Originally Posted by kludgefudge

you mentioned in your original post (gone) that you were concerned about the posibility of balky shifting on the rear. assuming a ten speed casette, I wouldn't imagine the tooth difference between chainrings would be anything a good long cage rear derailleur would not be able to handle with ease. Remember, back in the days when you could only get 5 or 6 cogs on the back, people used to deal with ungodly tooth gaps between the largest cog or two and the rest if they wanted to climb really steep hills (and then pedal down them).

As far as the gear ratios not being as closely/nicely spaced, remember: you are climbing a mountain. Better to have a wider difference between ratios for the wider difference between grades that you are likeley to encounter.(I am not familiar with this climb.)