Originally Posted by BengeBoy

Wow, what an adventure! I'd urge anyone who is just perusing this thread to go back and read the blog post.

Congrats for making it up (and down) the mountain safely under those conditions.

Originally Posted by mdilthey

I ran a double for a while, first 34/50 and then 34/46, and finally scrapped the derailleur altogether and got a 38. The standing sections, I was climbing slightly slower than usual, since I was riding with Kelley and she intelligently maintains an easier pace. When I climb mountains on my own, I tent to really pound through them.

I figure I have the holy grail of 1 x 10 traits, by chance or by self-fulfilling prophecy:

1) I travel light. When I overnight with Kelley, I have about 18lbs of gear and when I tour alone in the summer I have less than 10lbs.

2) I'm strong. Still young, with good strong legs and no knee problems whatsoever. I figure I have the muscle to protect my joints if climbing is arduous once in a while.

3) A 38 front with a 36 rear (which I'm waiting on order from the LBS) should be pretty close to my old setup of 34 front and 32 rear. So, I'm not actually making a huge sacrifice at the bottom. And 38 x 11 is still a good enough ratio to keep up on a group ride, assuming I brought my road tires...

I will look into the cross chaining and derailleur issue. I'm actually learning how to build bikes, and I did the conversion myself (under supervision of my mechanic). Since all the cabling and derailleur adjustment was done by me, it might need an extra set of eyes.