About the only time I go to the small ring is climbing hills. It originally came with a 11-28 which I converted to a 11-32 when I converted it to a 8 speed. That is maxed out for my rear derrailer. As I have gotten older at times I wish I had a better climbing gear on it. Thought about perhaps putting a MTN bike derrailer with a longer cage so I can get a bigger gear on it,