i’m slower these days, and for medical reasons not trying to get faster. I do like climbing, though, and there are lots of hills around here.

the steepest climbs i regularly seek out average around 8% over sustained distances (let’s say at least 5 minutes worth) and my average cadence is consistently around 65rpm in such situations. At 6%, cadence looks to average more like 75rpm. I’m not a spinner, but 80rpm is probably my natural comfortable tempo cruise, per many many flat uninterrupted segment records. I keep my HR to 110 average or so during climbs, 100-130 absolute max.

i love my current road bike, no desire to change much, and it’s 12 speed dura ace di2, currently with 52/36 up front and 11-34 in the back. Chainrings have around 15k miles on them, seem fine, but I’m swapping the crank out for one with a different power meter as soon as it gets back from 4iiiiiiiiii in Canada. So, for the brain trust, given regular climbs that have me at 65rpm and no desire to push it harder, any advantage to going 50/34 up front? I love bombing descents at the same power levels or higher than i go up them, but it’s not like 52-50 is a huge difference. 36-34 is all of 6% steeper than 34-34, so i suppose one could simply say my cadence for the same effort and power would be 69rpm instead of 65. Seems almost significant. I DO enjoy climbing 6% more than 8%, but most of the nice rides have 8% sustained stretches.