Originally Posted by
johnny99
5% is a very shallow hill. The biggest hill in San Jose, California is Mt. Hamilton (20 miles with a 5% average). Most people climb it without a triple. On a long shallow hill, you just need to pace yourself and grind it out. Unless your 7% section is longer than 1 mile, a fit recreational rider will not need a triple or even a compact double on your hill.
I am pretty fit, but I doubt I could do this climb with a standard double. I know a couple of people that I think I'm just as fit as that did it with a 52/39, 12/25, but I don't think I could. I think a lot of it has to do with the experience of doing it a lot. I don't climb that much, but I put in a good 5k of miles per year. If I did it more, maybe the standard would be fine. Probably much faster up the hills also, but not yet.