Tycho Brahe 

and I lived to tell about it.

Had to stand during some of the steep (10%+) inclines, but I resisted the urge to drop down any lower.

Bah Humbug

Ok.

CrankAndYank

I shall alert rt h the print media post haste.

jsharr

Cool. Every journey starts with one step.

Clipped_in

Yeah, I get it. On my commute there is a certain hill that I work on getting up without hitting a certain gear. It's good to have a goal and push yourself. Keep at it!

iamtim

Don't pay attention to the first two posters.

Good on 'ya, that's a rad accomplishment. There's a hill I work on my "standard ride" where I have to shift down into my smallest chainring and largest cog by the top or I will die. My goals are to down-shift further and further up the hill each time I climb it... so that I'm in the 3nd largest cog longer than last time, then the 2nd largest cog longer than last time, which puts me in the largest cog for a shorter amount of time.

Keep it up!

ThermionicScott 

Cool! You'll be laughing at the wimps with triples and compacts in no time.

Tycho Brahe 

That's fine. My intention was to fully make fun of myself. I should have added that I also ride a compact. My friends use an 11-25 with a compact or 12-28 with a standard, so I definitely had the lowest gearing.

Making it up most climbs without the 27 cog would be possible, but if you have it, why not use it? I am in the process of deciding on my next cassette. My current is a 105 12-27, but there is no Ultegra equivalent. I either go to 11/12-25 and lose the 27 or go to 11-28. Yesterday's climbs were manageable on the 24 cog, but there are steeper and longer climbs that I encounter occasionally.

gc3

My goal is to not have a heart attack when I've maxed out my gear and have remaining uphill in front of me...I'm still adjusting to 52/36 - 12x27 having been on 50/34 - 11x28...

Commodus

Don't fixate on gearing. If you're trying to be a stronger cyclist, focus on speed/time. Nobody takes photos of the guy who used the 'hardest' gears.

hyhuu

So did that translate into faster speed up hill?

Vlaam4ever

Time upgrade to the 12-25... Trust me, a narrow cassette is great.

Bah Humbug

To elaborate on my previous post (which came off as more dickish than I mean it to), if you did this through getting stronger, GREAT! You didn't let us know if your speed changed or, more importantly, if your cadence changed - no good using higher gearing if you drop to 50rpm and hurt your knees. Does it feel like your 27t used to?

bobonker

This!

Use whatever gear gets you there the fastest. It's often faster to spin a lower gear at optimal cadence vs a taller gear at suboptimal cadence.

Bob

iamtim

Heh. I proudly ride a triple with an 11-28 cassette, because I like my knees and I try to climb at high cadence.

If you can maintain cadence and not kill your knees on a smaller cog, you'll climb faster. Which is what I'm trying to do. But... it's great to have the larger cogs there for "off days".

Using gearing as a benchmark is a great way to track progress. If you climb a hill in 5 minutes one day, 4 minutes the next, and 6 minutes the day after that, and you're not paying attention to gearing, you'll have no idea why and/or how your speeds were different and how to recreate the 4 minute time (all other things being equal, of course).

Besides... when you're riding alone it gives you something to focus on instead of the suffering.

Commodus

No. Gearing is not a great way to track progress. It is a great way to inform yourself regarding the affects of cadence on your performance, assuming you are already using time/speed to track your actual progress.

bobonker

Again, I agree.

There's a local 6 mile hill climb that I've been able to do with a lower gear as each year has passed. First a 27, then a 25, then a 23. Felt great to make it with a lower gear each time. There was time trial event there last year that I did. I found that my fastest time was with the 27t cog since it allowed me to keep my cadence above 80 for the whole climb. If your optimal cadence is lower, your mileage will vary.

Bob

iamtim

Two sides of the same coin, really, and unless someone appointed you Sole Authority of Tracking Progress, who are you to say what does or doesn't work for some cyclists?

Commodus

understanding of basic physics, I guess.

Jobiensis

The problem with having lots of gears is you get a tendency to drop it in the lowest gear rather than upping the effort. If you want to get better at hills, only spinning up them in a low gear isn't very effective. Gearing up for a rep is a great way to get faster.

gregf83 

Complete nonsense. The majority of riders are over-geared relative to the pros. They want to use similar gears but have <2/3 the power.

Jobiensis

I don't see the OP talking about 15% grades, so I don't see how upping a gear (which would be what? 34/26) is all that unreasonable.

Dead Roman

I just started riding again after a 5+ year layoff. Haven't had to use the granny gear yet, In spite of having probably a 27 MPH headwind at points last sunday.

gregf83 

What is unreasonable is the notion that you need to 'up your gears' to get faster. 90RPM with a 34-27 will still take 350W to climb a 10% hill for a 70kg cyclist. Your legs will give out faster if you are grinding up a hill at 60-70RPM.

Jobiensis

I never said or even implied it was the only way, or even the only thing you should do. And yes, hill work is tiring. If your only goal is to get up the hill with the least amount of energy, spin is more effective. If you want to get faster, gearing up simulates a steeper hill.