Originally Posted by 79pmooney

Simple math will tell you how steep a hill you can get up in any given gear just standing on the pedals and not pulling. At a 16% grade and a 72" gear and 7" (178mm) cranks, just standing on one pedal with all your weight you can keep the bike from rolling backward. Obviously this way too tough a gear to be able to pull the pedals through the top and bottom dead spots. But if you call pull up with all your might, you can pull them through/roll through. 16% and steeper is possible IF you are strong enough to do pull on the handlebars and pedals like a full body "clean" of a "clean and jerk". I used to go up Blue Hill outside of Boston on an 81" gear. 10% average for 0.9 mile. About 150' at ~18%.