Originally Posted by
Hermes
When I lived in NorCal, we had a lot of climbs with steep grades. One of the most notable was the final 200 meters at the top of Mount Diable that was surveyed at 20%. Depending on the route up, the climb was 12 miles and when one got to the final 200 meters, legs were pretty cooked. Most everyone stands to gut it out.
Yeah, I've done Mt. Diablo many times, including using that bike with the 39/26 before I took it to France. That final pitch could be pretty grim with that gearing, but I've never walked it. It would be much less grim with a 34/27 (I have a 36/28 on my current bike, which is close to a 34/27, so I actually have a pretty fair idea of how much less grim).