In glass table flat Miami when I got my Raleigh, 48x22 worked well. Starting off on 2nd (56"), and then switching to 3rd (75") worked well most of the time, and when the headwinds and ocassional overpass got too strong, 1st (42") did the trick.
Now that it's in Colombia, the gearing became rather inadequate for both the hills and the unpaved roads. 2nd (56") works well on level unpaved roads, with 3rd (75") doing well on any downhills and level paved roads. 1st (42") works with short unpaved uphills, and extended paved uphills, but unpaved uphills are too much.
To deal with this, I have three options:
One, I change out for a larger rear sprocket, a 23t to get 72"-54"-40" gearing with the original 48 tooth crank. The issue this has is the full chaincase, I'm not sure how large a rear cog it can handle, but from what I've heard 23-24 teeth is the upper limit. I'll also have to play a bit with chain length, might have to get a half link as well.
Two, I swap the crank for a 46t to get similar gearing with the same 22t sprocket. More expensive, but a simple change.
Three, swap the AW guts for S5 or FW guts, and their associated odds and ends. An expensive and rather invasive change. I'll do this only if measures One and Two don't do the trick.
Last edited by jrecoi; 11-09-12 at 02:09 PM.