What happens when you pit a 26-year-old roady on a carbon race bike against a 60-year-old leisure cyclist on an electric bike?
We love to give ourselves a challenge on BikeRadar Diaries, and this time the task was two-fold. First, can we get Sue Norledge, mum of our assistant video producer Joe Norledge, a QOM up a climb that has pitches of 18 percent in places. Second, how will she fare in a battle against senior staff writer and avid road rider Jack Luke?
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The bikes
Jack is riding a a carbon-framed Giant TCR Advanced SL superbike — ridden by the likes of Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Jakub Maraczkos (CCC Team) — and has been training hard lately, but will that be enough to give him the edge?
He's facing up against Sue on the Liv Amiti E+, an e-bike that offers 80Nm of torque from its SyncDrive Sport Yamaha motor, which is some serious power assist. It’s also got a 9-speed Shimano drivetrain, a Giant EnergyPak 500 Lithium Ion battery and integrated lights with a daylight setting. Plus, hydraulic disc brakes, but they probably won’t get used on this uphill-focused outing.
The climb
The climb that Jack and Sue are tackling is a well-known ascent near Nottingham. Terrace Hill, in the Vale of Belvoir, is a popular test of stamina and strength, and has been included in a number of top hill climb lists, so it’s the perfect uphill for this test.
The section in question is just over 1km long, with an elevation change of 79m over that distance and an average gradient of 7 percent. It does get up to 18 percent though.
So who won, and did Sue get the QOM? You’re going to have to watch the video above to find out.
