Disc brake takeover and weird tech: National Hill Climb Championship gallery

Riders once again went to extremes measures to shed weight for the UK’s biggest hill climb

17:36, Monday 30th October 2023

Tom Hallam-Gravells

Online Production Editor

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There was plenty of interesting tech at the National Hill Climb Championship

Every autumn in the UK, one of cycling's most niche disciplines emerges from its near year-long hibernation to take over the British cycling scene: hill climbing.

Starting at the end of August before culminating with the National Hill Climb Championships at the end of October, this two-month period of pure climbing sees riders go head-to-head on their local climbs. Forget endurance or hours of riding, these up-hill time trials are all about gritted teeth and short, leg-burning pain. Only the toughest mentally and physically claim the victories.

Watch: Andrew Feather: Natural Born Climber

Except, power alone isn’t enough. The lighter a rider and their set-up is, the faster they’ll soar up a climb. As a result, riders go to extreme lengths to make their bikes as light as possible.

Here’s a selection of the weird and wonderful tech we spotted at the recent National Hill Climb Championship which took place on the Struggle in the Lake District - and the surprising trend towards disc brakes.

Disc brake bikes have officially taken over. Men’s winner and friend of GCN Andrew Feather used the Cannondale Supersix EVO LAB71 with disc brakes

The SuperSix is Cannondale’s lightweight offering, but it errs into all-round superbike territory with aerodynamic features. For most of us those features wouldn’t be much use, but Andrew Feather climbs at speeds most of us can only dream of

Hunt’s dedicated hill-climb wheels were released in August and tip the scales at a Feather-weight 963g

Forget road tyres, Feather used the Vittoria Pista track tyre which is ridiculously lightweight

If you thought Andrew Feather’s disc brake leanings were an anomaly, think again. This Bianchi Specialissima also shunned the more traditional rim brake

It’s a bike that may spark controversy among hardcore Bianchi fans, as well as rim brake aficionados, with the owner steering clear of the Italian brand’s iconic Celeste colourway

Pure lightweight gurus will be bemused by the bar tape, which was a rare sight at the event

In the pursuit of any weight saving gains, most riders had removed their bar tape - every gram counts after all! Like on this Factor O2 VAM

Factor’s climbing bike was only released earlier this year with claims that it’s the "world's fastest climbing bike". None of the models offered by the brand have a one-by set-up like the one used here

One-by set-ups have become popular in professional cycling this season, most notably used by Jumbo-Visma, and they were also popular at the Hill Climb Championship

Winner Andrew Feather was another rider who went one-by, using a Rotor Aldhu crankset

There is some good news for traditionalists as, despite what we’ve seen so far, rim brakes were still favoured by many, including on this Cannondale SuperSix

It wasn’t the rim brakes that caught our attention, though, but the custom wheels from ZED which used string for spokes - you read that right

Those ‘spokes’ were under tension but, even so, it’s one of the most extreme weight-saving measures we’ve ever seen

Which piece of tech caught your eye from this gallery? Let us know in the comments. Hungry for more hill climb tech? We sent GCN mechanic Owen to weigh some of the bikes on show at the weekend - check out the video below.

Keep up to date with the latest tech news, features and pro bikes on the GCN website, linked here.