5 Ultra-Light Hill Climb Bikes | 2021 UK National Hill Climb Championships

Published at : 23 Dec 2025

We were at the 2021 UK Hill Climb National Championships this year and have picked out five of the most exciting, weird-looking and feather-light builds for you.

The 2021 UK Hill Climb National Championships returned to Winnats Pass in the Peak District for the first time since 1977 where 300 riders faced biblical weather conditions on one of the toughest courses on the circuit.

With an average gradient of 16 per cent over the 900-metre course, maxing out at 23 per cent for a sustained section at the top of the climb, uncompromisingly lightweight bikes were the order of the day, with just about every weight-saving trick under the sun employed across the field.

Hill climbs in the UK are run by Cycling Time Trials, so they aren’t subject to UCI rules. This means sub-6.8kg bikes and exotic ultralight components are the norm – you really can run whatever you want so long as it’s not a trike or recumbent.

What do you think of our list? Which of these stealthy bikes makes you want to ride uphill as fast as possible? Would you like to try hill climbing?

Photo Credits:
📸 Matt Grayson:
https://instagram.com/mattgrayson_photo

Read more on BikeRadar.com:
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/2021-hill-climb-national-championships-bikes/
https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/lightweight-specialized-aethos/

Make sure you check out BikeRadar Diaries for our own attempts at hill climbing in Hill Climb Diaries:

Hill Climb Season 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFgBU8mheWA&list=PLhX4qGpWXV9tmrzfj_-MXEmBFUK68id_O

Hill Climb Season 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uXvLtbbX8&list=PLhX4qGpWXV9t-m6ax4Xe6Xrvnvm3z_NOZ

Hill Climb Season 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X60gzn6Zbdc&list=PLhX4qGpWXV9saA5CHUJuZm5LuZfc8e9Bk


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