Originally Posted by valygrl

I did a very lightly loaded short credit card tour in the rockies, 12 pounds of extra stuff on my road bike (= rack, small bags, change of clothes, light tools, rain gear). The bike has a very low gear for a road bike of 30 x 27 - ultegra triple and cassette. It was fine. I road it over Trail Ridge Road, among other things -- similar grades to the roads in Canada I've ridden (on my loaded tour bike) - Crowsnest pass, Icefields Parkway.