Ultra-light hill climb bikes go head-to-head

Ultra-light hill climb bikes go head-to-head

The Trek Emonda gets pitched against a Reilly 600SL in a battle for the best hill climb bike

The latest episode of Diaries is here!

Alex Evans

Coming towards the end of their time with the bikes, Reuben and Joe go back over what makes these builds so special in this episode of BikeRadar Diaries.

Which one is your favourite?

This time, however, there's a twist. The guys want you to vote for your favourite build, with the loser having to ride a very cheap, probably very heavy bike up the horribly steep Draycott, a climb famous for it's prolonged 20+ percent gradient section here in the south-west of England.

Reuben's Reilly 600SL

Reuben went for a less mainstream Reilly 600SL

Find out more about the ultra-boutique handmade, semi-custom monster in the Hill Climb Diaries: part 2 — Reuben's new bike day.

Joe's Trek Émonda Project One

Joe's Trek Emonda is a sleek looking hill climb machine

In the Hill Climb Diaries: part 5 — Joe's incredible 5.2kg Trek Emonda we take a look at Joe's bike and his training regime.

You can vote for your favourite bike here and look forward to a future episode where you'll be able to watch one of the duo suffer on the 20+ percent gradient climb on a weighty clunker.

Did they make the right spec decisions? What would you have done differently? Let us know in the comments.

Alex Evans

Senior technical editor

Alex Evans is BikeRadar and MBUK’s senior mountain bike technical editor, as well as a regular on our podcast and YouTube channels. Working for BikeRadar and MBUK for nearly 10 years, Alex has been living and breathing mountain bikes since he was nine years old. Competing in his first downhill race aged 11, he went on to race in DH world cups and other international events across Europe – and even represented Great Britain at the downhill European Championships. Before moving back to the UK when he landed a job as MBUK’s features editor, Alex lived in the French Alpine mountain biking hotspot of Morzine for eight years. There, he clocked up an enormous amount of riding – and broke more bikes than he cares to remember. Alex now calls Scotland’s famously gnarly and gruelling trails of the Tweed Valley home, which is where he tests kit and bikes. While once a gravity racer, Alex now rides to the tops of his descents and feels most at home on an enduro bike or eMTB. He’s no stranger to flat-out efforts, however, and isn’t shy about donning Lycra to ride cross-country, or even competing in the occasional road hill climb event. Although he’s retired from official competition, he loves a challenge, especially when it comes to trying to top his local Strava leaderboards – just for fun, of course.

  • Height: 178cm
  • Bike size: Large/480mm reach
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