank. Hard to tell from the movie but my guess is he’s at about that gear.

My tour bike has an 18 GI low harder than spinning it is trying to stay upright at the slow speed. That’s the reason I drew the line at 18 GI any lower you might as well push. I once tried to figure it out and for me pushing is about equal to 10 GI.

fietsbob

Yup, NZ lays claim to having the steepest street in the world, but Pittsburg PA for the USA (save travel expenses) has a steep one too ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Avenue

2.86:1 .. for 2.86 feet it rises 1 foot


but for a small portion of a street the inside of the curves of switchbacks, like S F's Lombard St*, can be much steeper than the out side of the corner.

you will have an easier climb on the outside of a switch back (though you may be on the wrong side of the road to do that)


* Lombard is a 1 way street, only top to bottom, down hill..




...

bulldog1935

(um, that's it)

oops - got it.

genec

I used to daily commute up Juan street in Mission Hills... it is amazing how one can just become used to it. I also used to regularly ride Laurel, but didn't enjoy it as much, due to the traffic on it. I lived just west of Balboa Park at the time and these roads were just part of my commute.

Juan has a bit of a flat spot halfway up... for a second of rest.

https://smorgcycle.blogspot.com/2014/...bs-little.html

hankaye

Howdy All;

Athens, Oh. has a nice little hill;
Cycle Path Bicycles | The Cycle Logical Choice in Athens Ohio

hank

bulldog1935

When I was growing up, we used to ride 10mi north to Helotes to climb "Biatch Hill"
There were places on the descent where the camber change was so steep you could not see the road in front of you - a roller coaster for bikes.

mrodgers

Baldwin is in the Guinness book of world records for being the steepest having a section that is 35%, but Canton Avenue in Pittsburgh has a section of 37%.

I had 2 of my riding folk ride in the Dirty Dozen race this year. One made 8 hills and the other walked the 8 hills. They lost the group and got lost on the route and didn't make it to Canton Avenue.

I may go for it next year.

diphthong

the steepest we've got in san diego is about 28% on torrance street between the mission hills and
middletown neighborhoods overlooking the airport. it's a relatively short block/climb tho.
the two long blocks of lucinda street in the point loma neighborhood or the dictionary hill
area of spring valley (eastern san diego suburb) are brutal.

coffeesnob

we used to have a steep street in the neighborhood I grew up in. The mark of a "man" was to be able to peddle up the street with no head start and keeping in a straight line.

rm -rf

I'm close to stalling out at 22%, and can't imagine climbing 35%.

I like this photo from the Dirty Dozen ride in Pittsburgh, on Canton Avenue, 37% and cobblestones.



Wow, strong riders:


And an interesting report on the ride and riders:

coominya

You're probably right tim, it was a sort of micro aggression toward your sensibilities. Here is a puppy for you to cuddle until you get over the impact of my discussing shameful post.





As you can see from his/her/their leg this is a disabled puppy. We make no discrimination about such things, disabled puppies are just as worthy of cuddling as non-disabled ones.

ClydeTim

Steepest I have climbed is a 22% grade. But "snaking" is not an option. I climb it straight up or I can't.

fietsbob

Trondheim bike escalator.. Norway

SquidPuppet

I'm sorry, but that's not a hill. That's a wall. You can see that it was built by Wall Masons.