Originally Posted by
albertmoreno
I need to read slowly to understand. Did everyone here learn from Sheldon Brown? I've read his website and for the most part, it goes way over my head.
Maybe I'll try 13-34, though.
I just got back from the bike shop and the guy told me that running a 48/36/26 with a 12-25t would be good enough for most hills I'm likely to encounter. He said with a 26t and a 25t is almost a 1:1 ratio. Anything more than 25t, he said, wouldn't make much of a difference. Does that sound right?
He also said that as a commuter having the ability to find the optimal gear precisely is more useful than being prepared for the gigantic hill encountered once in a while.
if you spent your late teens getting stoned and reading gear charts it would be second hand by now. 1:1 is very low, for those who have put on weight, like to carry a lot of weight and go up very steep mountains without busting a gut even lower is appreciated. Your body will tell you more of what's necessary than any strangers projecting on you.
Regarding the shops opinion the closely stacked ratio is useful for a commuter makes sense if the commuter is racing. My $.02 is that it's nice to have a few gears close together for the average speed you're going to be riding with two higher and three lower. I can get that with a double just fine. A triple makes it easy to have that close range. Go with the shops recommendation, if your low isn't low enough it's easy to switch cassettes.