Originally Posted by
vtrich
I'm with Dude. We're in the process of building a new bike,..and I'm wrestling with the same issue. I would like to do the Compact thingy,...mostly for the narrower Q for my stoker. And like you guys, we typically coast and tuck on the longish descents and a 50/14 allows for 25 mph at a reasonable cadence. Of course the whole gearing thing is so personal. I'm sure we all know what we need,..gearing wise,...recognizing some like pushing a big gear up long steep hills,...while others prefer the sit 'n sping thing. More important is the terrain we are not familar with,...and that's where the extra gearing may come in handy. I've gone to France a few times,..and in preparing,..I have thoroughly evaluated the various climbs we were planning on riding,...and they were always harder than I anticipated. Ya'd think 9% is 9% wouldn't you?
GOOD luck and keep us informed.
Rich
I ride a compact (50/34) single and I would have some qualms about using that on the tandem. It works for the low end fairly well, but I spin out my 50/12 on some rides around here and I would, for sure, spin that out using the tandem. The 50/11 is another story, but I don't always have that mounted.
Frank