Well, I’ve decided that I don’t need an 11 tooth cassette cog anymore on any of my road bikes. Gotta be going over 40 mph to use it, and that just ain’t happening anymore. What I do need is lower gears so that I can get up all the hills in my area sitting down. So, I’ve re-geared three of my road bikes as follows:

1) 10 speed 34-50 front: 11-28 to 12-30
2) 11 speed 36-52 front: 11-25 to 12-28
3) 12 speed 36-52 front: 11-30 to 12-34

Now, I do have a 1 x 12 hybrid bike with an 11T high gear, but the chainring is only 38T, so it’s actually usable. Today I rode the 12 speed up a hill that peaks at a 10 percent grade into a 15 mph headwind and really appreciated the new 34T low gear. On the way back down the hill with a tailwind, I maxed out at 38 mph in the 12T high gear w/o spinning out, and was nowhere near needing an 11T.

When I began riding in the 1960s, 11T cogs didn’t even exist, or even 12T cogs for that matter. In fact, I didn’t even own a road bike with an 11T cog until twenty years ago. I’ve always been more of a spinner than a gear masher, and routinely beat the latter in sprints where they were trying to push much higher gears. Nowadays, I go on fitness rides where I try to keep my cadence at a 80 rpm minimum with a lot of over 100 rpms, even when riding uphill. I’m not concerned with how fast I’m riding, just how much cardio I’m getting. Anyway, it’s adios 11T forever.