Originally Posted by
DougG
But it's significant that, while it wasn't noticeably easier, it wasn't any worse, which does speak to an improvement in the equipment. Between the weight of the bike and the difference in what I was carrying on it, my bike was probably about 15lbs lighter. But mainly there was a big difference in gearing. On my old triple-crank bike, I had a 30/27 (or maybe 28) gear as my lowest ratio, whereas my current bike has a 30/32 low gear. These days, I would be walking my old bike over the top of a couple of hills that I encountered. So I'm at least slowing the decline...
As for no bike making me faster, after seeing what it did for my wife, I'm seriously looking at adding an e-bike to my stable next year.
Yes, the only thing for me that might eventually constitute a “better” bike is one with even lower gearing. Speed isn’t anything I pay attention to, since 80% of my riding is gravel and nearly 100% of the riding around my place is hilly. I’ve got 32/36 right now which has been fine (it even got me up the “steepest paved mile” in the U.S. this year). I haven’t been able to picture an ebike in my life. The most fun I have is traveling, camping and riding and how would I charge the thing? I rode the dirt roads in Superior National Forest and Chippewa NF in your beautiful state this summer. I might just go back to hiking when I run out of gears.