I'm with you.......I must be a weakling too. I can't go up the foothills of Mt Rainier without a small inner ring, especially after I am all tired out. The only "compact double I would consider would be perhaps a 46x30 or a 44/42x28 coupled with a 12-32,34 or 36 cog set. I own a classic steel race bike from the 80's with a 42x52 and a 13-23 six speed. At 21 pounds I cannot ride it on anything but gentle rollers and relatively flat ground. It makes no difference to me that the shifting is "simple and crisp" and I don't think it makes me any faster than my normal all rounder style bike. Unless one is very lean and very in shape, I honestly don't think there is much of a reason to ride with a double and certainly not on a bike that will take you to unknown areas due to its versatility and fender-ability. Three cheers to those that can make compact doubles work......years of sit down bench work and too many calories have done wonders to limit my climbing abilities. I need a wide range triple and I am not afraid to admit it !!! : )
On Sep 12, 9:43 am, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Anne, a 34/36-48/50 double with a 12-27 cassette yields a low gear in > > the mid-30s inches and lets you keep the crisp&simple-shifting short > > cage derailers. I have found even as a middle-age office worker that > > mid-30 gears will get me comfortably up anything (paved) here in > > Western Colorado. > > I guess I'm just a weakling here. Mid-30 gears don't do it for me when > the grade gets above around 10-12%. > > -- > -- Anne Paulson > > My hovercraft is full of eels -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
