Originally Posted by
eschew
Really? Is that why we now have compact cranks? Everyone needed a permanent bailout?
Pro riders using compact cranks leads me to believe that lower gearing can get you to the top faster. To achieve lower gearing one can use a compact crank, a triple, or stick a huge cog on the back.
If your bike came with a triple, use the lower gears, spin faster, and arrive at the top of the hill faster and less fatigued.
Don't worry about that comment. Many triples have a 42 for the middle gear. That's obviously not because people running triples like to mash. It's because the lower gearing is already available in the small ring, so the middle ring can go up a little, which is also why I don't think it's anything new to use your small ring frequently. Otherwise, those guys with a 42 would be mashing it up everything until they decide to bail out on a far smaller gear.