The British National Hill Climb Championships is usually awash with rim brakes, tubulars, lightweight components, and sketchy weight-weenie modifications, but the 2026 edition forced a rethink of the ‘lighter is better’ maxim. Sunday’s race pitted 464 riders against the storm-battered and sinuous Porlock Toll Road on the Somerset coast. Although the 5.5% average gradient of the 6.6km (4.1mi) ascent was shallower than recent championship courses, the pure climbers still edged out the time-trialists as Welsh former champions Illi Gardner and Ed Laverack won the women’s and open titles.
Sixteen-year-old Decathlon–CMA CGM Juniors rider Erza Bateman set the day’s fastest time of 14:31 to win the junior open category, while Mabli Phillips became the junior women’s champion in 19:36.
A headwind in the exposed final couple of kilometres of the steady climb drew more attention to aerodynamics than usual. For example, all-round race bikes and even aero bikes were more common this year than in previous editions, where steeper gradients have encouraged contestants to strip back rim–brake bikes to the bare minimum. Rowan Baker led the aero charge, finishing third in the open category on a Cervelo S5 and wearing a time-trial helmet. The narrow course was strewn with storm debris until hill-climbing stalwart Geoff Ware swept the surface with his tractor the day before the race. But the heightened puncture risk seemed to make ultra-fast and fragile tyres a less popular choice on the day.
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The only equipment regulations of the organiser, Cycling Time Trials, are that a bike must have working front and rear brakes (or just a front if fixed gear) and lights, and that the rider wears a helmet. The UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit doesn’t apply to the UK hill climbing scene, leading to weight-reducing hacks and bodges that can produce sub-5kg builds. Equally, hill climbing’s accessibility means you can race on your unmodified road bike – an unfussy setup hasn’t stopped Everesting World Record Holder Gardner from winning four national hill climbing titles and nabbing QOMs from the WorldTour’s best climbers.
Cycling Weekly had photographer Mark James on the climb just outside Minehead to capture the action and bike tech. Scroll through the gallery below to see the best bits.
Massive time-trial helmets
It wasn’t too long ago that some hill climbers raced without helmets – they became mandatory for the 2022 season, although Tom Bell wore won to win up Winnat’s Pass in 2021. Since then it’s made sense to wear the lightest helmet possible, but Sunday’s climb turned that thinking on its head. Several racers sacrificed a few hundred grams for the potential aero benefit of an oversize time trial helmet.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Rowan Baker, a road racer for domestic team Jakroo Handsling Racing, wore the Specialized S-Works TT 5, the time-trial helmet worn by the likes of Demi Vollering and Remco Evenepoel, while averaging an incredible 463 watts for 15 minutes.
(Image credit: Mark James)
The TT lid appears to have formely belonged to Trinity Racing, the British under-23 development through which stars such as Tom Pidcock and Ben Healy progressed to the elite ranks.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Andy Nichols (Team Lifting Gear Products) wore a first generation Giro Aerohead time-trial helmet aboard his rim-brake Orbea Orca with mid-section wheels, a decidely more aero set-up than he usually opts for.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Here’s another S-Works TT 5. Off the bike, it must’ve been good at keeping out the wind and rain.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Jude ‘The Buzzard’ Taylor (PB Performance) dusted off a Kask Bambino time-trial helmet, originally released in 2012 for Team Sky. Its shape is much rounder than more modern interations of the helmet, which have longer tails.
(Image credit: Mark James)
This is the POC Procen Air, a time-trial-inspired road helmet that was legal in UCI road races until this season. At 355g, it’s slightly heavier than the 350g S-Works TT 5, but still lighter than all-out TT lids, making it a good balance between weight and aerodynamics.
Time-trial bikes
(Image credit: Mark James)
Time trial bikes are legal in hill climbs provided you enter the time trial bike catgeory. This 360 Cycling rider went all in on aero with a Specialized Shiv. It’s one of the lightest TT bikes and the mid-depth DT Swiss rims will have reduced the weight further.
Deep wheels
(Image credit: Mark James)
This Specialized Tarmac S-Works SL8 is one of the most striking aero builds seen on the day.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Up front there’s a extremely deep rim from Scribe. Excuse the dark lighting, but this looks to be the 100mm deep front wheel of the Tempus Ultra TT wheelset. It’s wrapped in a very fast, but puncture-prone Vittoria Corsa Pro Speed time-trial tyre, a bold choice given the road surface conditions.
(Image credit: Mark James)
This looks to be the matching Tempus Ultra TT disc wheel out back. Because the strongest winds were head-on and average speeds were relatively low, this probably didn’t cause any handling issues, but it must’ve been heavy.
(Image credit: Mark James)
This build wouldn’t be complete without a huge aero chainring. Although this dinner plate from Pass Quest is narrow-wide, the owner didn’t take any chances with chain retention and also fitted a chain catcher. A Quarq D-Zero power meter is bolted to the SRAM Red cranks.
(Image credit: Mark James)
The Deda Alanera integrated bar/stem is long and low to further cut drag.
Aero and all-rounder bikes
(Image credit: Mark James)
This is another shot of Baker’s Cervelo S5, the brand’s aero road bike. For a typical hill climb, the lighter R5 climbing bike would win out, but this choice chimes with Baker’s aero overall focus. Under the influence of the UCI weight limit, Visma-Lease a bike often races the S5 in the mountains weighing close to 7kg, so it’s clearly still fast uphill. It rolled on carbon-spoked wheels from Alta Via, a component company that supports his road racing team. I reckon these are 55mm deep.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Gabe Dellar (RideRevolution Coaching CT) won eight of his nine hill climbs before the nationals, favouring his specialist hill climb bike (a rim-brake Focus Izalco Max) for the steeper courses and his road race bike (this Pinarello Dogma F) for the longer, shallower climbs, such as Porlock. It seemed to work, as he came 4th in the open category.
(Image credit: Mark James)
On the Italian brand’s do-it-all race bike, he fitted a single chainring to save weight by omitting the inner ring and front derailleur. The aero overshoes and long aero socks are an indicative juxtaposition.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Four-time national hill climb champ Andrew Feather made getting more aero to meet the demands of the Porlock Toll Road a key focus of his season. As told to Road.cc, he switched from a 5.5kg SWI climbing bike to the Specialized Tarmac SL8 lightweight all-rounder and lowered his front end by 5cm by sizing down from a 54cm to 52cm frame and removing spacers. Under guidance from Dr Xavier Disley’s Aerocoach, he also reduced frontal area by lengthening reach with a 130cm stem and narrowing handlebar width by 10cm to 32cm. He even improved the aerodynamics of his signature out-of-the-saddle climbing by placing his hands in the drops. He also switched to the deeper 5am Limitless wheelset from his sponsor Hunt. Finishing a second behind open-category winner Ed Laverack was the reward for his work.
(Image credit: Mark James)
I believe this is the Canyon Aeroad of Solihull CC rider Oliver Tandy. He too has a lighter hill climb bike at his disposal, but favoured a lower-drag option.
Weight-saving tricks
(Image credit: Mark James)
It wouldn’t be a hill climb nationals without weight-weenie mods, and even Baker couldn’t resist racing without bar tape. This could also be marginally more aerodynamic. His SRAM Red AXS groupset is wireless, so this electrical tape isn’t holding cables in place. He may use it to rest his wrists in the aero-hoods position.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Cane Creek eeBrakes are the lightest rim brakes you can buy, at just 85 g per caliper, albeit at a high price, spawning various knock-offs. These appear to be the genuine El Asesino version, though fitted to another SuperSix Evo.
(Image credit: Mark James)
SRAM Red 22 cranks, a small single chainring and Favero Pro RS-2 power meter pedals (one of the lightest and most accurate ways to record watts) are a classic hill climbing combo.
(Image credit: Mark James)
These are on a rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, one of the most popular hill climbing frames on account of its low weight and high availability in the second-hand market.
(Image credit: Mark James)
More proof rim brakes aren’t dead, in hill climbs at least. These Dura-Ace R9000 calipers are still very light.
(Image credit: Mark James)
A Winnie the Pooh sticker on a lightweight carbon stem epitomises the quirkiness of hill climbing.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Due to sponsor commitments and the desire to access the latest technology, top hill climbers tend to ride disc brakes these days. Illi Gardner has won several of her women’s national titles on discs, but it wasn’t until Andrew Feather’s 2023 win on the Struggle that a men’s champion ditched rim brakes. This is 2026 men’s champion Ed Laverack on an Addict RC Ultimate from his new bike sponsor Scott.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Scott says the top-spec SRAM Red AXS build is its lightest ever production race bike. This tier down, with Force AXS, will probably still be nudging 6kg, especially set up 1x.
(Image credit: Mark James)
The Welshman has removed the bottle cages, but not the bolts.
(Image credit: Mark James)
And removed the front derailleur mount and filled in the fitting.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Scott’s Syncros Capital SL wheels are claimed to weigh a mere 1,170g. But their fully bonded carbon construction means that if you break a spoke, the whole wheel is finished.
(Image credit: Mark James)
Junior men’s champion Erza Bateman, who was also the fastest overall, seems to have made few changes to his team-issued Van Rysel RCR-R Pro. With legs as good as his, he didn’t need to.
(Image credit: Mark James)
He left on the 2x crankset, and probably did need the big ring at the speed he was travelling.
(Image credit: Mark James)
I’m not entirely sure but the Decathlon green of the computer mount suggests these are Bateman’s handlebar notes. He ended up riding nearly a minute quicker than these speeds predicted.
(Image credit: Mark James)
I’m guessing this is Kieran Wynne-Cattanach’s rim-brake Giant TCR featuring mismatched wheels. At the front, there’s what looks like a deep-section HED rim, dwarfing the shallower rear rim, strung with lightweight polymer spokes.
That’s it on the tech front from the 2026 UK National Hill Climb Championships. Thank you for making this far and stay tuned to the website for more coverage.
