Mountain - Plains - CO - Deer Creek Canyon - Gearing?

I'm still fairly new to this whole road bike thing. I know I have lots of improvements I need to make to the engine, but I am sporting a 53/39 double and a 11-28 cassette. Is 39/28 low enough for most riders to get up deer creek canyon and high grade road and still be comfortable? I don't mind suffering for a while until I build up enough strength but I don't want to do it needlessly if even experienced riders are using a compact.

I am regularly in my 34/27 on that ride, but it is also not the steepest ride in CO.

I see people doing it on standard doubles on a regular basis, but they are usually 20 years younger than me. It is all relative. Best you can do is go try it and see if you can do it. If you are not a strong climber, you probably want a compact.

I'm agree...I had the 39/28 combo and I was able to make it up Deer Creek but I had trouble with some steeper climbs (Loveland Pass) so I went to a compact and now Deer Creek is much more efficient and faster to climb for me. When I can consistently climb with my cadence in the 90's and my HR under control, I'll consider moving back to the 53/39.

Thanks for the response guys. I'm thinking a compact is in my future but I guess I need to suffer through it at least once and make sure.