Originally Posted by
RollCNY
I wasn't trying to bash at all. I was badly trying to say that, regardless of planned gearing selection, you always get to that point of facing a grade that will make you get out of your comfort zone, whether that comes 80 miles into a ride or early on. I think people think that there is a magic gear combination that will let them spin up anything. And it may exist, but it always seems you will encounter something outside of the norm.
Here is my bad example: I was doing a 2 day, 250 mile solo ride, with miles front loaded to day 1. Gearing was 50/36, with 11/26 9 speed cassette, which is the easiest climbing setup I own. First 100 miles go by issue free, get hit by a car at mile 108 (adrenaline rush and later crash), and have all of my elevation gain at miles 125 to 145. I could have had a triple with a 32 cog in back, and I would have been walking the 2 times I walked. I could not generate the watts and will power to keep the bike vertical on a few long 6-8% grades, which would ordinarily be no issue even on my standard crank 12-25.
I guess I am saying that gearing is only one variable in ride success or failure (however you wish to measure it), and I don't even think that it is an important one. Just my opinion, and not critiquing anyone's selection.
Like gearing, I guess a matter of philosophy Roll.
To me, your description underscores the need for short gear inches on long rides with climbs. In other words gearing is very important not irrelevant because a couple of scerarios maybe less than perfect. If you are walking on rare occasion which btw, I fully understand being almost to that point on my last century when facing hills late in the ride, aside from increasing strength which is a bit of a intangible...then the obvious answer is shorter gears. A triple I believe on grueling rides over 100 miles where there is climbing to me makes a lot of sense.