I have to believe that we've put a lot of emphasis on the lower gearing - partly because the designs give us so many gear options on contemporary bikes. But man! The old timers must have been stout... case in point: When I acquired a Falcon San Remo from nlerner a few months back, I tried to find out as much as I could about the bike. There's a reprint on Classic Rendezvous of a review from 1962. Here are a few excerpts that caught my attention: "It had plenty of hills to test the San Remo Equipe's complete ratio range of 58.9 in. to 100.2 in... (That's right: the lowest gear was 58.6 gear inches, which he seemed to think was pretty nice.)...I frequently made use of the lower ratios in "training" - 58.9 in., 63.5 in. and 64.8 in...The ascent was achieved on 78 in., without a groan from the cotterless cranks...At Crowinarsh returning the loss was identical, with the dreaded HunterCombe climb ahead. Down to 72 in...(No granny ring for this guy!)" Anyway, I found it thought provoking to say the least.