Originally Posted by San Rensho
Ok, that makes sense, so from your post above, going from a 36/25-27 (8%) is about the same % change as going from a 52/13 -14, (7.7%) which is definitely noticeable, and from 36/25-29 is double that, or close to the difference between a 52/13 -15 (16%), which is a big difference in percieved gearing.
So is it safe to say that the rule of thumb in lower gears is that a 2 tooth difference is about the same as a one tooth difference in higher gears, in terms of how a cyclist perceives the change?
I think you're all missing the forest through the trees. Gear inches refers specifically, as stated previously, to distance traveled. At no point have I seen anyone account for effort (which is also not evident in converting to percentage change). If we apply the percentage change to any factor, it must be the distance traveled in one revolution at different gear ratios, which may APPEAR to be effort but clearly is not.
there ... I said it ...