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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

I'm stronger than I thought!

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Old 11-29-07, 10:22 PM
  #1  
Over the hill
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I'm stronger than I thought!

So I was looking fondly at my bike this afternoon when I said to myself "that cassette doesn't look flared enough to be a 12-27", which was the size I had purchased from Performance Bike 5 months ago. I remember the box saying 12-27 but I never actually looked at the cogs... until then. It's a 12-25!!! All this time climbing up Angeles Crest, Spunky Canyon, Lida, Big Tujunga, etc. ashamed of myself whenever I shifted into my "granny gear" thinking it was a 27, it was really a 25. I feel better and more manly now... even though I'm still on a 50/34 compact.
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Old 11-30-07, 12:56 AM
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Originally Posted by urbanknight
even though I'm still on a 50/34 compact.
according to most on here, the phrase "compact crank" and the word "manly" should never be used in the same sentence.

good job though.
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Old 11-30-07, 12:58 AM
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Nice! I just switched from a 12-25 to a 12-27. I'm also on a 53/39 crank so that may explain why!
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Old 11-30-07, 07:58 AM
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After going from a 28 to a 27 following my 9 sp conversion women seem to notice me more.
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Old 11-30-07, 12:22 PM
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Some of us just suck on hills, too. Anything over 12% slope on my old late-80s Trek (42 front, 28 cog) makes me feel like a wimp, no matter how strong I feel that week.
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Old 11-30-07, 12:40 PM
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There really is a free lunch. Don't listen to anyone who tells you that a compact is lame. I decided to switch to a compact when I turned 65 and my averages haven't gone down. The only difference is that I can climb stuff more comfortably now at the same speed.
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Old 11-30-07, 01:40 PM
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slow up hills
 
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Originally Posted by Edonis13
according to most on here, the phrase "compact crank" and the word "manly" should never be used in the same sentence.
correct
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Old 11-30-07, 01:53 PM
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my lowest gear is a 26 tooth cog and a 42 tooth crank, is that manly enough?
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Old 11-30-07, 01:56 PM
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I was doing lots of hill repeats and such with a 44-21 low gear last spring.
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Old 11-30-07, 02:02 PM
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You must have had a really low expectation to begin with given that your still on the compact
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Old 11-30-07, 02:41 PM
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I climbed Ventoux this year on 30/28. Doing it next year on 34/27. Will walk it if I try a 39/23.

Once half of us here have attempted a real hill- They will realise that Compacts mean you don't have to walk up the steeper slopes any more.
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Old 11-30-07, 02:55 PM
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slow up hills
 
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Originally Posted by stapfam
I climbed Ventoux this year on 30/28. Doing it next year on 34/27. Will walk it if I try a 39/23.

Once half of us here have attempted a real hill- They will realise that Compacts mean you don't have to walk up the steeper slopes any more.
are you implying the nay-sayers just don't ride steep hills?
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Old 11-30-07, 03:08 PM
  #13  
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Originally Posted by Edonis13
according to most on here, the phrase "compact crank" and the word "manly" should never be used in the same sentence.

good job though.
Fortunately, I don't listen to most on here. I listen to my knees, and I was tired of them calling me stupid for being manly and riding a 42-21 in my younger days.
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