Folding bikes bring you many benefits, and they’re becoming trendy among the biking community. It’s a great form of transportation in the city and urban area– including commuting, exercising, and traveling to a remote destination.
They’re fast, durable, and enjoyable to ride just like a regular bicycle, in some cases. However, many people wonder if is it harder to bike up a hill with a folding bike despite all the advantages? The ability to climb uphill depends on several factors like– the number of gears, sitting position, weight of your bike, etc.
Continue reading to know the answer and tips for riding uphill with a foldable bike. Besides, we’ll also share different advantages and drawbacks of using one. So, let’s jump into the discussion.
Is It Harder To Bike Up a Hill With a Folding Bike?
It’s not that much harder to ride folding bikes uphill when it has proper features and delivers enough effort. However, riding uphill with them may be a bit challenging as compared to the standard bicycles. All you need to have is the ‘low gear’ feature that many models offer nowadays.
It’s also equally important to have a range of gear inches like a standard bike, so they can climb uphill for sure. They can ride small hills by adopting thin tires and multiple speed options. Besides, it would be difficult for you to deal with different terrain so you have to think about the quality of tires and suspension.
Not to mention that the ability to climb a hill also depends on how hard you can pedal, besides the gear inches. Low gear allows you to climb hills without putting too much pedal support on your existing folding bike.
Important Tips to Bike up A Hill with A Folding Bike
You should also keep in mind some points before going uphills– no matter what kind of bicycle you’re using or how steep the hill is. Here are some important tips for making your climbing experience better–
1. Choosing the Right Gear
As we discussed earlier the gears and their importance many times, especially when riding uphill with foldaway and other bikes. A proper gear helps you to reach the top with no such a big effort. In this case, a lower gear will make your process easier. The lower gear has a smaller chainring and larger cog on the rear gears so, check if your bike has this option.
Even the most budget foldable ebike comes with this gear system too. You’ll find a variety of options out there, from single to seven gears facility and other related features to ride a steeper hill. For example– they come with multiple speed settings and working modes.
2. Always Stay Positive
Attitude efforts result! So, keep patience and a positive attitude in your mind before starting the climb every day. Because, you might fall and fail when carrying out the exercise, since it may take a few days to get used to.
Learning to bike climb uphill requires a lot of effort. So, stay motivated, accept new challenges, and start climbing practice from a smaller hill first then move to relatively steep hills gradually.
3. Control Breathing
Controlling your breathing system is also crucial when it’s about practicing and learning to ride in a hilly zone. Because it lets you perform as much as possible and enhances the ability to climb soon. You need to have a good breathing strategy so that your body and muscles can take proper oxygen during the climb. The posture of your body also impacts riding, so be sure that the chest and lungs remain straight and open.
4. Choose Outer Path when Taking Turn
To maintain good momentum, you should take the turns from the outer side of the main riding path. It helps you to see and observe other riders in terms of safety and they can also observe you in a similar way. Taking a wider turn also helps to put less pressure on the steering handle and deliver a smooth pace.
5. Don’t Stand up On the Bike
Cyclists tend to stand up on the bike pedals while riding on the hill, even on the steeper hill. This is not a good pratic. It might be pretty dangerous and unsafe for you in most cases. Therefore, try to avoid this position instead of sitting on the saddle.
6. Practice a Lot
There is a proverb “practice makes a man perfect”. Yes, only practice can increase your expertise– especially while you’re a new player in this game. The more hills you climb, the more skill you’ll get easier. Hence, you’ll learn and understand everything with less effort.
Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Riding a Folding Bike
Like other forms, a riding bike brings many advantages and disadvantages to you and the bikers community. Today, we’ll discuss them briefly one by one. Here you go–
Advantages
- It’s foldable. One of the main advantages of this folding bike comes with its name, as you can use it commuting and fold & carry it with you everywhere– including bus, trains, planes, etc. All you need to do is fold it properly before proceeding.
- It’s also possible to bring a folding bike into your house to protect it from thieves. Besides, you can keep it with you even if you’re in a classroom, meeting, or a coffee shop. Thus, it ensures security.
- Since it’s a folding bike, so you can convert it into a compact and little shape to store in a small space. Besides, you can transport it with your car, truck, or SUV while traveling to another location– especially while making a holiday or adventure.
- As everybody knows they’re very expensive, therefore you can resale them after usage. Of course, you can have a good price even after a long ride.
Drawbacks
- A foldable bike is a bit difficult to customize since you can’t find available accessories in the market.
- Most of them are expensive with plenty of convenient features
- They’ve relatively thinner tires than a regular or standard bike so you may experience bumps on rough terrain. Unless you invest some money on a dedicated suspension.
The Terms We Also Covered
Regular bike, hybrid bike, larger wheels, upright position, brake pads, hydraulic disc brakes, public transport, electric bike, 20-inch wheels, 16-inch wheels, adventure bikes, bike path, kinds of bikes, electric versions, quality components, suspension fork, conventional bicycle, standard bicycle, and conventional road bikes.
Conclusion
We hope you read and understood how hard and easy it is to ride uphill with a folding bike. What really important is the number of gears, body shape, posture, and skill of riding. If you keep these things in mind then your trip will be enjoyable forever– including paved surfaces, countryside, and mountain roads.
