Originally Posted by
Racing Dan
You are not a strong rider but you are "well in the 1 tooth gear range when I hit the hills" on a 52/36 11-32. Are you sure about that? The first 1t jump on the big ring is 99" to 107" or about 25mph too 27mph.
Bicycle Gear Calculator
1 of the things that holds me back from upgrading to an 11 speed group. The only advantage of 11 speed over 9 speed is closely spaced gearing on the small cogs. But the thing is, you have to be a professional bike racer or a CAT 2 or 3 racer to be able to actually use the 2 or 3 tallest gear combinations when using a standard 50 or 52 tooth big ring. I ride a fair amount but I am middle age and overweight, and 48 - 12 is plenty big for me. Honestly, if my 48 tooth big ring ever wore out, I would probably replace it with a 46 tooth just so I could stay in the big ring longer.