Originally Posted by
rat fink
I'm curious, how often do you, who prefer a triple, stand? I get the impression that most triple riders spend a lot of time sitting. Serious question, I'm not trolling.
I stood about as often on my 30x21 low gear with my triple crank as I did with the 42x28 low on my standard crank which preceded it and the 34x23 on my compact double which followed which is to say not very often.
Civil engineers seem to do a good job picking out routes and turning them into switch backs if necessary so most paved roads aren't that steep.
Long climbs don't seem to run over 5% like the 20 and 30 mile up-hill slogs up Grand Mesa and Mt. Evans in Colorado. At a 175 Watt endurance pace as a 145 pound cyclist atop a 20 pound bike that nets 79 RPM using 34x23 which is a very comfortable seated cadence and the hot ticket for that.
Shorter climbs can be steeper with the worst running about 9% for a few miles reaching double digits in the switch-backs (the 4 miles up Magnolia Road in Boulder, CO) and are 60-65 RPM standing grinds; flatter rides like Flagstaff mountain in Boulder, CO at 6.5-7.5% are seated 75-90 RPM affairs.