What is the steepest rideable gradient on std racing bike?

[Le breton]

I once climbed a steep slope between Grindelwald and Gross Scheidegg (CH) which I estimated to be about 30%.

From that experience I had concluded that the limit of rideabilty must have been just above 30%. But the following links which I just found on a French forum (velo101.com) prove me wrong, assuming that the 38% advertised for Canton street in Pittsburgh is correct. Of course, some people zig-zag their way up which is against the spirit of my question.

Factors to be considered include gearing, adherence (tire pressure?), position on the bike (center of gravity ahead of rear wheel.

Filbert's street

http://youtu.be/wKHZoVrDNxU

Los Angeles

http://youtu.be/FgIL6eHHgZU

Pittsburgh

http://youtu.be/NxWceFTkLRU

Dirty dozen

http://youtu.be/RonzTzzsE1g

( I have been expelled from the velo101.com forum for writing a post titled LAMOURA 2, so that I will never complain about CN forum administrators being ridiculous)

 

[nobilis]

I once climbed a steep slope between Grindelwald and Gross Scheidegg (CH) which I estimated to be about 30%.

From that experience I had concluded that the limit of rideabilty must have been just above 30%. But the following links which I just found on a French forum (velo101.com) prove me wrong, assuming that the 38% advertised for Canton street in Pittsburgh is correct. Of course, some people zig-zag their way up which is against the spirit of my question.

Factors to be considered include gearing, adherence (tire pressure?), position on the bike (center of gravity ahead of rear wheel.

Filbert's street

http://youtu.be/wKHZoVrDNxU

Los Angeles

http://youtu.be/FgIL6eHHgZU

Pittsburgh

http://youtu.be/NxWceFTkLRU

Dirty dozen

http://youtu.be/RonzTzzsE1g

( I have been expelled from the velo101.com forum for writing a post titled LAMOURA 2, so that I will never complain about CN forum administrators being ridiculous)

Well I guess it's at a point where factors like gears combination, power to weight ratio, wind and tarmac condition (to a lesser extent) won't matter anymore to counter-balance the effect of gravity.
So it's very relative I guess and I don't know how much that would translate into gradient.

 

[rgmerk]

grip limitation

I suspect the biggest limitation over a very short, very steep stretch might be grip, particularly if you're standing up and using your whole body, rather than power/weight.

The steepest slope I've ever climbed peaked at about 25% briefly. Don't think I would have made it up in the wet.

 

[elapid]

According to the Guinnes Book of Records, Baldwin Street in New Zealand is the steepest paved road in the world at 35%. It is recorded as the steepest because Canton Street "only" hits 37% for a distance of 10ft while Bradford Street in San Francisco hits 40% for 30ft. Baldwin Street stays at 35% for a sustained distance.

Other steep paved roads include:

- Cote St Ange in Chicoutimi, QC, Canada: 33%
- Eldred Street in LA, CA, USA: 33%
- Baxter and Fargo Streets in LA, CA, USA: 32%
- Maria Avenue in Spring Valley, CA, USA: 32%
- Dornbush Street in Pittsburgh, PA, USA: 32%
- Brynwood Road in Portland, OR, USA: 28% (and is one of a few 20%+ climbs in De Ronde van Oeste Portlandia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbvQq...eature=related)
- Waipio Valley Road in Hawaii: 25% with claimed peaks of 45% (although this road is paved, it is not residential and is only open to 4WD)

This one is not mentioned on any sites discussing the steepest paved roads, but at 7.5km with claimed grades up to 45% the Scanuppia in Italy would certainly be fearsome (although more reputable sites state 17.6% average over 7.5km with peaks of 28%):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulJsjynZEZc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TKm-T_ne_k&feature=related

 

[Le breton]

According to the Guinnes Book of Records, Baldwin Street in New Zealand is the steepest paved road in the world at 35%. It is recorded as the steepest because Canton Street "only" hits 37% for a distance of 10ft while Bradford Street in San Francisco hits 40% for 30ft. ]

The question is
Can you ride straight with a standard racing bike?

Apparently some guys manage to ride Canton street more or less straight but as discussed in this thread
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=6435
the 37 or 38% incline last only about 6-7 meters, probably the place where you see so many guys fall over. The average is more like 25%.

6-7 meters is not really sufficient to prove rideability.

 

[elapid]

You would have to find the balance between putting enough weight on your front wheel to prevent mono-ing out, and enough weight on your back wheel to prevent spinning out. So in answer to your specific question, there is no doubt a a certain grade would be unridable, but that grade will be different for different riders depending on their strength and bike handling ability.

 

[Fatclimber]

The question is
Can you ride straight with a standard racing bike?

Apparently some guys manage to ride Canton street more or less straight but as discussed in this thread
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=6435
the 37 or 38% incline last only about 6-7 meters, probably the place where you see so many guys fall over. The average is more like 25%.

6-7 meters is not really sufficient to prove rideability.

What is your definition of a standard racing bike? Even the pros modify their gearing when they do Zoncolan or Angrilu. What is the lowest gearing allowed in your hypothetical situation? With long cage rear derailleurs and compact cranks you can get pretty low.

Also, what distance is required to prove rideability? Of course paved roads are designed for vehicles, it doesn't make any sense to get ridiculously steep when they design them. I would say that any paved road in existence that a car can go up can be ridden with a bike.

 

[Le breton]

...............
What is your definition of a standard racing bike? .........

Clearly any gear should be ok.

A non standard bike would be for example one with a 700mm rear wheel and a 500mm front wheel.

Also, what distance is required to prove rideability?

Let's say at least 200 meters, i.e. about 60 meters elevation, requiring if it is say 60 meters elevation ,a bit less than 2 minutes to a bit more than 3 minutes of effort.

But if you insist than 100 meters is enough to prove rideability, I'll consider ...

I would say that any paved road in existence that a car can go up can be ridden with a bike.

A normal car with passenger(s), because it has a very low center of gravity (contrary to a bike + cyclist) does not risk falling over backwards if you apply too much instantaneous power.

 

[Fatclimber]

Lol, love the videos!

As demonstrated by the 7.5" gear inch custom bike, slowness isn't a factor. Cadence and traction is the key. Really have no clue what the limit would be.

 

[Le breton]

This one is not mentioned on any sites discussing the steepest paved roads, but at 7.5km with claimed grades up to 45% the Scanuppia in Italy would certainly be fearsome (although more reputable sites state 17.6% average over 7.5km with peaks of 28%):
[/URL]

Climbybike gives the distance as 7.5 km and the elevation as 1515-198 = 1317m, i.e 17.5% on average.

As you probably know the 45% roadsign is there just to impress would be travellers. Apparently there is one very steep 150 meters section near the bottom, but I don't know the actual gradient. One site claims there is a 900 meters section at 29%! Steep, but not unthinkable.

In France the posted signs are always inflated on the downhill side to impress drivers of vehicles equipped with inadequate brakes (British lorries for example).
Same must be true in Italy.
In France you can also find uphill inflation for example on the Grand Colombier which will be climbed in the TdF 2012 for the first time.

There are 4 roads from the valleys to the top, one of them includes a section advertised everywhere as being 19%, a value indicated on a roadsign. In fact, on that very steep 2km section, the actual maximum is about 16-17%. I'll check if that's the road the TdF will take.

PS : the TdF (10th stage) will climb a diffrent route, via Culoz.
http://www.letour.fr/2012/TDF/COURSE/fr/1000/etape_par_etape.html

 

[Le breton]

Lol, love the videos!

As demonstrated by the 7.5" gear inch custom bike, slowness isn't a factor. Cadence and traction is the key. Really have no clue what the limit would be.

You are right. Actually with his small gear, about 60 cm per leg rotation he climbs at a decent clip : 57 meters elevation in about 3 minutes, that is 1140 meter/hour, which isn't bad.

On his 68.5 cm gear he does go a bit faster , about 2:40, about 1270 vertical meters per hour.

His extra small gear allows him to better distribute the force on the pedals during each turn, no jerky motion, so that he never exceeds the adherence limit of the tire on the road.

With a considerably bigger gear, like 34:27, ie 2.64 meters per leg rotation, you have to apply much more force (too much in fact) so that your pedal stroke is effective only when the crank is horizontal. This makes for jerky movements so that you can easily exceed the adherence and the rear wheel slips.

 

[Caruut]

Anyone know the steepest road in the UK/England/South England?

 

[dolophonic]

Must be one of the passes in the lake district. .something like hardknott pass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardknott_Pass 33%.. i remember it well.

 

[Le breton]

Must be one of the passes in the lake district. .something like hardknott pass
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardknott_Pass 33%.. i remember it well.

33%???
Most unlikely
look at the profile
http://www.climbbybike.com/profile.asp?Climbprofile=Hard-Knott-Pass&MountainID=7382

 

[Choocher]

Waipio Valley Rode, Big Island, Hawaii

I think it has to be close to the steepest hill you could ride up on a regular road bike: a little under 1km, 250m vertical (25% avg grade--one section approaching 40% briefly), awful, crumbling pavement. I never tried to ride it, but I have walked up it several times. It's a cool place if you ever get the chance to check it out.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

- Brynwood Road in Portland, OR, USA: 28%

There used to be a road in Portland that was 17%, but had a stretch that was 21% for less than 100'. I could barely ride up that thing in my racing days. The road has since been removed and replaced by a staircase!

- Waipio Valley Road in Hawaii: 25% with claimed peaks of 45%

I call BS on that one, having walked it a few times. Oh it's super steep alright. But if there's a 45% section on there it's maybe one small bit of one corner, for about 10m. Maybe.

33%??? Most unlikely look at the profile.

I think this must fall under the same category as Wapio Valley road. There probably is some section at 33%, but only for a few meters.

 

[Le breton]

.............
I think this must fall under the same category as Wapio Valley road. There probably is some section at 33%, but only for a few meters......................

What you write reminds me of the climb to LA BASTILLE just outside Grenoble.

http://www.cols-cyclisme.com/images/courbes/1275.gif
The profile does not show the short dip near the bottom after maybe 200meters of moderate climbing.

Although the steepest section is only 22-23%, if you like to suffer or if there is a car coming down you may choose/have to ride on the inside of the hairpins and end up on 28-30% gradients on those turns.

BTW In the Dauphiné Libéré of the year 2000 there was a 4 km TT up La Bastille. Lopez de Munain won. The stage was 4km long : 2km of flat road then 2km uphill with the latter section timed independently from La Tronche city hall to the restaurant at the top.

That climb was also the stage of one of the most spectacular wins of Bernard Hinault, in 1977 when he fell way down below the road in the Col de Porte (Chartreuse), didn't get seriously injured, pulled himself up, remounted and won the stage in La Bastille with his bloodied face. Before winning however, exhausted, he gave up, or at least stopped, on the way up to La Bastille, but his team manager(?) persuaded him to continue.

There is also a story about a time when Mottet won and the big gear machos ended up walking (again in the D.L. race).

I imagine the TT race still exists every year up those last 2 km.

Added later :

His fall had been just 4 km before La Tronche and the start of the climb:
http://www.ina.fr/sport/cyclisme/vi...phine-libere-chute-de-bernard-hinault.fr.html

 

[aukray]

Anyone know the steepest road in the UK/England/South England?

This is in Harlech, North Wales. (Un)fortunately this is a one-way street, with traffic flowing down only, so climbing it by bike would not only be physically challenging, but also illegal

 

[Le breton]

This is in Harlech, North Wales. (Un)fortunately this is a one-way street, with traffic flowing down only, so climbing it by bike would not only be physically challenging, but also illegal

As seen on this thread and on other related threads, signposts can't be trusted (see for example the Hardknott claim of 33% when it's in fact 16-17%). 40% might actually be the alcoholic content of the local booze.

Anyway, 40% would most likely be unrideablewith a normal racing bike.

 

[Maxiton]

I once climbed a steep slope between Grindelwald and Gross Scheidegg (CH) which I estimated to be about 30%.

From that experience I had concluded that the limit of rideabilty must have been just above 30%. But the following links which I just found on a French forum (velo101.com) prove me wrong, assuming that the 38% advertised for Canton street in Pittsburgh is correct. Of course, some people zig-zag their way up which is against the spirit of my question.

Factors to be considered include gearing, adherence (tire pressure?), position on the bike (center of gravity ahead of rear wheel.

Filbert's street

http://youtu.be/wKHZoVrDNxU

Los Angeles

http://youtu.be/FgIL6eHHgZU

Pittsburgh

http://youtu.be/NxWceFTkLRU

Dirty dozen

http://youtu.be/RonzTzzsE1g

( I have been expelled from the velo101.com forum for writing a post titled LAMOURA 2, so that I will never complain about CN forum administrators being ridiculous)

I'm not sure Filbert is the steepest street in San Francisco. I don't know what street is, but there are a number of candidates. Not that it matters, really. Past a point, they're all crazy steep.

What could possibly be wrong with "LAMOURA"?

 

[Le breton]

...........
What could possibly be wrong with "LAMOURA"?

In my post I had been musing about a signpost I had passed on a ride through the Jura where LAMOURA is a village/resort known for cross-country skiing and being the start of the Transjurassienne, the famous international race.

Anyway, a little before the town there was this postsign saying LAMOURA 2, which can be read as "L'amour à 2" (2 for lovemaking) and I let my pen follow my train of thought : would I later see postsigns saying "LAMOURA 1" (As they say in some schools, Master Bate). And what about "LAMOURA 3", like in the movie "Jules et Jim". And then, what about an hypothetical "LAMOURA 2.5", how would yould interpret that?

Anyway, after a small number of answers, the administrator canceled the thread without explanation. Later he pretexted that I had used capital letters in the title of a thread. In the meantime I had reposted it using a cached version of the thread that I had find on the web.

In a private exchange with the administrator I pointed out that there were lots of violations of that capital letters rule. I still don't know what could be the real reason he cancelled my post and I didn't want to crawl before him to ask him to allow me back in.

PS : Maybe he thought that the word "sesquiquadratic" which I used to characterize "L'amour à 2.5" was blasphematory or something similar, who knows.

 

[Alpechraxler]

I know i can climb the Sissacher Flüh near Liesthal in Basel Switzerland which is 0.68 km, avg 13,6 % max 32 % and is 93 m up. The steepest part is 25 - 32 % for about 200 m. Gearing was 34 x 25 standing.

 

[LugHugger]

Anyone know the steepest road in the UK/England/South England?

Consult Simon Warren's 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs, soon to be followed by a sequel, Another 100..... Excellent references and a bargain from Amazon.

 

[luckyboy]

The other day I thought of this exact same question for recumbents as I blasted past one on the flat.

 

[Maxiton]

In my post I had been musing about a signpost I had passed on a ride through the Jura where LAMOURA is a village/resort known for cross-country skiing and being the start of the Transjurassienne, the famous international race.

Anyway, a little before the town there was this postsign saying LAMOURA 2, which can be read as "L'amour à 2" (2 for lovemaking) and I let my pen follow my train of thought : would I later see postsigns saying "LAMOURA 1" (As they say in some schools, Master Bate). And what about "LAMOURA 3", like in the movie "Jules et Jim". And then, what about an hypothetical "LAMOURA 2.5", how would yould interpret that?

Anyway, after a small number of answers, the administrator canceled the thread without explanation. Later he pretexted that I had used capital letters in the title of a thread. In the meantime I had reposted it using a cached version of the thread that I had find on the web.

In a private exchange with the administrator I pointed out that there were lots of violations of that capital letters rule. I still don't know what could be the real reason he cancelled my post and I didn't want to crawl before him to ask him to allow me back in.

PS : Maybe he thought that the word "sesquiquadratic" which I used to characterize "L'amour à 2.5" was blasphematory or something similar, who knows.

You're cracking me up with this. Great explanation. (I had a feeling you might produce something like this with that word.) I think it was the LAMOURA 2.5 that got you booted. The Admin clearly feared you were onto his dark secret.