A small studio bet, a big Dartmoor climb on a fixed gear

Our product photographer Jago reckons riding a fixed-gear bike makes you a better cyclist - because, according to him, there’s nowhere to hide. No hiding behind gear changes, no coasting when it gets tough. It’s just you, the bike, and legs that have to keep moving. So we gave him a proper test: one of Dartmoor’s most famous climbs (and a Tour of Britain fixture), riding from Bovey Tracey to the top of Haytor on his custom fixie.

The route stretches six kilometres with a steady 6% gradient, gaining about 365 metres in elevation, with a few steep sections that push past 13%. When riding a geared bike, depending on your pace, it can take around 24 minutes at 15 km/h, or closer to 19 minutes if you’re moving faster. But for this test, Jago was riding with his current gear ratio of 2.76. Whilst it’s fairly middle ground, it isn’t the best for the sustained hill climbs on this route.

On the day of the challenge, conditions were far from ideal. The temperature barely hit five degrees, the road was damp, and every breath felt sharp in the cold air. Having reached the top, Jago had given it everything and was completely spent.

He didn’t beat the 30-minute mark, clocking in at 33 minutes - a lot closer than any of us expected on a ride that hard. Jago reckoned it came down to setup, he hadn't had time to change his ratio before setting off, and with a few small changes, the result would’ve been different.

Either way, the effort spoke for itself - and the hill left unfinished business.