Originally Posted by
63rickert
In six miles I would guess each of them shifted 50 to 100 times. If you need to do that sure it helps to have a derailleur that shifts in one thousandth of a second. I didn't touch my shift lever once. No need.
Rolling hills the superfast new derailleurs could be useful. Also helps to have the ability to push and the ability to spin. Legs that can do more than one thing. Legs not tech.
He! Good legs (and lungs) make up for fancy-schmancy-click derailleurs. If you don't need to shift it doesn't matter how fast it shifts. Duh...
My experience with rolling hills (and that's sort of what much if New England is like) is that the terrain may suggest a shift but doing so just means a shift the other direction in another 10 seconds. Or a shift of two sprockets instead of just one. If the legs can tolerate the brief "non-optimal" gears, then why bother to shift? Just pedal!