What happens when an ex-junior national hill climb champion races a Raleigh Chopper up one of the steepest climbs in London? That's the question we answer in this video. Joe Baker takes the 18.5 kilo bike up Swains lane in London at the Urban Hill Climb event which is organised by the London Cycling Campaign. The climb is 900 metres long, averages at 8% but is home to a brutal 20% ramp. The Raleigh Chopper was created in 1972 and now has a cult following mainly from fans of E.T., The Goonies, and more recently Stranger Things. So, watch on to find out how this legendary bike fares against this legendary climb.
00:13Hill climbing is probably the toughest discipline in cycling that you've never heard of.
00:17In the months of September and October every year in the UK
00:20you can always find a group of cyclists racing up the most hellish gradient they can find
00:24in what can only be described as second degree fun.
00:27And the format for these events is pretty simple actually.
00:30Basically it's rider against the clock up the steepest piece of tarmac that the organisers can realistically find.
00:36Which is why today we are here at Swains Lane in London for the nichest of niches, an urban hill climb.
00:43Sam has dragged me here today to Swains Lane which is arguably one of the toughest climbs in the capital.
00:48900 metres, an 8% average gradient might not sound like much but this one is going to hurt.
00:5420% maximum gradients, full gas racing and Sam's even got a little trick up his sleeve which is going to make my day even more painful.
01:02That's absolutely right. As an ex-junior hill climb champ I think that you've already got enough of an advantage over pretty much everybody here.
01:09So I've brought along this.
01:18This is the Rally Chopper. Now it was created back in 1972 and then it went on to become really popular in the 80s.
01:25Thanks to films like ET, The Goonies and then more recently Stranger Things.
01:29So this bike really does have a proper cult following which is why you're going to be riding it today.
01:36So Joe, how are you actually feeling about this challenge?
01:38Well, as much as I'm not looking forward to lugging all 18 kilograms of this bike up Swains Lane today, I think it does fit the ethos of the event quite well.
01:47There's Brompton categories today, there's two categories for cargo bikes.
01:51So I think actually I'm not going to be quite as out of place as I might be in a traditional hill climb.
01:57You're going to fit right in to be honest. So if you had a goal for today though, what would you like to achieve?
02:02Well, to put things into perspective, I think the course record for this climb is around just over the one minute mark.
02:08I had a look at what the best Brompton time was last year and that was about 2 minutes 12.
02:12I will genuinely be over the moon with anything less than three and a half minutes.
02:16Three and a half minutes. Okay, I reckon we make that the target for the day.
02:20And if you can get under three and a half, I'd be very impressed.
02:23And actually, to be honest, I'll be impressed if this bike makes it to the top in one piece.
02:50Come on! Come on, Jimmy! Come on, Jimmy! Come on!
02:59Oh, Jesus. Come on, Giampa Val!
03:02Yeah!
03:03Yeah!
03:08Boxer! Boxer! Boxer!
04:03I don't know whether to laugh or cry how you feeling Joe yeah it's been a while since I felt
04:15like this to be honest yeah it was really good fun though I chucked it into gear two to like
04:21start on the less steep bit and it pinged into gear three sat back down knocked into one sort
04:30of measured my effort on the less steep section and then when it kicked up just
04:34yeah yeah yeah it was good
04:37so Joe how'd you get on you know what all in all not too bad um I think pacing as I mentioned
04:48early on camel was pretty good with hindsight actually I think the pacing was better than
04:53I realized initially I thought maybe I went out a little bit too easy but with hindsight I think
04:58I got it pretty much spot on so happy with how I rode and pretty happy with the time as well
05:02so put us out of our misery what was your time two minutes 21 is the the official time but the thing
05:09is I think we need to put some of that into context because I think the winning time of the day um or
05:13the fastest time of the day was 1 17 or 1 18 it was about that so essentially you were you were a minute
05:19off the quickest of the day and we know people have gone slower as well yeah and in fairness I'd be
05:24really interested to see how that compares to the Bromptons as well because as I said last year
05:27I think what two I think it was two minutes 12 or something was the quickest Brompton time but
05:32yeah we'd have to see I'd be really chuffed with that as well to be honest I'm pretty glad I made
05:36you come up on this bike because the amount of love that the rally chopper has had today has been
05:39phenomenal absolutely people have been throwing it back to their past kids have been loving it so
05:44all in all a fantastic day at the urban hill climb if you guys enjoyed the video then please do drop
05:50it a like subscribe to the channel for more content and we will see you again very soon
