Weston Chain Gang

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Weston Chain Gang

Welcome to the Weston Chain Gang forum. We are a group of cyclists that ride regularly from Weston-super-Mare. We meet at Priory school on Saturday at 8:45. Rides vary in distance between 60 and 100 miles with a stop for cake. Ridet nec genere!


    Gradients!

    showmethecakes
    showmethecakes


    Posts : 350
    Join date : 2012-07-01
    Age : 110
    Location : Weston-super-Mare

    Gradients! Empty Gradients!

    Post  showmethecakes Thu Aug 27, 2015 10:00 am

    This was a bad topic to start. I was going to write a definitive reply on how gradients are calculated and what exactly 25% means compared to a 1:4. My research so far has led me to various blogs on the subject where you find about a million different opinions on the subject, most of which are wrong. I've seen mention of reciprocals, trigonometry and a rather demeaning comment along the lines of "everyone should remember y=mx + c from school where the gradient is calculated as rise divided run!", followed by a reply along the lines of: "not forgetting that c represents a large concrete step a car has to get up at the start of any hill".

    I think we have the Americans to thank for the % system. It sort of seems okay in that 5 metres up over a distance of 100 metres would be a 5% gradient until you think about a 1 metre ascent over a horizontal distance of 1 metre. This would be a 100% gradient which begs the question "what is a 150% gradient then?". By my reckoning this is not more than vertical but merely a 3:2 hill, that is a 3 metre height gain over a 2 metre distance. Please don't start about ratios at this stage, we can deal with that at another time!

    Final thought for now would be how to calculate the gradient of a vertical wall. The vertical height gained could be anything depending on the height of the wall and the horizontal distance would be zero. You can't divide by zero so your f//!ed like you would be if you tried to cycle up it!

      Current date/time is Fri Mar 29, 2024 7:11 am