Here's some gear calculations for comparison
I have a gear inch calculator which is the only real way to figure this out...
With a 38/46 front rings, and a 12-26 cassette in the back, you would
have (assuming 700x30 tires):
lowest gear inches: 39
highest gear inches: 103
As a comparison, with a road triple crankset (52/42/30), you would
have:
lowest gear inches: 31
highest gear inches: 116
With a mountain triple crankset (44/32/22), you would have:
lowest gear inches: 23
highest gear inches: 99
It's probably not as good an idea to use a wide range cassette (i.e. 11-34) in the rear due to the large jumps between shifts (especially for road riding where maintaining cadence is important).
Some side notes:
o 100 gear inches is tall enough on the top end except for pedaling down hills at speeds in excess of about 25-30 mph.
o 39 gear inches is short enough on the climbing end for hills about 8-10% grade, not much steeper than that. Hills in the 10-12% range will wear you out quickly. And anything steeper will be really tough on your knees. Of course a lot depends on your strength and climbing efficiency.
o Most road hills generally do not exceed 15% (this is very steep), although there are some as extreme as 24%. However off-road trails can be easily be in that range.
Ed