CliffordK

I suppose I've never been a fast spinner, and was never happy with the 54/13 on my old bike.

I've now left that gearing behind, fully embracing cassettes with higher gearing, and have started riding both faster, and with slightly (but not considerably) higher cadence.

While I can spin up from the small ring to > 20 MPH, I find that if I'm cruising in the small ring, my cadence drops, and my overall speed plummets.

I don't really pay a lot of attention to what gear I'm using on the rear, but am happy to be on the big ring, and land somewhere mid-cassette, with a couple of shifts each way for changing conditions.

Plus, I think the overall wear is better to have big/medium rather than being stuck with small/small.

If unloaded, I'll ride small rolling hills in the large ring, perhaps 53/21 or so. That is, unless I'm really pounding it, and will be in a slightly higher gear.

Oh, and while I don't like the highly technical Strava descent segments, I have a couple of straight drops that I like to push with all I have, and would easily spin out if I didn't have a couple of higher gears.