Originally Posted by
terrymorse
50-34 chainrings and 11-34 cassette seems to be a common gear setup around here, where the Santa Cruz Mountains offer some long and fairly steep climbs.
It's pretty common everywhere on new road bikes, especially endurance road bikes. It's a good setup for most general riding and certainly my choice for hilly GFs etc. I find it's not so much the length of climbs, more the gradient that matters for gear choice.