Some of the posters on this thread, like me, have to ride. Some of us have to climb. Some of us have bodies that have been through a lot. They make gears so we can still ride and ride the roads we love. There is no shame at all in using them. Those here telling us to "man up" aren't doing us a favor.

I used to be a guy who raced New England, much of it on a 42-19. (Rode up Pack Manadnock in that gear.) Smugglers Notch on a 42-13. Mt Washington on a 28-21 (equal to a 34-28). Now at 62, I am dealing with recent Achillies tears and CP knees for the past four decades. Last winter I put a 26-28 on a bike and used it quite a lot. But hey, I could ride and I could ride most of my favorite hills. Yeah, I could take a couple of posters here's weight advice and shed 14% of my weight and ride that 34-32 posters above are suggesting. I weigh 157 pounds (after dinner last night. Shed 14%, 22 pounds and I would be at 135. Been there, done that. I was wheeled out of IC at that weight after a 5 day coma I went into at racing weight. Never want to be there again. I'll ride those wimpy gears until my body says I am ready for bigger ones. (And perhaps it never will.)

Ben