Good question for everyone

the one thing I still can't beat are the 20t, 22t and 24t chainrings on a geared bike. you wouldn't believe the hills and other conditions I could own with those things.

I have a single speed mountain bike with a 32/21 setup and while it will do a lot, it still won't do a very steep hill, some of which are even paved.

Add to the fact it is a 29er and those wheels hate the hills.

what could I do to go smaller?. I wondered if a bmx crank might be possible?. Those often have a 20t ring.

My single road bike also isn't a steep hill machine with 700c but it does fairly well and is maybe 8 lbs lighter than my mountain bike with a 42/23 setup and it might do a lot more if the front was moved down to a 38 or 36t.

what do all you single speeders do when you live in a land of super steep hills?.

also the geared bikes can do up to 30t in the rear and really at that level you almost feel like you might flip the bike over on yourself, but it's still nice to have them anyways.

On another note the granny gears also allow you to do super slow and controlled wheelies.