PeteHski

I sometimes alternate between spinning in the saddle and standing in a higher gear to stretch my legs out. But I usually put out most power on a climb in a lower gear at higher cadence. I can output 500W+ in a 1:1 gear on a steep climb without spinning out, so I know I’m not in any way under-geared. If anything I could do with a few lower gears to better manage my power on steep ramps. That’s exactly what Roglic did at the Giro. He ran a 10-44T cassette with a 44T chainring for the mountain TT. I would do the same, but with a 38 or 40T chainring as I don’t have anything like his power.

Meanwhile there are loads of average middle-aged guys who think they are faster climbing with standard road gearing just because they can grind it over at sub 50 rpm cadence.

79pmooney

For me, not having a lower gear means I have to push harder, stand more, use more of my upper body and feel any excess weight I am carrying far more. When I can do it, it is something I live for. I'm 70 years old now and I cannot always do this but it is still my love. That low "eggbeater" gear may be more efficient but it doesn't inspire me. To me, it feels like a chore. If I don't actually need it, I'd rather not have it. That said, all my geared bikes have triples. Two have 24 tooth inners, But I've never gone bigger than 28 in back and prefer less if I can. Portland, OR so there are real hills around.

And a story I got reminded of the other day. Last day of last fall's week long Cycle Oregon. A big hill leaving camp. then later, a 10 miler from the river to a plateau. Sunday I met the fellow I passed first climb. He heard my breathing from well back. Eventually I slowly passed him in a far higher gear, having been out of the saddle since the bottom. 36-21; lowest gear that fix gear could do without bringing the chainwhip which I forgot that day. The 10 miler later - hard, hard, hard. Would have loved to use the 24t I had in my tool bag but didn't have the tool for. That story was from a gent I mat at my espresso stop Sunday. Left there and rode my ancient race bike to the top of Bald Peak, going up the moderately hard 1000' approach on a 30-26. Two much shorter, much steeper pitches later. I had no muscle at all left by the time I got to the summit. The gentle bumps going home were hard! But I got home grateful I could do it and did do it.

Not having low gears is the single best weight control incentive i have ever known. And this isn't to preach or claim any superiority. Just sharing what makes me tick. If I put bigger gears on my bikes I have to ride more and harder to be able to "get on top" of then. (Old bike racer manual language.)

mrodgers

This question doesn't make sense to me. My gears range from indicating 0 mph on my cycle computer on steep hills to spinning out on the other side at 46-48 mph. I don't spin out however because I'm not spinning at that speed, I'm pulling on the brake levers.

Who the heck cycles along at 48 mph?

rsbob 

Boy is that ever the truth. Or I hope it is the truth. At 68 I have put on a few extra pounds (6) that last year, or years previous, would have just disappeared with extra cycling. Now I need to really watch it and cut my calories to lose the extra. Bummer.

Steve B.

My cassette (14-28) gives me all the gearing I need year round. When I'm not riding hard in winter, I use the (50 ring) 19-20-21. In summer when I'm in better shape, I am using the 15-17-18 a lot more. In winter I might need to go tot he small (34) ring, in summer I'm usually OK on a hill in the (50 ring) 28 cog.

Leinster

My different bikes have different gearing, not by design. When setting out on rides, I’ll pick the appropriate tool for the job; today had a big hill, so the bike with the 12-29 cassette was chosen. 2 weeks ago was a 5-day trip on rolling countryside, so the bike with the triple was taken, and mostly left in the (middle) 42 ring. The 12-26 cassette stays on the trainer wheel. These demands vary more these days than my fitness, which is always terrible.

Calsun

With 18 speeds from which to choose the only thing than changes is my ability to use a larger rear cog to power up hills as my conditioning improves. I have a 12-25 rear cassette and if I wanted to change it I would go with a 12-28 or 12-32 cassette.

mstateglfr 

I dont remember the last time I needed the bailout ratio on my main road bikes. And I havent found the setups to be limiting when in shape. So they fit my needs regardless of time of year. I dont live in an area where I will need to change gearing depending on the day's ride.

xroadcharlie

Of the 21 speeds (3 × 7) Giant equiped my 2018 Sedona with, even after accounting for the 8 redundant ones, The remaining 13 cover 26 to 89 gear inches. On most of my rides the most I use is 78 GI. and seldom go below 49 GI. I still have 6 lower gears and one higher. So I have the right gear for every scenario I'm likely to encounter winter or summer.

90% of the time I use the bike like a 1x with a 38T chainring and just 2T steps for 6 of the 7 cassette cogs. The 4T step is for the lowest gear, where I want it.

Most modern road and hybrid bikes come equipped with enough gear range to suite pretty much any weather. Very steep hills would be the wildcard with these bikes. I see some vintage road bikes didn't go nearly as low as today, But even those where probably fine for most riders.

My mid 1970's "10 speed" road bike had a wide range of gears too. The cool thing with this bike was unlike my recent bike with 8 redundant gears, all gear combo's were properly spaced. My next bike, A 12 speed Mountain bike only had 7 properly spaced gears. They must have put a lot of effort into designing the drivetrain in order to make every gear but 1 redundant.

Kapusta

Way more work than I want to do. I just use a gearing range that accommodates it all.

eljayski 

^ ^ ^ What Kapusta said. Living at the foot of the Rockies, I have need for Big Granny as well as Go Fast. My rides are new and have the wide-range groupsets that both S and C are producing these days.
Life is good!

rsbob 

Last week I set a PR on short punchy climb (11%) on my higher geared bike. If I had my lower geared one, I would have been tempted to drop it all the way down to the easiest and probably wouldn’t have done so well. On the other hand, on long sustained climbs, my lower geared bike would be the true asset rather than grinding myself into oblivion. I did do a 1.5 mile climb last week with the higher geared one but really kept me speed down and tried to conserve effort. It was one of my slowest climbs on that hill.

Reading my first sentence over again, could have taken the lower geared bike on that section but not dropped it down two gears and probably faired just as well - but the temptation to not hurt probably would have prevailed.

Like another poster stated, for me it is a wonderful feeling to get out of the saddle and power over a short climb versus sitting it out. Probably reminds me of when I was younger and far stronger.