diamondback

I remember when I rode a 10 spd and didn't use all the gears. Except for proffesional bicycle racers, who needs 30 or 24 or even 21 gears. Lets get back to sanity, I wouldn't buy a car with a 24 gear manual transmission. Quality bikes have become too expensive in this rush to add gears. Low end transportation bike have become so complicated the parts are poorly made and not adjustable. Wouldn't you really rather have a quality 10 speed or 3 speed at an affordable price.

RonH

Where I live and ride I'm glad I have 27 gears on my commuter and 18 on my road bike. More gears are required when riding hills, at least for me.
I rarely use the small chainring on my commuter, but I'm glad I have it. Never know when I might need it.

There have been times (big hills) when I wish I had a triple on my road bike.

Matadon

While I can agree, I'm pretty happy to have "18 speeds" on my roadbike, just because of the double chainring in front; I live in California, land of the never-flat-or-straight-road, and being able to drop ratios with a single shift is really nice.

DanFromDetroit

I have 21 speeds on my old Diamondback (a '93 Topanga). I routinely use only 3 gears. Largest chainring plus the 3 middle cogs on the back (starting, cruising, speeding up). It is fortunate that I only use 3 gears because the Shimano Exage Deraillers fitted to this bike are junk.

It is mostly flat around here. I tend to vary my cadence to change speeds. When heading up hills, I try to push the cruising gear as far as I can, while remaining seated, downshift and push that while still remaining seated, and as a last resort stand and concentrate on applying power throughout the stroke and pulling my knees up. I rarely meet a hill or overpass that I can't spin up seated. I have been thinking I should practice accelerating up hills (currently I have a *very* difficult time with this).

The only time I drop off the large chainring, is if I find myself in gravel, mud, or sand. This is not often because I am a commuter not a trail rider.

MichaelW

On my commuter bike I have 21 gears and use them all, every day. I ride in a town with steep hills and use tracks through the park for shortcuts and carry my shopping uphill.
If I lived in a less hilly town I would probably use a 7speed hub gear or a 1x8or9.

For flatland riders, on or off-road, 3x9 is just overkill.

mechBgon

Personally, I run 21sp on my touring bike and I would really like some finer jumps in gearing at the big end of the cogset, and a lower low gear. An 11-32 8sp or 11-34 9sp would suit me pretty well, along with a 28-40-50 up front. No money for that, though.

On a mountain bike, one of the practical aspects of 9sp is that with an 11-34T cassette, the need to shift to the granny ring is reduced, eliminating the chance of chainsuck and/or chain drop. Not necessary, but not without its benefits either.

The Toninator

I'm actually thinking about going 2x9. 11 to 34 rear and 30/32 to 44 front. I know several racers who use this and they do really well (state champs) but it has taken me awhile to got to the point that i dont need that extra ring. (for mtb)
i'm using 13-26 rear (8speed) and 42 53 front but switch to 11 - 25 (9 speed) and 39 - 53 (two ring) on the road. (and once again it's taken a long time to understand the setups and physically be able to switch to a broader range.)

MediaCreations 

I use all my 18. I wouldn't want to go to a 10 or a 3 but you're welcome to it.

Nobby

Thank you, no.

Raiyn

I use all 24 on my mine but then again I use my bike for commuting as well as my weekend thrash sessions.

Chris L

Personally, I like having 24 gears available. I wouldn't say I use all of them on a regular basis, but I like the option all the same.