Originally Posted by
lucky1976
I worry about being fully loaded (credit card tour) with front and rear panniers and handlebar bag and not having enough larger sprockets. I guess I could shift down to the 34 ring in the front if it gets too difficult. I was wondering if the 36 sprockets would be too big and maybe going a 32 or 34. Maybe I am over analyzing it!
My road bike is a compact double with 11-28 cassette. My touring bike started as a road triple (52/39/30) and 12-27. My first tour was a credit card tour: 23lb bike, 22lbs of gear+luggage, and 5lbs of water in three bottles. That route involved a
lot of climbing up steep (7+%) hills. After doing a few training rides with the full load, I decided to swap the crank for a 26/38/48 trekking crank and was very happy that I did so. I could probably have made it through with the stock gearing, but the trip was a whole lot more fun with the lower gears. If you're not going to be climbing (or facing big headwinds), then there's less need to worry about gearing...