Originally Posted by
clengman
I kind of agree about the 11 tooth cog... BUT I just rented a bike while on vacation last week that had a 52T big ring and either an 11 or 12T cog. I've never been on a bike with that tall a gear before.. Part of my ride was 6 miles down a hill that ranged from 5-9% grade for most of it, and there was very little of it that I coasted. It was a blast! Don't have any hills around home that are that long and that steep, but there are some at a similar grade that are a mile or two, maybe a little longer. Most of the time I'm content to grind my way up and coast down, but now I've felt the joy of bombing down a big hill. I would like to do it some more...
Gear usage is really different from rider to rider because so much is determined by the characteristics of your legs. I actually use the 11 tooth with the 48 if I am running level, especially if I have a tailwind. I've clocked myself with faster cadence/lower gear, and I am definitely faster in the high gear. From talking to people and from what I've read, this makes me weird, but I think it's just a matter of having short thick highly muscled legs--the upstroke on my legs takes more energy than average, and my downstroke is more powerful than average, so I do better with a slower than average cadence at a higher than average gear ratio.
Long point short, I really think it's hard to advise people on 11 vs. 12, and other gearing issues. One thing, though, I can definitely get a bit more speed even on the steepest downhill pedalling the 11 tooth. Even if you never use it for anything else, it's a blast for that.