Steepest Gradient

sy

Looking at the Time Trial in the Giro the other day where the max gradient was 24% :eek: I thought it would be interesting to see what was the steepest gradient you encountered on a road bike (notice I didn't say "you have ridden up"!) There is a very short climb up from Fintra beach near Killybegs where I guess the gradient is about 33%!! Anybody know it? Also interested to see if anybody knows the average gradients for the 3 climbs in the W200. Thanks

Needabike

One in the Slieve Aughty mountains that hits 14% average over 100m

Granny ring all the way.

I think St Patricks Hill in Cork hits 20% ...not sure about this though

kenmc

If mapmyride is to be believed, the hill out of enniskerry is 23% (61m ascent averaged over 260m)
i think the devils elbow is worse, but it doesn't seem to have good accuracy of that road, so I can't really map it.

bunnygreen

Lads if you go out of Enniskerry and take the right turn for Powerscourt Waterfall,go up that road a bit,come to a x roads you take the left just before the descent ,theres a narrow road that takes you back onto the main road to Djouce,thats one short but savage climb,don't know what the gradient is buts its a deffo granny ring job,iv'e been doing 2/3 times a week,never gets any easier,does anyone know it?

Chips Lovell

bunnygreen wrote: »

Lads if you go out of Enniskerry and take the right turn for Powerscourt Waterfall,go up that road a bit,come to a x roads you take the left just before the descent ,theres a narrow road that takes you back onto the main road to Djouce,thats one short but savage climb,don't know what the gradient is buts its a deffo granny ring job,iv'e been doing 2/3 times a week,never gets any easier,does anyone know it?

That's Membrane's "Is low gearing better" challenge hill.

bunnygreen

Thanks for that El Tonto,do you know if anyone took up his challenge?,some very interesting links there.As i mentioned on another thread to Tiny Explosions im certainly not a natural climber,for that particular climb i use a compact double and get up it with mucho difficulty.Having taken one of those Vo2 Max Tests i can now really concentrate on not blowing up too soon,so a combination of high spinning in an appropriate gear and watching my heart rate like a hawk really works for me,its still tough for sure but i think a bit of science can help.

Chips Lovell

Not that I'm aware of. It kind of came up in the middle of winter when not a lot of people were out. I've always been meaning to take a run at it whenever I go by, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

DirkVoodoo

I'm not sure i was doing it right, but from Glencree to the car park is 180m ascent over 1.36km. Does that sound right?

Needabike

That equates to an average 13% gradient

It must be a real b*ll buster

RtD

What gradient is Bono's hill in Killiney does anyone know?

Planet X

Nearly Vertigo I reckon.

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

Not that I'm aware of. It kind of came up in the middle of winter when not a lot of people were out. I've always been meaning to take a run at it whenever I go by, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Let's give it a blast next time we are out.

kenmc

Planet X wrote: »

Nearly Vertigo I reckon.

Badoom tisch!

Chips Lovell

Raam wrote: »

Let's give it a blast next time we are out.

Deal. Not a big fan of staying in the saddle on short climbs like that, but what the hell.

titan18

http://deputy-dog.com/2007/09/18/the-steepest-streets-in-the-world/


Imagine cycling up some of those.Ouch!

The Zoncolan is possibly the hardest mountain to climb up with a kilometre of 20% and a max of 24%

dave2pvd

Brasstown Bald is the steepest I've ever tried.

Average gradient is 12% for 3.0mi at 4,784ft. But, there are some sections at 23% (called the wall - of course). I didn't have the right gear that day....39x25. Hard to stay upright/keep the front wheel down. The descent will heat a rim up so much that you can roll a tubular or blow out a tyre.

It's the Tour of Georgia queen stage every year. Probably some of the best stage watching I've ever seen. What's particularly tough are the climbs that precede B-Town.




Photo c. Peter Ozolins

blorg

Over 30% on Gozo. Was on a mountain bike though, so don't know if that counts. Low gearing, biggest problem was not falling backwards!