Hill Climb
It's the hill climb season and where there is a sharp ascent you may find a
hill climb event. Many such as the Catford event, the oldest in the World, are
now classics well worth watching or taking part in.
Hill climb racing is a simple concept - each rider is set off at intervals
and the fastest time up wins.
Featured below is Danny Axford's (Arctic/Shorter Rochford) 2005 hill climb
bike. This bike is stripped to the minimum for this most specialised of cycling
discipline's. Ideas on equipment differ and with the effort over in a few minutes,
simplicity is often the overriding factor as is the case with Danny's bike.
James Dobbins' 2006
National Hill Climb winning bike is more hi-tech and is certainly not
minimalist in nature, highlighting the differing approaches to hill climbing.
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Paul J Wright captures a rider as he progresses through
the many spectators
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Danny Axford's Shorter Hill Climb Bike
Frame - Shorter 7005 aluminium in dark black
Forks - ITM Millennium with carbon Steerer and a little more rake than the dedicated
track forks so a bit easier to handle on the road
Handlebars/Stem - Ambrosio lite II bars & Ambrosio Venturi stem
Seat pin - Ambrosio Venturi Carbon
Saddle - Selle Italia SLR
Chainset - Ambrosio pista 170 cranks. Usefully, for hillclimbing, these are
135pcd so I can fit shimano rings down to 38 teeth
Pedals - Time impact magnesium
Derailleurs/levers - n/a
Gearing – Have collected fixed sprockets from 15 to 22 teeth. 39x19 seems
to get used quite often but obviously it depends on the hill.
Wheels/hubs - Navigator Pista (front replaced with a Navigator Carbon road wheel
for race day)
Tyres - Schwalbe Stelvio Evolution
Brakes - Ambrosio Carbon "effect" front calliper. At first glance
these look like carbon composite but they're just painted alloy. This makes
them undoubtedly "chav" (not sure if you can actually get them in
Burberry!) but at least the black finish fits nicely with the rest of the bike.
Other bits - a bloody big hill!
Time Trials
Time trials including hill climbs are run by the CTT (Cycling Time Trials)
and full details are availabe on their website - www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk
(See also links below)
