- I've ridden this years
ago, on my mountain bike,
people have ridden down it
for numerous video segments,
people like our own Martyn
Ashton have ridden down it.
- Oh wow, it's kinda steep then.
- Yeah, but we're gonna go up it.
- Really?
- Yeah.
- What are we talking?
- I'm talking about, just
looking over your shoulder,
look what we can see behind.
- Oh my god. The Slab.
(both laughing)
(upbeat hip hop music)
Now let's have a look at the landscape
for insane crazy steep climbs.
We know that we got Baldwin
Street in Dunedin, New Zealand,
which is pretty steep, and we've seen
that on the show, right?
- Yeah, saw that last week,
that was pretty steep to be fair.
- Here in Bristol there's Vale Street,
which the roadies make a
monumental meal about it,
but it's actually pretty
mild, and, the thing is,
you can ride short sharp
efforts on a mountain bike.
I mean, mountain bike or e-bike,
it doesn't really matter.
- Definitely yeah.
- But it's those long,
sustained, steep climbs
- Prim.
- Which we've yet to see anything done.
- So, Steve, there she is
all in her former glory.
As I mentioned, I've
ridden down this thing
and it's pretty scary, what's
your first impressions?
- Impressions about what?
- Of going up The Slab?
- I mean what the actual
(bleep), are you serious?
(Chris laughs)
What if your chain snaps
on a gradient like that?
It is game over.
- Yeah but we don't
think about that, do we?
We think about going up that slab,
power wheeling up there, turning around.
- I can see what you're thinking,
you're thinking, actually,
let's set the world
record of the steepest,
longest climb on a mountain bike.
- It's gotta be hasn't it, that.
Surely.
- Game on then, game on.
- Check it out.
The slab's 100 meter length
and 60 meter elevation gain
combine for a ridiculously
steep 75% gradient.
To put that in context,
that's almost twice
as steep as the world steepest street,
Baldwin's Street in New
Zealand, and 10% steeper
than the epic Lion's
Back rock slope in Utah.
- I tell you what, Chris,
sun's out, but that bottom bit
of the slab looks a
little bit sketchy to me.
- Does look sketchy and that's obviously
where we're gonna need that
grip the most as well, so.
The whole thing looks
pretty intimidating to me.
- It looks massively intimidating.
I'm like thinking, it's
okay walking up here,
the Five Ten's, we got
plenty of grip on them,
but where you're on a bicycle
on a really exposed slab.
- Yeah.
- I'm actually, I'm genuinely feeling.
- Scared?
- A bit anxious in my stomach.
(Chris laughing)
What do you reckon, is it doable?
Is it doable?
- [Chris] Oh my god.
- Right, Chris, in time honored
sporting fashion, heads or tails?
- Gonna go heads.
- Heads.
Can't even catch the thing.
Tails it is.
Do you wanna go first, yes or no?
- Yeah, yeah, I'll go first, yeah.
- Right, there you go then.
Chris, let's talk strategy,
let's talk bike first of all,
I mean, you got 180
mil specialized Kenevo.
- Downhill bike.
- That's got no rights to be on any hill,
let alone a hill like that.
- Downhill bike for
going up the hill, right?
The reason I chose this,
big long wheelbase,
you look at those hill climb
motorbikes that you see,
they have that big long wheelbase,
so the Kenevo has actually
got that big long wheelbase
to stop me looping out.
- Just to tie a sandbag on the front.
Tire pressure, interesting.
See this?
What are we looking at, Chris?
- I'm guessing, I
haven't brought my gauge,
but I'm thinking we're about 10 psi
on that back, 10.
- 10?
10 psi?
- Yeah, something like that.
You want enough grip but
not enough to, like, deform,
and it's really wet at the bottom, so.
- 10 psi.
- Hopefully.
- Interesting.
Chris.
- Yep.
- I got three questions to ask you.
- Mm-hm.
- First of all, seat position.
- Yep.
- Up or down?
- Down, you're in no way
gonna be sitting down
on this thing, if you can
sit down on this climb
you're gonna be a legend yourself,
but there's no way you're gonna sit down,
this is gonna be sprinting.
- Second strategy,
- Yeah.
- Fast or slow?
I'm talking gears, I'm
just talking gears here.
- Oh, gears, you're talking. Yeah.
- You're talking first, or?
- First gear,
- First gear.
- Yeah, yeah, just crawling in
and just keeping momentum,
and just keeping that drive.
- So you're gonna crawl
into the breaker slope.
- Yeah, yeah.
- Right.
- Just think of a rock
crawler on the desert
and go vrah. Like vrrr.
- And finally. What mode
are you going to be in?
- [Chris] Turbo.
- Chris, Chris you literally got a minute
otherwise I'm gonna
have my trousers around
my ankles crouching down cuz I'm-
- You are literally that-
you are literally that scared.
I can see it's genuine.
I'm a bit scared actually.
- (Inspirational music begins)
Come on Chris. Ya easy!
Easy! Look at that.
What was the fuss about.
What was all the fuss about.
First ridiculousy steep
climb on an e-bike,
there you go. Go Chris!
(clapping)
whoa, that's pretty impressive, right.
Holy (bleep). Look how steep it is
(laughing) oh my god.
Are there-
I guess e-bikes are
for lazy people, right?
Well, have I been in the
wrong places, clearly.
Go Chris! That looks hard, innit?
- [Chris] Whoo! Whoo! We're good!
- That looks hard
Clapping)
- We're good, ah.
I got proper jelly legs
even just coming up that bit.
Probably just from being scared,
but it's like a sprint on an e-bike,
there's (out of breath speaking)
(heavy breathing)
If what you could actually do is
try to wheel spin but leap out is rough.
Really high, God, my legs.
But we did it, can't believe that.
So good. Here's Steve.
- My mouth is dry as hell,
my stomach has got butterflies in it
and loads of pressue to get
up there after the kidder.
(laughing) oh my god.
At least you gotta do it alright.
So I just go? At least
the mode's working even.
(Bacrkound nosies of encouragment)
The mode's working.
- [Chris] Get it!
- Oh, this is hard.
- [Chris] Yeah.
- This is (bleep) hard, man!
- Get it!
- Holy (bleep).
- This is good.
- You-you weren't kidding Chris!
This is ridiculous!
- Oh my god.
- This is actually ridiculous!
I'm not gonna make it
all the way up there!
(unintelligible backround noises)
Sorry Granddad Easter.
- Come on! Look up! You got it!
Come on Steve, you got it, you got it!
Keep it steady!
- Granddad Easter just
breathe, a bit harder.
- You got it.
- No Chris, this is a
(bleep) long way, man.
(laughing)
(cursing mixed with cheering)
- One more, yeah!
(laughing)
- Holy (bleep). Did we just do that?
- Crazy innit? I can not believe that.
- Did we just do that?
(laughing)
- Yeah, man.
- I can't believe that.
- It was (bleep) up. It was (bleep) up.
Look at the steep, innit!
- It is unreal when you're up here.
- Oh my god.
(Fast speaking)
(Fast speaking continues)
Should we go back down?
(Comedic music turns in to action music)
(Comdeic music resumes)
- [Chris] Granddad had made
his was down the slope.
It was time to set a challenge
to see how far we could actually go.
I went first through the marker.
My second attempt was way, way harder.
My legs were empty.
I really have to dig deep in
to get as far as possible.
I was really hoping that
Steve would have another go,
and beat me,
so I wouldn't have to have another go
at this epic slab.
My legs were killing me.
- Okay this has got a 73 meter climber.
Uh, Chris, you're gonna
try to beat that right?
- You'll ride again?
- I'm not sure I have the energy.
- Try it, it's so hard
cuz it gets even more, like,
bumpy and loose up here,
like, this is the uh-
- If I, If I get up there you film us.
- I thought I was gonna go all the way
but I hit a big hole
and I really disturbed my pedals
and the thing is here
there is a lot more debris there
like the grass, these sticks,
rocks they wheel spinning a lot more,
but I think potentially if you scope out
a good line maybe did a
little bit of clearing,
you'd defintely get to the top.
Might give it one more maybe. Maybe.
He's gonna be sneaking
(unitelligible noises)
camera going side-to-side
weaving his way up.
Poor guy, doesn't got enough
power to go straight does he?
Look at him weaving his way around.
He's coming for the big line.
Look at this. Good progress.
Is he gonna make or break
this little bit here?
This is the hardest bit
but he's going around wide.
Oh my god look how steep it looks.
Oh look at this it's
good. Oh, the high line.
Look at this. Oh.
Look at this. He's good. Damn.
(Upbeat music plays)
Oh-oh! Stay there, stay there.
(laughing)
- Oh man so close. So close.
There's the line.
- Doable. What was that?
- You can't win though, you know that.
- No, I know.
(laughing)
- Alright. 85 meters Steve.
How are we gonna do it?
- I've got a plan.
- I've got a plan as well. You stay there.
- Okay.
- Where are we calling the end then?
The end of the rock.
That is the end, is it?
- Yeah.
(Upbeat music plays)
- I was gonna be scared when we got to you
because you basically got a cliff
and you get close to that cliff edge
and you do not want to go down there.
This is a long way up. Holy moly.
(Upbeat music plays)
Come on, you got it. You got it.
You got it. You got it. Stay in. Stay in.
Stay in. You got it you got it you got it
you got it. Keep going! You got it.
- Ugh.
- So we got 87 meters. Ah-Holy Christ.
- I can't do anymore.
(Laughing)
Honestly. I gave up halfway.
- Mental, innit?
It's mental. Absolutely mental.
(Laughing)
- Chris, i'll let you know front and rear,
how many chassie, 160 front, 135 rear
- Makes no difference
- Two different tools
for the top, definitely.
- I think you know, to mention,
probably pretty crazy bringing a
downhill style e-bike to an uphill cline,
but it worked pretty good for
me those things worked out.
- Yeah, so we made it, uh,
about a 37 to 40 degree
bank, uh, on this challenge.
Can-is this the start
of something massive?
- I think so. I'd love
to see like a series
of these extreme clines
- Yeah.
- But in the U.K. I
think there'd be nothing,
nothing we can really find to match this
for the grip levels run in run out,
things like that.
- The grip wasn't brilliant, the gradient,
the gradient is consistent
that's what helped us.
- Yeah, Yeah, I mean
it's limestone isn't it?
It's not the grippier stone.
- Yeah, yeah, you can go
the linesback in Utah,
it's a beautiful hill,
but it's a lot grippier,
and there's some moments,
there's some moments on there
where you can grasp and stuff like that
- Yeah, yeah definitely
- But um yeah, Chris, I had a
downside I didn't tell you, I-
- Ugh
- I had a, I had a bunch of
dh super tacky on the back
- I knew you'd be cheating anyways.
(Laughing)
This is how it come, road it,
rum what you brung it should have been.
You've been in your man cave.
- Come on.
- I know you lowered that
stem as well, flip down.
- No, I actually got
a 60 milistem on there
but I'd change that next time.
I'd go from- I'd lose the spaces,
get low in the front,
might actually tie some sandbags
in the front as well.
- Sticky compound downhill
tire on the back, look at that.
- We want to see your, uh, hill climbs,
whether granite, sandstone,
limestone, ignius, volcanic,
I know it's all the same thing.
Uh, send them in, we want to see them.
For now Chris, I think um,
it's up to us to go find some more hills.
- Definitely, but I think, easy to say,
we are on the limit with
this one, do you think?
- I think so. Let's know your thoughts,
uh check out, um, e-bike
versus downward bike
which is me redonded and
the three down there.
- And if you want to see
more of the extreme stuff
I've done over my career,
including this awesome slab,
or work my way up to this awesome slab
I should say, is meet your
presentor video up here
as well, check that one
out it's really good.
- Thumbs up.
- Don't forget to give a thumbs up,
drop some comments,
and don't forget to subscribe to EMBN.
