By Jack Luke

Published: Monday, 01 November 2021 at 12:00 am

---

The 2021 UK Hill Climb National Championships returned to Winnats Pass in the Peak District for the first time since 1977 on Sunday, where 300 riders faced biblical weather conditions on one of the toughest courses on the circuit.

With an average gradient of 16 per cent over the 900-metre course, maxing out at 23 per cent for a sustained section at the top of the climb, uncompromisingly lightweight bikes were the order of the day, with just about every weight-saving trick under the sun employed across the field.

Hill climbs in the UK are run by Cycling Time Trials, so they aren’t subject to UCI rules. This means sub-6.8kg bikes and exotic ultralight components are the norm – you really can run whatever you want so long as it’s not a trike or recumbent.

We were at this year’s event and have picked out six of the most exciting builds – from a bespoke hill climb-specific steel bike to the fairly conventional Rose that won the men’s event, there’s something in here for every flavour of bike nerd out there.

We also have a separate gallery on Rebecca Richardson’s amazing 4.7kg Specialized Aethos coming tomorrow – stay tuned for more.

Rick Bailey’s custom 5.6kg Gritspoke steel hill climb bike

Rick Bailey (Team Lifting Gear Products / Cycles In Motion) – owner of Gritspoke, a small frame builder based in Sheffield – rode to a time of 4:12:8 onboard this custom steel bike.

The unconventional geometry is said to be similar to a time trial bike, with a steep seat tube angle, short head tube and short rear centre.

Matt Grayson Photography

Speaking to BikeRadar, Bailey explained the short back-end helps to “keep the weight of the rider more over the rear wheel, helping to maintain grip when climbing out of the saddle”, which can reduce the chance of wheel spin on the typically wet and greasy roads of the UK hill climb season.

The short front-end is also designed to maintain an aggressive position on steep roads, where a conventionally-sized head tube can feel “lofty”, according to Bailey, and you can end up wrestling with the front of the bike to keep it down.

Matt Grayson Photography

Bailey was further keen to stress that, as the bike is photographed on the flat, it looks a bit strange but “put it on a steep gradient and it makes sense” – a hill climb-specific bike if there ever was one.

Matt Grayson Photography

The frame is constructed from fillet-brazed tubing (the exact tubeset wasn’t specified) and is paired with a custom, carbon integrated seat mast.

This is a signature design of Gritspoke and is seen across all of its drop-bar bikes. The seat mast topper is a custom design produced in-house by Gritspoke.

Matt Grayson Photography

The bike is based around a Shimano Dura-Ace R9000 groupset run in a 1× setup with a 38t chainring up-front.

The cassette has been stripped down to just four cogs to reduce weight and improve the chainline of the bike.

Matt Grayson Photography

The bike is fitted with a set of tubular Zed Wheels, built with Berd String Spokes.

According to the brand, these spokes are made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and are said to be both lighter and stronger than conventional steel spokes. These are fitted with a pair of Pirelli P Zero Race SL tubular tyres.