Any steep hill tricks?

[Matt2matt2002]

Congratulations on the LEGO.
It's on my to do list...

Back to original question:
What is the most efficient way to climb a hill?
Or rather, the way to express the least amount of energy?

I imagine a slow accent, arriving at the top at a very slow speed. And then coasting down.

[Dunroving]

Congratulations on the LEGO.
It's on my to do list...

Back to original question:
What is the most efficient way to climb a hill?
Or rather, the way to express the least amount of energy?

I imagine a slow accent, arriving at the top at a very slow speed. And then coasting down.

The original question was about gear changes on hills, but nevertheless:

Yes (to your suggested answer). Low gear, high-ish cadence uphill will allow you to stay below your anaerobic threshold and climb comfortably and therefore more efficiently (but see * below), and of course, coasting is the most efficient way to ride downhill, by your definition of "least energy".

* the possible exception is if you are going so slowly that you are weaving around, trying to control steering and maintain balance.
** the answer assumes you are asking about physical activity energy expenditure (not total energy expenditure). In terms of total energy expenditure, a slow climb (because it takes longer) will consume more basal energy expenditure so higher total energy expenditure. But it all cancels out in the end - because you burn basal energy at essentially the same rate during all waking hours, regardless of whether you take two hours to climb, or one hour plus an hour sitting drinking coffee at the hilltop cafe.

Anyway, original Q wasn't about physiological efficiency, so I'll stop there rather than lead the thread astray.

[John Saxby]

Matt,

Some thoughts on your question about climbs:

What is the most efficient way to climb a hill?
Or rather, the way to express the least amount of energy?

From my experience, another e-word comes into play: enjoyment.

Your followup implicitly takes you there:

I imagine a slow accent, arriving at the top at a very slow speed. And then coasting down.

I had plenty of time to ponder All This in the summer of 2016, on my ride through the Rockies & Cascadia to the western ocean, here: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/rockies/

That tour was full of long climbs and long descents:  the high passes required three hours' climb or more to cover the 25 - 35 or so kms, depending on stops and pauses for one thing and another, bears 'n' such.  Nearing 70 at the time, I had no option but to climb in my lower gears, although I used 1st only four times in the entire tour.  But, I made a virtue out of necessity, as one does, and decided that the best way up these hills was slowly and deliberately.  (I did met a couple of guys doing it another way, lightly loaded, headin' for the next hard accommodation 160+ kms away, with a damn great mountain in between...)

Now I know that popping over to the Rockies to try all this stuff isn't the easiest/quickest option available to you, but there is another one, a little closer geographically and culturally.  Place called Nova Scotia, not so different from Old Scotland, complete with hills, horizontal rain off the North Atlantic in June, that sort of thing.  I had a tour planned there for the summer of 2020, at the heart of which was the Cabot Trail around & over Cape Breton, but The Great COVIDian Thing spiked that.  Depending on how my spiffy new hips perform, I might have another run at that a couple of summers hence.  Interested?  Send me a PM if so.

Cheers,  John

[il padrone]

The brief peddling pause doesn’t appear to be enough going uphill, it vaults and refuses to move. On a couple of occasions I have had to stop and select a lower gear. At the moment I’m unloaded but can see the problem being increased with a touring load. Any tips other than getting it right in the first place?

Personally I have had only very few issues in the gear changes, on a few rare occasions missing the 8-7 shift and throwing the hub into top gear. All other gear shifts are no worse than with derailleur gears. Maybe as I learned and rode for a long time on a friction, non-indexed drivetrain (1976-1993) I have the slight easing of power and top-dead-centre timing in-grained to my shifting-fu. Rohloff do NOT shift nicely under load, but if the load is light will always shift easy when you have top-dead-centre (pedals at top/bottom). Spinning faster under lighter loads will always work better for shifting; grinding the gears is going to give you greater chances of a hang-up, touring load or not. So my advice, for easier shifting and more sustained climbing effort is always to use a lower cadence if you have problems. Also work at timing the gear shift to occur when your pedal is at the top, before the power stroke.

As for the best gear this is dependent upon terrain and gradient. One thing however that has surprised me about body stance is that I have actually found recently that the accepted norm of hunkering down on the drops/bar-ends and keeping the body lower is of minimal value on steep climbs. By watching my speed and effort on repeated climbs of the same local hill (often  alongside my wife) it is quite clear that adopting a lower, aero position is of no consequence for speed on slow climbs. Sitting quite upright enables more effective power from of the leg muscles to the pedals, makes high-cadence spinning easier, and is much more comfortable. All round the result is that I go up the hill easier, with a smile rather than a grimace. Hope these tips help you.

[il padrone]

For example, if you have the external shift box then it needs to be well packed with grease. I assume that you've done an oil change on the Rohloff hub so you know it's been done. If not, then do so.

This is a bit of a myth. I have never had my EX-box packed with grease. Rohloff instructions ONLY specify to grease around the engagement nut which the cable-pulley connects to. I re-read them recently as I had to replace the EX-box when the cable-box fixing screw stripped out the mounting thread.

"The cable box of the external gear mech should be demounted approx. every 500km, cleaned and the cable pulley lightly greased from the hub-facing side."
https://www.rohloff.de/en/service/handbook/speedhub/maintenance/maintanance-tips

[JohnR]

For example, if you have the external shift box then it needs to be well packed with grease. I assume that you've done an oil change on the Rohloff hub so you know it's been done. If not, then do so.

This is a bit of a myth. I have never had my EX-box packed with grease. Rohloff instructions ONLY specify to grease around the engagement nut which the cable-pulley connects to. I re-read them recently as I had to replace the EX-box when the cable-box fixing screw stripped out the mounting thread.

"The cable box of the external gear mech should be demounted approx. every 500km, cleaned and the cable pulley lightly greased from the hub-facing side."
https://www.rohloff.de/en/service/handbook/speedhub/maintenance/maintanance-tips

I believe in more grease and less checking plus, if there's plenty of grease in there, then there's less risk of water ingress. I regularly check if the fixing screw for the ex-box is tight but Rohloff's recommended 500km maintenance interval is inconsistent with the low maintenance Rohloff gearbox.

[il padrone]

I believe in more grease and less checking plus, if there's plenty of grease in there, then there's less risk of water ingress. I regularly check if the fixing screw for the ex-box is tight but Rohloff's recommended 500km maintenance interval is inconsistent with the low maintenance Rohloff gearbox.

Agreed.

I have applied the same low-maintenance goal to greasing inside the EX-box. I count 11 years with opening the EX-box only once as pretty good.  The EX-box has been dismounted when changing tyres and *occasionally* the gear-change nut has been regreased. I have had no problems with the cable nor cable pulley over that time.