Climbs by %

Hi all,

Fairly new to the Systm party but have a question on replicating hill climbs.
I have an Elite Direto xr smart trainer. So is it possible to use any of the workouts to replicate say a climb of 2 miles at say 10%? Or customise a workout to do so?

As I say, I’m fairly new to a smart trainer and if this has been answered elsewhere, could someone point me towards the answer.

Love the app btw and how the erg works. Knocks the socks off the old dumb trainer by a long way

1 Like

Short answer is sorta, but not really, but kinda. So, if you know your weight (including your bike and any gear you might have with you on that hill climb), and you know your grade and distance, then you can calculate the power output required to climb at a certain speed, over a certain distance. That power will increase, obviously, the faster you want to go. Here is a calculator you can fiddle with:

Once you have your calculations made, you can ride any workout you like in Level mode and just maintain the power required to ascend at your desired gradient (just pick one of suitable length). The Open Vids would be perfect for something like this where you can actually set the power at a certain wattage and keep it there for the entirety. No music, no story, no sound effects.

Also, WELCOME!

3 Likes

Thanks for that. Looks exactly like what I was looking for. I guessed it wouldn’t be totally accurate but I’ll play around with what you’ve posted

Thanks again

1 Like

You’re most welcome. As for accuracy, it will only be as accurate as the data you use for your calculations, so it can be spot-on accurate as a simulation of the power required but yeh, SYSTM isn’t a real world sim app so…

I’ve used a similar calculator for both indoor and outdoor climbing challenges and can vouch for it. What are you trying to replicate exactly?

Not trying to replicate anything specific really, just some varied sustained climbs to help me up my local climbs. I’m basically looking to be quite low on cadence but having to push out some watts and it having some sort of bearing on a % of a climb?

I’m pretty sure you’ve pointed me in the right direction and it’s a little tricky with weights and stuff but many thanks for your help. I’ll post back when I’ve had a good play with the settings on systm and with that link you supplied

Cheers

1 Like

If you’re not trying to replicate a specific climb there are some FANTASTIC low cadence climb videos that you’re sure to love. Check out these 3: G.O.A.T. Power Station and the Strength Endurance vid from a Week With Ian Boswell.

Also, in the library, if you choose Cycling, you can then “filter” all the workouts by “climbing”. It will give you the 3 that I mentioned as well as a bunch of others that don’t necessarily focus on low cadence work but are definitely geared to helping you become a better climber. This saves you having to create something that’s already there and checks off all your boxes. Happy climbing!

2 Likes