Originally Posted by
re_buchanan
You're right, I guess my real problem is I'm not a naturally good climber and tend to bail to the easiest gear available and I figure if the easiest gear isn't so easy, it will force me to become a better climber. I've been a stronger climber in the past, it took an effort to improve my climbing but it made riding much more fun. I'm willing to entertain other options.
One option, as RG suggested, is to just lock out the granny ring with fd's the inner limit screw. If you can't get to it, you won't use it. Once you find you don't need it, just unbolt the granny and leave everything else alone. That is, by far, the least expensive method. If "style" is an issue, plan on spending a lot money.
I'm also a big gear climber and tend to mash gears rather than spin and I live in a very hilly area. That said, I have triples on every bike because there are hills around here I just CAN'T climb in a 42x25 or 42x27. We have a bunch of them at 25% and more and I plain don't weigh enough to turn over the cranks in a big gear on them. Also, I'm lucky that my knees aren't sensitive to the stress of big gears. You may not be so fortunate.