Originally Posted by 2Rodies
Define climb. If you mean a 7% grade for 1/4 of mile I'll buy that but if you get onto a mountain you'd have to be a hell of rider to pull a 46x16 up 3k of elevation change. I'd love to see that on say the the back side of Angeles Crest (ave grade 9% max 15% total length 13.5 mi) in So Cal or up Fernwood off of Topanga Canyon (ave 11% max 17% 7 mi). You would have to be a hell of rider to pull this off faster than a good rider on a geared bike.
that's a good point. the "climbs" i train on are about what you mentioned above. 6-7% for less than 1/2 mile. I should have probably used the term hill.
i think you're right about the larger grade climbs, that would be much harder on a fixed gear.