Originally Posted by
zacster
This is something I may need to do someday, except that NYC is mostly just flat. I currently ride a 13-26 cassette with my Chorus 10sp. There are only a handful of hills I even go to my small ring on, and yesterday I found one of them. The Bayonne Bridge is a 5% grade, and a long one too. Usually I don't go to the small ring on bridges but I had to do it yesterday.
I'm going to try this again when it gets cooler, it was too hot to complete the ride, which was to include the Goethals Bridge as well. I turned around at the top of the Bayonne Bridge so I wouldn't have to do the climb again.
Between the hills around here and my weight, I use every dang gear I can lay my hands on. In this case, the Battaglin already has a 12-27, but since it's my best descending bike, I want to take it up climbs without as much suffering.