Originally Posted by
martianone
my primary commuter is set up as a 1x9, have also toured with this bike - lots of hills here. overtime i've carefully observed which ratios i use the most. those ratios are, around 37 gear in and 65 gear in, plus a middle step of around 49. this gear range is almost identical to that of a three speed IGH.
That's pretty close to what I've been using. Makes me feel a little better! On the high end I've been topping out in the upper 50's. I'm trying to get that into the mid 60's for a longer period of time. I can get there, I just can't stay there. I try to spin at 80 rpm and change gears when I drop much below 70.
With a 3 x 8 set up, I really have plenty of gears. I'm just trying to increase my speed and fitness. It is amazing how quickly you start to notice improvement with some increased effort. By the end of the week, I could already tell a difference in how long I could stay in the larger gears. Nowhere near what I want, but definately a difference.