- What's the quickest way to climb a crazy, steep climb
on an E-bike?
In the saddle or out of the saddle?
Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't actually know.
So, I guess the only way to find out,
is gonna put some times in.
But, is it quite as straightforward as that?
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Now, you might have seen a recent feature
that we did called The Slab,
where both me and Chris opted for the stood up position.
Simply because, it was a crazy, crazy angle.
And, we simply had to get over the front of the bike
to stop the front wheel from coming into the air.
However, it was barely sustainable,
even for that short distance.
Right? - Yeah.
You might have seen our colleagues on GCN,
also do some tests on some big hills.
Testing out that sitting down or standing
to see what time difference,
it actually makes on those big climbs.
The times are barely different, actually, on those.
- So, it's interesting to see what are different
on the E-bikes there. - Yeah, and like
the Tour de France riders,
- Like Tour de France riders, some go for stood up.
- Chris Froomes and all, you know,
sits down a hell of a lot on those big climbs.
- Yeah, but look, we're here in North Wales.
And, it's not quite as simple as that.
There's lots of factors to consider.
First of all, it ain't road riding,
so the surfaces are not smooth.
A lot of the time, we're climbing really technical terrain
with varied surfaces.
So, it's really complicated, right?
- Yeah, it definitely is.
Body weight changes, as you say, grip levels,
body position, all those things to consider.
- Yeah. - A lot going on.
- So Chris, here's the incline and it's a big one.
You've got a climbing rope in the middle of it.
(laughing) - Right.
- So, we're gonna put some times in, stood up and sat down.
And, as simple as that, see what's fastest.
- First up, I'm on my Hai bike with a Yamaha motor,
an actual power motor, in the easiest gear.
So, here we go first up, is sat down.
Do I have to do this?
- Go.
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Stop.
- I think we need to point out as well is,
these climbs are not sustainable.
I mean, first off, you would never do that on a non-Ebike.
To do that, up at the top,
that's crazy.
That's pretty steep.
- So, I'm on my Canyon Spectral:ON,
and I've got Shimano E8000 motor.
I've got Sram Eagle cassette on the back, as well.
It's a bit easier gear, than Steve's bike.
So, let's see if that makes a difference.
- Okay, so count you in, Chris?
- Yeah, snap down first.
- Okay, tree, di, eme, go.
Oh God!
(laughing)
Okay, tree, di, eme, go.
- Oh, super slippery, where Steve's been cutting
it up the whole way.
It's up.
- Were you blaming me then?
- Yeah, the tracks caught up to hell.
- Have I gotta go and do it again,
just to prove I haven't? - Yeah.
- Come on, get your ass down here and let's do it again.
- Okay, second effort is gonna be stood up.
Obviously, when you're stood up,
you need to be really careful you choose the right gear
because, there's no way you're gonna be switching gears,
when you're climbing a super steep incline.
So, it's all about planning ahead.
Here we go then, steep climb.
- Three, two, one, go!
- So, you can be really careful when you've stood up
in the saddle 'cause your weight is all in the front.
So, you're losing grip.
So, your pedal strokes need to be smooth.
Am I gonna make it?
I'm actually leaning back just to get some more weight.
Uh, stop.
I could feel myself having to lean my weight back
just to keep the traction, on a climb like that.
And, that is actually a good typical Ebike climb.
Chris's turn on the count in.
So, here we go, Chris mounting his second attempt
on the incline, in stood up mode.
- Did ya second gear or did you go easiest gear?
- Oh controversial, Chris has opted for a harder gear.
Is that allowed? - Maybe.
- Is that allowed?
Okay, are you ready? - Gonna wear the crash gear?
- I'm Ready. - Second climb, stood up.
Are you ready Dave, Josh?
- [Dave] Yeah.
- Tree, Di, Em, go!
(laughing)
- This is so slippy.
- It's up.
I surrender.
- Right, you gonna get back on again?
To show ka-ti-d.
- Ties, ties, a totally teetering on the edge of the cot.
(laughing)
You ready to do it again?
- Yeah, stood up.
- So my colleague is very unhappy
with the state of affairs.
He blames me for cutting the track up
and hence the slower time.
So, here we go.
I'm gonna give it another go.
It's in the same gear.
- Stood up.
- Stood up, all right. - Stood up.
- I really don't know what he's whim-jims about.
It's all about technique Chris, what's the problem?
What is your problem?
- Let's do a bike swap.
- What is your problem?
- Bike swap.
- It's technique.
- No, bike swap.
- Oh, bike swap now.
We're gonna be here til midnight.
Well, pretty complicated, body position,
line choice, cadence.
- Grip levels, so many different variables on that,
compared to the road bike, that was for sure.
Yeah, tire pressure even. - Yeah, yeah for sure.
- I was running 24 psi then.
- Really? - Yeah.
- I think I was in that wet, softer than that as well.
- But, you know what?
That's a tricky climb, even if it's a short punchy climb
like that. - Yeah, yeah.
- Because, there's like, lots of slate on there.
- I found myself, when I sat down,
because I've got a big ass on the saddle,
it's obviously weighing down on that rear tire.
It's biting into - Weighing down.
- the terrain, however, when I stood up,
- there's like a tipping point, right?
- Yeah, definitely.
- If you go too far forwards, it starts spinning,
but you can almost sort of--
- Too far back.
You're gonna be stood up and leaning back at the same time.
- Filing that grade in, you know,
staying on the power,
keeping the momentum as well, is hard.
- Yeah, but you know, this is what Ebikes are for, right?
They're not for climbing up finer roads or tarmac roads.
- Personally I think, I'd always try and attack a climb,
sat in the saddle, adjusting that weight.
Every time I get out the saddle, it's probably,
for more of an extreme climb.
If the grip levels were there, I would get out the saddle.
But I think for me, sat down is the one,
getting that grip in.
- But look, this climb, look how far this climb goes.
- Yeah, it's huge.
- So, you gotta be really careful and you've got to sort of
plan things on an Ebike, right?
- Definitely, yeah.
- However, the times are in.
Chris. - Yep.
- You got your first run, sat down, 18 seconds and .50.
- Right. - Stood up, 24 ten.
- A lot of wheels been going on the second.
- A lot of wheel spin, lot of wheel spin.
- And what was your time, Steve?
- So, on the sat down, I got 17 seconds, 17.1.
And then stood up, 20.3.
- Right. - So.
- Sat down wins. - Sat down wins.
On this climb, on this day, on these bikes.
- Yeah, yeah.
- So there you go, Chris really enjoyed that.
- Good fun. - Obviously, because I won.
- Yeah. (laughing)
- But I think we should do that on another hill
with different motors, different bikes.
- Yeah, yeah definitely.
- I wanna add as well, that these, you know,
we did those times on these bikes.
Geometry does effect as well, how a bike climbs.
- Definitely, yeah.
So, bikes with longer chain stays,
are gonna be more capable of climbing than bikes
with shorter chain stays,
where your weight can be forced over the back.
- Exactly yeah.
- But there you go, if you want to see
some more climbing videos,
there's one on how to plan your climb.
Which we did, down here.
- And, if guys also want to check out Steve and Jess'
how to affect range, down here as well.
It's a really cool video.
- Yeah, love to hear your thoughts on this video.
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