Originally Posted by
rustystrings61
For me, it is definitely attitude. From when I started riding road bikes c.1974 until really last year, there was always an intimidation factor for me when it comes to hills. I dreaded them. When riding gears I would always shift down, slow to a crawl, and still struggle up them.
Yeah, I'm coming around to this being one of those 'mind things' myself. Your last sentence has been my habit too for decades, and I'm finally realizing the advantage mashing has for sticking with something taller than low/low.
The whole reasoning behind multiple gears is to make it easier to negotiate different cadence/incline endeavors, isn't it?
Once one realizes that a significant change in technique (i.e. - mashing vs. spinning) is a useful skill to have in one's kit, the utility of those lower gears becomes less important.