Hills and the Single-Speed Problem

Marianne Prowse · 31 July 2026

Most hire bikes have three gears at best. Some British cities were not built with that in mind.

Why Hire Bikes Are Geared Like That

Fewer gears means fewer things to break, and a shared bike lives a hard life. Three-speed hub gears are chosen because they survive, not because they climb.

That is a reasonable trade in a flat city. It is a much worse trade somewhere with a proper gradient, which is why free-floating schemes cluster in flatter places.

Working With It

Get into the low gear before the hill, not on it. Hub gears do not like being shifted under load and a shared one may refuse entirely.

Then sit down and spin. Standing up on a thirty-kilogram bike with a basket on the front is a way of arriving out of breath rather than a way of going faster.

Or Simply Go Round

Contour lines are free. In most cities there is a longer flatter route within a few hundred metres of the direct one, usually following a river or a former railway, and the traffic-free network is mapped well enough now to plan round a gradient entirely.

The cost is a few extra minutes and the benefit is arriving able to speak. On a heavy three-speed with a basket, going round a hill is almost always faster than going over it.