Originally Posted by
indyfabz
Same here. The smaller the jumps the better.
It is a bigger deal for some folks than others. I don't really get too excited over it on a touring bike. In the lower gears I don't find a little bit bigger jumps to be a problem on any bike and in the mid and higher range when touring it is easy enough to just go a bit faster or slower if you really are not that flexible about your cadence. Personally I find it pleasant to vary my cadence quite a bit any way.
I remember on one tour realizing that I had never left the middle ring for the whole 800+ miles including one moderate mountain pass and a good bit of rolling hills. That was in the days before I was traveling ultralight (base gear weight was probably 30# plus consumables). That was with 48/36/24 rings and a 12-32 cluster if memory serves me correctly, but I never left the 36T ring so the other rings are irrelevant. I might not have been inclined to ride on only one ring if I had been riding with others and needed to match their paces.