Originally Posted by
Hermes
I am somewhat sensitive to cadence when racing (especially when fatigued at the end of the race) and find that even a 54/44 11/23 10 speed setup is not close spaced enough for a flat course. We used to have a race that started with a climb and had a stair cased descent where a 54/11 was not enough gear. The benefit of a 2 chain ring setup is that it can be tuned for both training and racing and different courses. I guess a 1x12 can be tuned to an extent and having both a 1x and 2x available may be the best.
Then there's chasing KOM's in training. I spun out the 56/11 the other night down a hill then over a roller and rest of way down a hill in a training ride. Segment avg speed was 37mph and the max speed was 47mph for about 20 seconds. Don't have the gear, no KOM. Haha. None of the 52t front ring triathletes will be bagging that KOM.