Originally Posted by
Bigbus
If that is the old chain, it looks fine. But have you measured the stretch in it? If it's stretched, I would add a link to the new chain. Let us know how you like the extra top gear, I might consider that on one of my MTB-kinda like the over drive I keep wishing for.
It's the old chain and has minimal stretch. As to the change in gearing, here's my take. My area is very hilly, with many grades between ten and fifteen percent. On my group rides virtually all the other riders have 28t and larger cogs. On some hills I often found myself trying to down shift even though I was already in my lowest gear, so for me it was basically a no brainer. On the 13 degree hills near my house it's the difference between standing up and powering up with the old cassette and staying seated for a relatively easy, albeit slower, spin up the hill.