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
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.
- BikeRadar Diaries #5: Joe and Reuben go deep (and crash) in their Festive 500 attempt
- 10 steps to faster climbing
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
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
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.
Authors
Alex started racing downhill at the tender age of 11, later going on to compete internationally representing the UK. At 19, he moved to the Alps to pursue a career as a bike bum clocking up moon-mileage riding the famous tracks in and around Morzine, France. In that time, he broke more bikes than he can remember. Alex then moved back to the UK when he landed a job working for Mountain Biking UK as their Features Editor — BikeRadar's sister title — as their features editor. Since working for MBUK, Alex's focus has moved to towards bike tech and he now wants to find out what bikes and components represent the best value for money regardless of discipline. Alex's current fleet includes his trusty commuter bike, a 2017 Marin Gestalt 3, his long term Orange Stage 6 RS enduro bike, a used and abused 2015 GT Sanction Pro, a Scott Voltage YZ dirt jump bike and a Deluxe Pro 2 BMX.
