1x and epic pain faces dominate on The Struggle

By Jack Luke

Published: Monday, 30 October 2023 at 23:06 PM


The UK hill climb season is defined by bikes and tech pushed to the limit of lightness.

The 2023 UK National Championships had no shortage of boutique lightweight tech, weight-saving hacks and sanded carbon on show.

Let’s take a look at our favourite tech from the day.

Ben Mackinson sub-£1k Trek Emonda SLR

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
Ben Mackinson’s eBay-fu is unmatched.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Ben Mackinson’s 5.2kg Trek Emonda SLR weighs just 5.2kg but cost him under £1,000, with every part except the cables purchased second-hand.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
Mackinson sanded the frame to within an inch of its life.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The heart of the bike is the frame, which Mackinson bought on eBay for £200. He spent 30 hours sanding it back to a raw finish as a lockdown project, saving 175g.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
10-speed era SRAM Red is the prototypical hill climber’s groupset.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The lightweight Hunt tubular wheelset is the most expensive part of the bike, purchased just a week before the nationals for £500.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
It’s rare to see 26mm finishing kit these days.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Most modern road bike handlebars – including lightweight models – use a 31.8mm clamp.

It is, however, possible to build a lightweight, albeit less stiff, setup with old school 26mm diameter finishing kit.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
Mackinson deemed the descent midway through Thr Struggle short enough to not warrant drops, so out came the hacksaw.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Here, Mackinson has paired a 2005 Extralight Roadstem UL3 26mm stem with chopped Deda Piega bars for a lightweight budget setup.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
These Planet X/Fouriers brakes are a popular choice in the hill climb scene.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Planet X’s CNC Ultralight brakes have a dedicated following in the hill climb world, weighing around 100g apiece.

They can regularly be purchased secondhand for less than £50 a pair. For comparison, a pair of Cane Creek eeBrakes weighs around 160g a pair (depending on spec) but will set you back £660 a pair.

Ben Mackinson's Trek Emonda SLR
A second Garmin mount O-ring was seen as a frivolous waste of grams when one would do.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Introducing The Struggle…

Jack Evans BikeRadar
BikeRadar was, once again, represented at the Hill Climb National Championships by our own Jack Evans.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Co-hosted by Lakes Road Club and Barrow Central Wheelers, this year’s UK Hill Climb National Championships took place on The Struggle.

Hill climb finish line
The finish line was littered with ruined riders.
Jack Luke / Our Media

At 4.3km long, The Struggle is an outlier in the UK hill climb scene – climbing 444m from Ambleside to the head of Kirkstone Pass at an average gradient of 8 per cent with a mid-course descent also adding to the challenge, few events are as long or technical.


Dannielle Watkinson’s modified Specialized Tarmac SL3

Dannielle Watkinson's Tarmac SL3
This Tarmac SL3 hides a special secret.

Dannielle Watkinson’s 5.4kg Tarmac SL3 was purchased as a birthday present by her partner.

Internally routed SL3
The bike is, quite possibly, the world’s only internally-routed Tarmac SL3.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The bike was stripped and repainted and, at the same time, modified to internally route the rear brake cable.

This with the updated graphics lends the bike a surprisingly contemporary look – don’t forget the Tarmac SL3 was released way back in 2010.

Dannielle Watkinson's Tarmac SL3 7
Ciamillo makes some of the lightest brakes out there.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The Ciamillo Zero G Ti brakes are of a similar vintage and weigh around 190g for a pair.

The exotic lightweight theme continues with 23mm wide Veloflex Record tyres mounted to AX Lightness wheels. These are fitted with latex inner tubes.

Dannielle Watkinson's Tarmac SL3 6
The one-piece cockpit is wide yet light.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Watkinson opted for a 42cm-wide Bontrager XXX one-piece cockpit. She said the wider bars provided additional leverage on the steepest sections of The Struggle.

Hill climb assets
This sneaky skull charm is an apt reminder hill climb racing leaves you feeling like death.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Humble brakes for Chris Mann’s Cervélo R3

Dia-Compe Gran Compe 9000 Ti calipers
You do not have to spend heaps of money, or buy new kit, to build a competitive bike.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Chris Mann’s humble Dia-Compe Gran Compe 9000 Ti calipers stood out among a sea of boutique brakes.

Weighing just 125g per brake, these are commonly available for low prices secondhand. Better still, Mann’s were pinched from a box of spare parts at his work.

Dia-Compe Gran Compe 9000 Ti calipers
The brakes were fitted to Mann’s Cervélo S3.
Jack Luke / Our Media

While lighter options exist, the brakes certainly didn’t slow down Mann, who took 10th in the men’s event.

Mann added they wouldn’t have slowed him down anyway, noting they are “quite ineffective” as brakes.

Sam Marshall’s rim brake Pinarello Dogma F

Sam Marshall’s rim brake Pinarello Dogma F
We applaud anyone buying a new rim brake road bike in 2023.
Jack Luke / Our Media

The Pinarello Dogma F is one of the last top-tier road bikes still available with rim brakes, making it a niche choice in 2023.

Sam Marshall’s rim brake Pinarello Dogma F
The Dogma F is one of very few new carbon rim brake bikes available today.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Unlike some rim brake fanatics, Sam Marshall’s decision to #savetherimbrake was not made in pursuit of an aesthetic ideal or dislike of disc brakes.

Sam Marshall’s rim brake Pinarello Dogma F
Marshall switched to 1x for the hill climb season.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Instead, his choice was made on purely pragmatic grounds as he already owned a top-tier rim brake groupset. A refreshingly nonpartisan approach to the most divisive issue in road cycling tech.

Other than a swap to a 1x setup and lighter wheels, the 6.68kg bike is pictured as Marshall would ride it day-to-day.

Jason Holder’s incredible Trek Emonda SLR RSL

Jason Holder's Emonda
We’ve already published a full gallery on Jason Holder’s amazing Trek Emonda SLR RSL.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Jason Holder’s 5.3kg Trek Emonda SLR RSL is… well, a lot’s going on here.

Jason Holder Emonda
Jason’s glued-on saddle lasted until the finish line – or just long enough, in his words.
Jack Luke / Our Media

From a glued-on saddle (which fell off at the finish line) to plastic limit screws, this bike was among the most heavily modified on the hill.

Jason Holder Emonda
Holder was found praying at the altar of pain at the finish line.
Jack Luke / Our Media

In fact, there’s so much going on that we’ve already published a full standalone gallery on this bike – it is not one to miss!

Chris Hall’s super light Cervélo R5 disc

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
Chris Hall’s Cervélo R5 weighs just 5.59kg – not bad for a disc brake bike.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Chris Hall rode his 5.59kg Cervélo S5 with a hill climb-specific bike fit for the 2023 Nationals.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
Hall rotated his hoods backwards to put his hands in a more neutral position when climbing out of the saddle.
Jack Luke / Our Media

By tilting the nose of his saddle downwards and rotating the hoods backwards, he is placed in a more natural riding position on steep pitches.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
A mountain bike crankset is compatible with a wider range of chainrings.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Hall swapped his usual Dura-Ace crankset in favour of a Shimano XTR mountain bike crankset for his hill climb season.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
The driveside of the crankset had to be spaced out to accommodate the extra width of the axle.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Hall says this is lighter than a Dura-Ace crankset and provides better small chainring compatibility.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
Berd spokes, Extralite and Tubolito inner tubes make for a lightweight wheelset.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Reserve carbon rims are laced to Extralite hubs using Berd polymer spokes. These are fitted with a pair of Schwalbe Pro One TT tyres and Tubolito TPU inner tubes.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
Carbon thru-axles are now a thing – what a time to be alive.
Jack Luke / Our Media

Hall has replaced his stock alloy thru-axles for Overfast carbon thru-axles – yes, carbon.

These are claimed to be the world’s lightest, saving around 98g versus stock axles, according to Overfast.

Chris Hall's Cervélo R5
Darimo’s lightest seatposts use cords rather than clamps to hold the saddle in place.
Jack Luke / Our Media

A mix of Darimo and Schmolke finishing kit rounds out the build.