Smish59
On my way home, I cycle a really steep hill. I have plenty of gears on the bike, and can manage to cycle it. Sometimes, someone will walk up the hill faster than I can cycle it. Its comical and a bit embarrassing to see someone walk past me! Im physically fit and train regularly, but just cant cycle any faster.
On my way home, I cycle a really steep hill. I have plenty of gears on the bike, and can manage to cycle it. Sometimes, someone will walk up the hill faster than I can cycle it. Its comical and a bit embarrassing to see someone walk past me! Im physically fit and train regularly, but just cant cycle any faster.
So, at what gradient does it become faster to walk rather than cycle?
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Shades9323 // Sep 9, 2009 at 8:13 pm
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That is an impossible question. It all depends on the cyclist and the walker involved. I would never walk my bike up a hill if I can ride it up the hill.
2 zanti3 // Sep 11, 2009 at 4:53 pm
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Well, heck, I think this is kind of a fun question, and I don’t care what the other poster said.
Let’s say the walker is moving about 4mph, which is 6 feet per second. If you have a bike with 24 inch tires, one tire revolution will take you a little more than 6 feet.
The other factor would be the gear ratio. I’m guessing you are in your granny gear for this hill. On most bikes the granny gear has 30 teeth, while the largest back gear generally has 26 or 27. That would make your gear ratio about 1.1, so one pedal revolution should take you about 7 feet.
So, this boils down to how fast you are pedaling on your steep hill. If you can only manage about 50 reps per minute and you are in your granny gear, you are probably moving only about 4mph, a walker’s pace.
(Make adjustments to the above calculation to match your own bicycle’s tires and gear ratios, of course.)