Originally Posted by KevinF
I have to know -- how long do these 10km climbs at 12% in Japan take you? The number of people who have ever climbed Mt. Washington in under an hour is a pretty small number. There's only two or three people a year who do it. Getting up Mt. Washington in under 80 minutes is considered a remarkable feat. I don't personally know anybody who's done it under 85 minutes, and that includes a couple cat 4 racers.
I've never claimed to be a racer, nor did my post above indicate that I was set to climb Mt Washington at a Tyler Hamilton pace. Nor would I imply that I can. I said I routinely climb long 8-10km 10-12% grades with nothing less than a 12x25. I really didn't intend to debate my ability or lack thereof.
For those who prefer me to be more humble, I'll rephrase my original post as follows:
Originally Posted by NomadVW
We here in Japan are routinely on 9-10km climbs averaging 10-12% grades with no less than 39x27. I've only got 12x25 10sp and just not having the 27 to shift in to will routinely let me outpace my ride buddy that has the 27 in the back. Does it hurt more? Probably.[period]
We both spin up MOST hills at 80ish, and I get to the top first almost always when we have to go to the lowest end.
Anyway, if the OP intended to compete at the Tyler Hamilton level, I'm assuming he'd have somewhere else to go to get his info about gearing. However, we're talking about changing out the gearing for a single race for which the OP uses his current gearing to do considerable climbing already - by his own submission. If he was set to win the race, he'd probably have established some time ago what gearing he intended to use and would be using it by now.
Did Basso switch the compact out for just the climb of one race for less than 2 hours of climbing, or did he use it for a tour? Oh wait, the Mt Washington climb isn't a tour. Oh... the Vuelta isn't a 7.6 mile climb event. Oh wait, Basso was chasing a tour victory.
Anyway, I stand by my opinion that the OP would do well enough without swapping drivetrain components out if he chooses not to. If he switches to a compact, MTB triple, or some other gear combination that suits him - have at it.
As far as my opinion that compact crank is overrated is "nonsense" goes, then I'd say ask Tyler Hamilton. He's the one that did it in 39x26. What a fool.