Originally Posted by
HendersonD
I am in very good shape as shown by my 3,300 miles I did this summer with huge elevation gains BUT I am 65 years old and not a kid anymore. I do know that without my 19.5 gear inch granny gear (or something fairly close) I would have gotten off my bike and pushed it several hills. I never pushed my bike up a single hill this summer
I’m still a fan of a 40t with a 10/11 X 50/51 with and inner 30t. You can ride the 40t down to 22 inches and then drop to 16 inches.
The catch is you can’t go less than 50 overall tooth count, maybe 55 depending on the RD. So maybe the highest gearing in the 30t is 30-24, or 30-21, before you lose the chain wrap. You also need to make sure the 30t clears the chainstay.
Basically you could run a triple crank and use a bash guard in the outer with a 40t and 30t in the middle and inner.
It might be an attractive option if you can run in the 40t 95% of the time.
John