“It’s all about the bike”: A Photo Gallery and full Technical Specification of my National Championship Bike
Originally compiled in Nov 2021
Pic 1: The bike in full, among the Autumnal October leaves that remind me of the hill climb season.
A lot of fun in the hill climb scene comes from building up and modifying stupidly light bicycles- every gram counts and every upgrade will help!
Cycling Time Trials, who are the governing body for the majority of hill climb events, have two key rules that hill climbers use to their advantage:
1. There is no minimum bike weight rule, unlike in pro road races where the minimum weight limit is 6.8kg. Bikes must be in ‘good working order’, but that responsibility is down to the rider.
2. Helmets are optional for riders aged 18 and over.
[Edited note: helmets and front lights have now been made compulsory for TTs and Hill Climbs ran under Cycling Time Trials, which I think doesn't make sense and ruins a niche tradition for slow, 4 minute hill climbs... But whatever, I'll probably debate that in a later blog!]
Rule one is great as it means you can go crazy and modify your bike lighter than what the pros can ride. Rule 2 is good, but only for certain events. The chances of you crashing badly on your head while going uphill on steep, closed roads is minimal, so not wearing a helmet will also save weight and feel quite cool. But on flatter hill climbs or ones on busy, dangerous roads, a helmet is a very logical option and might save time through aerodynamic gain. This is down to the rider though and if I was in doubt, I’d wear one.
As a University student, I do not have thousands of pounds to spend on lighter parts for my bike (well, not yet!), so I had to lighten up my bike on a budget. To start, I used my Trek Emonda as a template, which I bought 33% off RRP back in 2019. It was probably so cheap because it was one of the final models to use rim brakes, which are lighter yet less popular nowadays than disc brakes. I find them fine for slowing down a skinny guy like me and I’ve used rim brakes forever. If it ain’t broke…
My main upgrades have been my wheels, tyres, gear shifters, saddle, cables, chain and… Well, that’s about it! Otherwise, I’ve done some clever and cheap mods and hacks to remove further weight.
Pic 2: the wheels, with taped on tyres and a shortened cassette. Notice the carbon weave on the braking surface.
My wheels were the priciest upgrade. They’re a set of UK custom built carbon tubular wheels, made with new and innovative carbon spokes. They’re fully adjustable, lighter than wheels which are considerably more expensive than they are, and they simply feel sooooooo fast! The brand is my little secret, though they’re somewhat known in the hill climbing community. They’ll last me for years and I love them to bits.
My tyres are Vittoria Corsa tubulars, which are a special kind of tyre that I taped onto the wheels. Tubular tyres and wheels save weight compared to ‘standard’ clinchers and they roll really smoothly. I could have bought a lighter set, but I wanted a bit of durability as if I got a puncture before the start or on the hill, I’d be screwed and would rather not risk it.
Pic 3: the somewhat ‘Frankenstein-esque’ gear setup, with a SRAM red rear derailleur, KMC gold chain, single 34t chainring up front and a 30t rear cassette. This gave me plenty of easy gears to spin my way up Winnats and the gears were actually really snappy and responsive.
I found the gear shifters and rear mech used but in great condition on Facebook Marketplace for an absolute bargain which I couldn’t turn down. They’re SRAM Red 22, which are the lightest out there as well, so I won’t need to upgrade them anytime soon. This makes the groupset a bit of an odd mix of SRAM and Shimano parts, but they all work effectively and I see no need to swap to SRAM cranks. I also bought the saddle from the same person. It is an 80g piece of carbon fibre, branded under ‘Bontrager’ (Trek’s components branch) but I think it’s a fake as it is quite lopsided. Either way, it works for short events and it seems pretty strong!
The cables are Jagwire Link Cables, which save a bit of weight over regular cables, can be cut shorter (and thus lighter) and look cool AF. I couldn’t find the gear cables online so only the brake cables have been upgraded. Chain is a KMC SL gold chain, the lightest out there but also reasonably priced. The gold coating is Titanium Nitride, which looks amazing in the sun and improves durability. I got it professionally waxed by my friend, legend and UYCC Track Secretary Kelton (thanks yet again), which improves smoothness and keeps the chain tidy and quiet.
Pic 4: the raw carbon saddle. Not something you’d want to use on long rides, but perfectly fine for hill climbs.
In terms of mods, I’ve removed the gears on the front and run a single chainring, which is fine for just going uphill. I use a chain catcher that came with the bike just in case- I wouldn’t want it falling off, ruining my bike and race. This saves a ton of weight. I run a 4iiii power meter, which is one of the lightest, cheapest and most accurate in the business. I swap it between bikes too and would recommend it for anyone looking to buy one. Speedplay pedals are used as I use them anyway and they’re quite light and a good one time investment.
Pic 5: four of the weirdest mods; no bar tape, hoods replaced with fabric tape, sawn off drops and removed fork internals (just visible in the bottom left). Having a large computer may add weight, but it helps to have it so I can see my pacing numbers at a quick glance.
The drops of the bars (some old alloy ones which came with the bike and were slightly the wrong size for me) have been cut off. Bar tape has been removed. Hood covers have been removed and replaced with some fabric tape, which is lighter and in my opinion grippier! Headset internals and other parts (which help install the headset bearings) have been removed as they’re not necessary once the bars are adjusted correctly.
Finally, some of the metal gears on the back have been swapped for spacers, which are lighter. Sure, I’ll be missing some gears, but for consistently steep hills I’ll probably only use 1 to 3 anyway, so I’m not missing much and can swap them depending on the climb at hand.
All of the above changes and mods brought the weight of my bike down to a mere 5.8kg, which is pretty insane. It started at 7kg, so losing 1.2kg through marginal gains has really added up. I may buy a carbon fibre bar and stem for next year which will chop a further 100-150g off, but I see no point in going much lighter than that. I might carefully sand my paint off the frame and lacquer the raw carbon with Trek decals; paint is actually quite heavy (up to 300g!) and I’ve done this before on a different carbon component, but it is risky and I might try it on an old carbon frame first to check that I know what I’m doing.
Pic 6: The full bike and kit setup at the Ditchling Beacon hill climb, one week after Nationals.
In terms of race gear, I wear a one-piece Nopinz skinsuit, which has a race number pocket (to avoid using pins, which ruin some kit), I also wear some long Nopinz aero socks which I got on offer and look super neat. For footwear, I use my Planet X carbon shoes, which are cheaper than big brands yet very good for the price and maybe my Yorkshire World Champs cycling cap if I feel like it. Caps are traditionally worn for hill climbs, but sometimes I don’t quite feel like wearing them. Plus, they add on grams which I would’ve shaved off the bike without a second thought!
Are you interested in weight weenie-ism? Would you rather build up a super light bike or a super aero bike? Can you think of another way to shave more grams off the bike? Have I literally gone insane? Leave a comment on my social media or this blog, or send me your thoughts and let me know!
Thanks for reading, see you out on the road!
-F
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