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Video: Top 10 climbing tips

How to get to the top faster

GCN have a new video offering you tips for climbing like a pro.

Everyone wants to be able to ride uphill fast and this short video offers you advice on everything from pacing to the best cadence (pedal revolutions per minute).

The video advises you to stay seated most of the time because that’s the most efficient way to ride, but it says that it makes sense to stand up on the pedals on short climbs or on stretches where you want to put out some extra power.

It also suggests relaxing anything that isn’t powering the bike in order to save energy, and breaking a long climb down into smaller sections to help you psychologically.

Using the right technique and equipment will help you climb faster but you also have to train if you want to improve so the video suggests structured interval training. You knew that already, right?

If you’re overweight, dropping a few pounds will help improve your power to weight ratio. That’s also something that you already knew. There’s no getting around it, if you want to be a good climber you need to put in the hard yards. You didn't think it was going to be easy, did you?

If you want to test your climbing skills try the Grimpée Mynydd Du mass start hill climb that we told you about on road.cc earlier today.

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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7 comments

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silkred | 9 years ago
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its all about the hills - any ride you do - even a sunday club ride will always get a little fizzy on the hills - it tests you but more than that it will show your limits in an honest no place to hide sort of way - cycling is almost all about climbing well when you have to... for me anyway...

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dave atkinson | 9 years ago
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Being able to ride uphill quickly is generally considered to be A Good Thing, isn't it? Strava or no Strava?

I've yet to meet a cyclist who said "I wish I was slower on the hills"

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Bikeylikey replied to dave atkinson | 9 years ago
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Dave Atkinson wrote:

Being able to ride uphill quickly is generally considered to be A Good Thing, isn't it? Strava or no Strava?

I've yet to meet a cyclist who said "I wish I was slower on the hills"

Didn't he just mean that he's not that bothered about going up hills fast, he's happy enough as he is. He might be an ageing cycle tourist or a Buddhist monk. He didn't say he wished he was actually slower on hills. Poor bloke's being ganged up on and bullied.

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don simon fbpe | 9 years ago
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Why would wanting to ride up a hill quickly make you a Strava Bore?

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Some Fella | 9 years ago
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"Everyone wants to be able to ride uphill fast"
Really?
Not all of us are Strava Bores you know?

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Quince replied to Some Fella | 9 years ago
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Some Fella wrote:

"Everyone wants to be able to ride uphill fast"
Really?
Not all of us are Strava Bores you know?

Yeah, I pine for the good old days before they invented Strava, and before they invented hills. (^_-)

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ronin | 9 years ago
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Deja vu...I think I saw this video some weeks before  4

I think I'm heavier now, and my climbing has gotten worse. Bummer.

Neo, you got any of those red pills...

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