Originally Posted by
ChowChow
A 50/34 12-26 9 speed has enough gears for you to climb a steep hill. Leave the 11-31 for the mountain bikes. You shouldn't have to change components other than the saddle and handlebar grips on a new bike. If you have to, then that's not the bike for you. I'm able to climb steep hills with my 48t middle chain ring on the lowest gear. You should be more than fine on a the 34t on steep hills. Like I've said, if you aren't planning on doing mountain and hill rides 100%, then ditch the 11-31 cassette bike.
50/34 12-26, 12-28 9/10 speed are found on road bikes. Ask anyone who owns a road bike with those gears/crank set on how it handles hills.
This. For that reason, I'm switching from a 52/42/30, 11-32 9spd to a 48/34, 12-28 10spd - it's actually going to net me two extra gears in the inch range I use the most. And the 34-28 low gear - 35.1 gear inches, less than 6mph at 60rpm - is low enough that I really don't want to climb anything too steep for it.
