Originally Posted by
genejockey
Switching back and forth between modern and vintage bikes, I have to remember to shift the latter BEFORE I start the climb. There's one steep pitch on one of my routes that is no problem with brifters (let up slightly and shift), but on the older bikes it's just *grunt.grunt..grunt...grunt....grunt* as the bike slows down because I forgot to shift. So far, I've never had to bail, but I have once or twice gotten down to about 30 rpms before I hit the crest.
+1
Cheval vapeur, tell us what your bike and gearing is. Also, are you asking if you can change gears in the middle of a hill climb or are you asking whether you can modify your bike to have an easier, lower low gear? Or both? The more we know, the better we can help you.