Originally Posted by
bikemig
Like Tim said, the aluminum is fine as well. Everything else being equal, I prefer steel for the small ring in 24 tooth because it will last longer and the weight penalty is pretty small. I've done some riding in the Ozarks; I'm not surprised that you want to improve your climbing gears for loaded touring. There are some challenging climbs in that area.
At this point, I'm not in good enough shape to do the big hills in the Ozarks. I just got the LHT last fall in late September and managed to put around 1400 miles on it before winter (which didn't really start until January). The places I have more of a problem is coming out of these river valleys in flatter areas.
I'll see how the 26 to 24 tooth change goes. It wouln't seem like it would do a whole lot, but maybe so...I'm not familiar with all this yet! I wonder if I should go ahead and have them order a 11-34 cassette. I do know I like the spacing on the 11-32 I have now.
I always have the option of walking the bike; I have no problem with that and it saves my legs some and makes the rest of the ride more enjoyable.