genejockey 

Where I grew up, we call them "hoagies".

One Wheel

My best is just shy of 55, but there's a good chance it would be higher if I had higher gearing. I spin out about 42-43 mph in 52 x 11.

4500% is hyperbole, in reality much below 1:1 starts to feel unstable for me, and I haven't tried it but I suspect that even for a die-hard grinder/ adrenaline junky like me higher than 1:5.5 or 1:6 would be useless in the vast majority of applications. For applications where the speed limit is set by (real or perceived) lateral traction (gravel or MTB) rather than linear power application (clean, relatively straight pavement) the valuable range is even smaller. For road applications the idea that something like 1 x 10-33 or 10-36 is suitable for anything other than a flat TT is just component manufacturers trying to sell fewer components for the same amount of money.

rsbob 

Ditto. And we drink ‘pop’ not ‘soda’ whilst standing up.

One Wheel

That's a goal, I haven't found the 65-70 mph hills yet. I've almost hit 55, I'll get 60 with the right bike and tailwind one of these days.

genejockey 

I never hit 40 mph there, but I've never tried sprinting - like I said, I just make sure I hit 30 by Indian Crossing and then tuck and coast.

genejockey 

Where I grew up in South Central PA, it was 'soda'. West of the Alleghenies, it's 'pop'. In Breezewood, somewhere in the middle between Philadephia and Pittsburgh, it's apparently 'soda pop', based on what I saw on a soda machine at the Breezewood rest stop on the PA Turnpike.

I confess, I have not made an exhaustive study to determine where the transition(s) happen.

tomato coupe

But, we can rule out some things, which is what my posts have been about.

genejockey 

I'm not sold on your conclusions.

Sierra_rider

Head out west, you'll get your goal. I hit 50mph just about every ride and stupid speeds can be achieved on some of the longer descents. Gearing isn't so much an issue with these, the limitations are self-preservation and whatever the wind is doing that day. My main road bike has a bad habit of getting the wobbles in any sort of erratic winds, so that's what keeps me at reasonable speeds.

tomato coupe

That's fine. You've already stated that you also aren't interested in an explanation, so I won't try to convince you.

SpedFast

Is your nickname 'Diesel'?

RCMoeur 

Back in the days when racers ran a 42-21 or 42-24 as their lowest gear, I stood a lot on climbs, especially above 7%. But I only weighed 125 lbs back then, and had no problem being out of the saddle for extended periods. If I did the same hill on my touring bike and its sub-1:1 gearing, I'd sit and twiddle.

These days, I'm running a compact double on the racer,and even lower gearing on the cruisers... and I've become, ahem, 36% more gravitationally attractive than my racing days. So if it's a short climb, such as the 17% grade to get out of or into the neighborhood, I'll nearly always stand, whereas on longer climbs I'll mostly sit & spin with occasional short standing efforts as needed.

And on the recumbent, I have no choice but to remain seated for the entire performance.

RCMoeur 

"In its 9-0 decision, the Supreme Court unanimously held that this clearly constituted an 8th Amendment violation of the chain's rights."

slow rollin

My knees don't hurt so it feels more like a heavy push +pull then a grind. If I take my mountain bike with road tires, a triple, and 26in wheels I tend to "slow spin" which is about right for me. I am gravity challenged so the vintage bikes, or single speeds I tend to end up grinding up long hills. When I am in my better cardio shape/lighter weight standing is fun since I can use my upper body and the bike goes far side to side with my longer limbs. When I mtb I tend to spin up more to get momentum over obstacles, this also helps me not end up in a "oh Fu--" gear and have to emergency dismount.
I am also the weirdo who likes 175mm cranks and want's to try 180's or 177 as an experiment.
Out of the people I know some light people who stand for ages, others prefer to spin. I don't know many riders heavier then me besides my dad who spins.

Fredo76

Perhaps, but a married chain cannot be compelled to testify against her grinder. And we were tight!

PeteHski

If you are talking about dealing with genuine 20% gradients then mountain bike gearing eg. 1.6:1 is far better than 1:1 and actually more stable at the same road speed. Even on a 10% gradient 1:1 gearing is marginal for maintaining a good cadence, especially when seated. It’s fine if the climb is very short and you can just blast up it at 400W+ but not ideal on a longer climb where you need to manage your effort.

A modern road compact double is actually perfect for most of my local riding but not when I venture onto the numerous 20%+ road climbs we have in the surrounding hills. I can still ride them all, but it is far from ideal gearing at the low end. The top end is never an issue here as the descents are way too technical to be hitting the upper limits of gearing. I rarely even use my highest gear and would happily trade it for lower climbing gears anytime.

terrymorse 

Well, now that I've thrown down the gauntlet, will you pick it up? Sprints can be fun.

genejockey 

I was trying out a new wheelset, so I didn't try the sprint there. I was going 30.5 mph as I crossed the intersection, and coasted from there to Portola. I maxed out at 36.3 mph. Might have been the wind, because later in the ride I hit 40 going down Crystal Springs from the dam, so I don't think it was the wheels.

Korina

I'm a spinner/get-off-and-walker. But then I'm not a roadie, so I have less of my self-worth invested in climbing stoopid steep hills.

terrymorse 

I'm sure you'll totally clobber my max. speed there, as soon as you put in a half-hearted sprint effort.

I should have a much better chance on an uphill sprint.

wheelreason

Yeah, but they are heroes...

calamarichris

I've always missed the time before brifters and ergo bars, especially when grinding up the steep parts of sharp mountains when I pretended I was Lemond/Hinault. I used to yank the bars back and forth and somehow it helped me climb like an angel.
But those are brief shining moments and the ride will be much longer and less comfortable with those ergo bars and brifters. Also downtube shifters feel silly compared to brifters. I suppose it's a trade-off.
When I attempt to stand and grind with brifters and ergo bars, my arms feel like silly, useless things. I built up a downtube shifter bike with old-style bars and Shimano Sante brake levers and it felt SO sweet to stand and climb on that bike. I still can't figure it out. Your arms, your shoulders, your back muscles, they all contribute toward thrusting you upwards, but not with brifter levers and ergo bars. You just feel like you're hanging on while the legs do all the work.

That said, I like to spin mostly, but like to take a break from that and grind up the steeper hairpins and pretending I'm Hinault.


Edit: there's nothing quite like grinding at high RPM in a gear that's a little too high. The only problem is, you're probably not going to be able to hold that high until the summit. The mountain will always outlast you.

79pmooney

I'm the skinny climber who has observed the same trends forever. And, yes, there are exceptions. But not a whole lot. Not nearly enough to suggest Tomato Coupe's hypothesis that standing is an equal burden regardless of weight. (That those weighing twice as much have twice the power to offer so what's the big deal? And, if TCs theory was right, we light guys with bikes that are percentage-weight-wise much heavier should be eating it on the hard hills, not thriving.)

jonathanf2

I’m more of a grinder, but have been limiting myself going out of saddle to improve my spinning. I found with spinning, I can alternate saddle position to increase my cadence without fully blowing up my HR. I also alternate drop bar grip position as well. My favorite is gripping on the corners of drop bar top.

I reserve my out of saddle towards the end of a climb where I can rely on my muscle strength and anaerobic fitness. I also alternate between road and gravel. With dirt climbs I have no choice but to rely on spinning due to loose traction.

If I’m a group ride starting equally with a dedicated spinner on long climbs, I’ll get destroyed. Though if there are flat sections or dips between climbs, I can close the distance gap. Lastly, I find slowing my pace, can help by conserving energy allowing me to attack the climb later on with more gas in the tank.

79pmooney

Subs. Yes I I've been corrected; that subway wasn't a correct Boston term for those sandwiches but I was never either turned down or corrected in an Boston deli. And I have a hard time believing those cantankerous Italians wouldn't correct me! (The cantanker would wear off but it took this obviously not Italian kid a few trips to become welcome. That I loved it when they poured on the onions helped a lot.)