30th anniversary of the sport of UK mountain biking weekend

Re: Re:

elPedro666":6qbt5t06 said:
Love the re-enactment shot! :cool:
Come on then, how did they compare on the climb...? ;)
The Cleland had recently been fitted with a new chain, and just after that that grabbed frame, it suffered from chain-suck and Jez aborted stopped to investigate what had gone wrong.

What I can say about climbing steep hills on Clelands is that it is a very different experience from that of climbing on a mountain bike. This is mainly due to more of the riders weight being over the rear wheel which though great for traction, does make preventing the front wheel from lifting off more of a problem. This means that mountain bike riders will find it hard to get a Cleland to climb a very steep incline. The trick is to slide forward on the saddle, whilst bending the upper body over the handle bars. At the moment the front wheel starts to lift you come out of the saddle and launch your body as high and far forward as you can so as to replant the front tyre. If you try this on a mountain bike you will un-weight the rear wheel usually causing it to spin out. However on the Cleland this seldom happens and you can continue to climb until either something goes wrong or your legs / lungs give out.

Here is a picture of Cleland frame-builder, Jeremy Torr at the 1984 Wendover Bash hill climb. It Shows that a Cleland can climb well whilst being ridden out of the saddle.
Notice how the onlookers are applauding as he out climbs his competitors and moves in to the lead.
 

Attachments

  • 1984 Wendover Bash Hillclimb.jpg
    1984 Wendover Bash Hillclimb.jpg
    41 KB · Views: 795
Back
Top