Originally Posted by
Leisesturm
Exactly. That was a point I intended to address in another post. The percent difference in effort is roughly 3%. A person might notice a 3% harder to press computer keyboard but a 3% harder (or easier) to pedal bicycle just wouldn't be worth it to me for all the expense and hassle involved in changing out a crankset. The minimum I would consider is 10%. "Go big, or go home" is how it is sometimes put.
In my case, based on parts availability, it's either:
a) get the gearing not low enough, with 175 cranks
b) get the gearing possibly a little too low, with 170 or 175 cranks
Until the bike is built, and I ride it up and down some hills, I can only make educated guesses about what's "best". After that, then I can consider different cassettes, chain-rings, etc.
Accounting for the pragmatic consideration of parts availability, and if not getting "the best" gearing, at least getting "the best" starting point to make adjustments from, I think option "b" is looking good.