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
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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

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.