Fixed mountain climbing gear. Help please

I'm planning on riding the 'Nibberittet' again this summer, but this time fixed!

The course winds up the side of a mountain overlooking Gieranger fjord. Its basically 0 - 1500 (meters over sea) over 21 km. I make this a 7.1% average gradient.

I was thinking about running a 42:22 gear, which gives me just over 50 gear inches. This should be a decent gear for most of the climb, but might lead to too much lactic acid build up in the later stages (not spinny enough?). TBH I just guessing. I am somewhat limited by the 144BCD of my campy chainset, so cannot go any lower than 41/42 teeth up front.

Anybody with any thoughts on this?
Any experianced climbers with advice?

(NB: there are buses with space for bikes for the decent)

http://www.frafjordtilfjell.com/hoved.php?valg=2&sprak=eng

u thought about a flip flop hub with two different gear ratios on either side?

which means u can enjoy the most fun- desending down the hillllll

+1 about the flip-flop, considering doing the same up L'alpe D'Huez this summer or next.

ETA - "From here, the ascent to Mount Dalsnibba starts. This last bit is 5 km on gravel road, and has a climb of 1:8."

Is that do-able fixed? I'd imagine traction would be a problem, one bit of wheelspin and all your momenteum is gone.

actually take a flip flop with both fixed, then some tools and a freewheel for the trip down.

u thought about a flip flop hub with two different gear ratios on either side?

I'm not sure I want sure that I want to stop and start flipping my back wheel. Last year my chain came off, and my legs turned to stone in the time it took me to put it back on.

which means u can enjoy the most fun- desending down the hillllll

Could pack a different fixed set-up or a free-wheel in my rucksack (buses carry these up before hand) for the decent. But I only have a front brake, and my legs will be too jelly-like for braking purposes.

50 inches is not that low a gear for a sustained climb. Generally for a climb that long I'd be using either 36x23 or 36x26 which is between 36 and 41 inches. I think you might gain some efficiencies from riding fixed but I'd still gear down if at all possible. That said, you'd probably get up on a gear of 50 inches but your knees might not thank you.

I assume you're going to do some tests before you commit?

+1 about the flip-flop, considering doing the same up L'alpe D'Huez this summer or next.

ETA - "From here, the ascent to Mount Dalsnibba starts. This last bit is 5 km on gravel road, and has a climb of 1:8."

Is that do-able fixed? I'd imagine traction would be a problem, one bit of wheelspin and all your momenteum is gone.

Have the same concerns regarding gravel roads :(
I am considering a rear tyre witha bit more tread pattern.

If I'm running say 42:22.
Is it worth getting off the bike to flip to say 42:23.
Is there such a thing as a 23T cog?

50 inches is not that low a gear for a sustained climb. Generally for a climb that long I'd be using either 36x23 or 36x26 which is between 36 and 41 inches. I think you might gain some efficiencies from riding fixed but I'd still gear down if at all possible. That said, you'd probably get up on a gear of 50 inches but your knees might not thank you.

I assume you're going to do some tests before you commit?

I'm already commited (although I could take a different bike). I am trying to decide which cogs/chainring to buy, so I can start testing myself and the bike on more local climbs.

I would rather spin on the flats and post a bad time then not make it at all.

Hmmm 41:23 perhaps...

(BTW thanks for the gearing input)

Whatever you do, good luck and keep us updated =D

I'd buy a cheap 170 mm - 175 mm sora or what ever cheap crank set and use the inner ring to give me a easier time to get the low gear.

You're the man who has done this ride before so really have the best chance of working out what you need.know

I'd buy a cheap 170 mm - 175 mm sora or what ever cheap crank set and use the inner ring to give me a easier time to get the low gear.

You're the man who has done this ride before so really have the best chance of working out what you need.know

Last year I did it on a unbranded hybrid, which is too big for me, and fecking heavy. I did'nt really train for it either, as I had just completed the local marathon, and was knackered.

Its a bit hard to transfer my experiances last year to riding a, far lighter, fixed road bike. Hopefully after completing some training, my legs will work better this year.

Sounds like I need to go lower than 42:22 so I will try to sort a 41:23 set-up and see how it goes, in training.

If it doesnt give me enough spin spin, Ill start thinking about swapping out the chainset.

Thanks for the input ;)

PS. @andyp were can you get hold of these huge cogs?

PS. @andyp were can you get hold of these huge cogs?

A bike with gears. 10 speed Campag FTW! :-)

A bike with gears. 10 speed Campag FTW! :-)

You kids and your new fangled technology ;)

Looks like I should be able to get hold of a 144 BCD TA chainring with 41T (designed to be a replacement for the old super record chainrings) and Soma Fab do track cogs with 23T.

41:23 gives me 47 gear inches.

• the mrs reminded me last night that the baby we are expecting will, most likely, only be a month old by then. So I'll be doing this event gearless and sleep deprived, fun fun.
  
  

(BTW. If anyone has ever wondered if it is possible to go lower than 41T on a 144 BCD chainset check out the pic)

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I rode up the Ballon D'Alsace on fixed - September 2007.

This is not on the same scale as the Alpe D'Huez or the Tourmalet, the highest point on the road being 1178 metres (although this sounds better if you call it 3800 feet). However it has often been featured in the tour, and Henri Desgrange is said to have claimed that it was unrideable - he was quickly proved wrong though.

I used a 43t chain ring with sprockets of 18t freewheel(63.5"), to get to the start of the climb and then turned the wheel to use a 22t fixed (51.8") on the ascent itself, which I think is mostly about 7%. The road is now so well engineered and surfaced that this gear (only selected on the basis of availabilty of sprockets) proved just about right. Ithought I'd done reasonably well to average 10mph on the climb, until I discovered that Henri Pottier had averaged 12 mph in 1906!

I have an article on this ride written for my club magazine which I could email to anyone interested.

I don't understand why you'd want to do this fixed, surely the most fun is gonna be coming back down again? 5'' trail bike ftw

@clubman. Cheers for the input. How did you find sustained climbing fixed?

I remember losing focus a few times last year and doing some awful pedal hard -freewheel, pedal hard - freewheel cycles, which I am sure is a terrible way to approach a cycle climb. I was hoping the fixed gear would help smooth things out and help me maintain momentum.

@Sammy. its 95% asfalt so no need for suspension. I rode down last year, which was a blast, but with only a front brake on my fixed, I think I'll take the bus this year. (the winding roads have very short barriers, and big drops). Next year I hope to do a Norwegian trail race (birkebeiner), which ends with a downhill on what in the winter is a ski slope ;)

First, a correction: The Ballon gradient is not 15%, but 1 in 15, more like 7% - as you may have noticed I am far from fully metricated.(now corrected)

I don't think there's any problem with sustained climbing on fixed. My impression is that on gears one always seems to need a slightly lower gear than would be necessary on fixed. Of course this may be pure prejudice on my part.
A couple of years before the Ballon trip I rode up the Col D'Aspin ( about 1400 metres ) and the Tourmalet (2100m. approx.)on gears using a 32T inner ring and a 23T bottom sprocket. On the Aspin I don't think I went below the 19 and everything seemed fairly easy, although pretty slow. The Tourmalet proved a completely different proposition - perhaps the first climb had taken more out of me than I realised. About a third of the way up I was firmly on the 23, and by La Mongie (three quarters of the way) I was having serious doubts about whether I was going to make it at all. Altogether I'd probably done 25 miles, but it felt nearer 100. I don't know if I could get up these climbs on my 43 x 22 - I'd certainly like to try.

Why would anyone want to do this? If motorcycling is mainly about going round corners, cycling is mostly about climbing - driving a car is more about trying to keep awake.

I don't understand why you'd want to do this fixed, surely the most fun is gonna be coming back down again? 5'' trail bike ftw

More of a challange =P

Then flip it over to the freewheel and be rewarded with going really fast while doing no work.

Well. Completed this mountain climb event on Saturday and can confirm that 41:23 is too fecking high a gear!

The first 17km at 7% gradient on the road were doable, although my cadence was horribly slow. The first couple of Km's felt pretty bad, but as the climb proceeded and the feeling did'nt worsen, I started to feel like I could complete the ride. The last 3Km are on a clay/gravel road, and are somewhat steeper. This is where I ran into trouble. My cadence was too low to maintain and, despite putting up a good fight, I had to get off and push for two short periods. I did at least manage to cycle the last stretch to cross the line in the saddle. (although I had a little black-out a couple of centimeters over the line, and scratched the Bob :( )

I'm quite happy with how the event went, despite kicking myself for getting off the bike, and will try again next year.

I would just like to thank all those on here, who have given advice and encouragement.

Thanks guys'n'gals.

Glad to hear you completed it but sorry to hear that you ran into trouble.

Do you think you'll try it fixed again next year? Would a lower gear help more on the gravel road?

Definitely want to go for fixed again next year.

I really enjoyed the simplistic struggle against the hill, mentally it felt more like running (something I'm more used to). My legs feel fine, and I dont think I've done my knees any harm. I am going to hunt for a 24T cog. I dont really want to have to swap crankset (and possibly BB) for a couple of hours ride. The main difference will be preparation. having a baby of only a few weeks, and a 3yo, has meant few training hours and even less sleep.

Two things that suprised me somewhat (although not news to most):-

1) Veloflex tyres seem cope with anything (see pic of conditions)!
2) I have no aches or pains (unlike most). I put this down to bike fit/set-up.

http://www.frafjordtilfjell.com/bilder/IMG_8725.JPG

That looks brilliant. Good work man.

This would have been the veiw from the top if the weather was'nt poo.
The ride started from the mouth of the fjord in the center of the pic.