Originally Posted by
WhyFi
Honestly, I'm not even sure what gearing combo I'd need - I can't even think of an 8% that I'm familiar with. We do have some hills in the area that are ~11%, but they're so short that they're done in a couple minutes, which is good, because I don't think that I could spin under FTP in my lowest ratio, which is 34/25.
On that note, since I'm not in a hurry to get back to group rides, I've been thinking that I might revisit a wider range cassette... But then again, that'd only be worth it if I went someplace with sustained climbs...
I’m sure you could. Granted most of the “big” climbs I do are only 20-30 minutes long, I alternate between a slow mash and spinning, the mashing is well below FTP and the spinning a little bit over. YMMV. I think we’re about the same size (I’m 176#)
One one of the things I like about living here is that we have tons of terrain and hills that get steep, most are over in 4-5 minutes but there are others that take a while. It’s not hard to find a short hill that gets over 10%.