Originally Posted by
DArthurBrown
Your arguments sadly fall right where the bicyle parts manufacturers want them to--on the side of making you want to buy lighter, stuff and more of it. I stand by my statements. There are hills in Oregon that no Cat-1 rider could get up without a triple chainring. I've seen them try. They kill me on the flats, and I cruise by them in my third ring while they are pushing their bikes up the hill on foot.
"cat 1" does not mean that someone will necessarily be a good climber. Plenty of people upgrade on crits or other other flat races. Show me a hill that someone "needs" a 30 chainring and I will show you a hill where someone is not putting out enough power. Somebody who puts out twice as much power/weight as you would not need nearly as much gearing as you would.