On 6/26/2020 1:51 AM, John B. wrote:
On Thu, 25 Jun 2020 21:52:03 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 8:20:43 PM UTC-5, Frank Krygowski wrote:

Perhaps we could discuss this:

What do people here really feel they _need_ in gearing? What high gear,
what low gear, and what percent changes between? Also, perhaps, what's
your terrain and riding conditions and style?
--
- Frank Krygowski

For me I ride on mostly flat to little rolling terrain around home. So for most of my riding I do not need an extreme or extended range of gearing. But I do have bikes for steep mountainous rides too. Ideal high gear for me is 4:1. 52x13, 53x13, maybe 50x12 for the highest. 4:1 gets me up to 30mph pedaling. Fast enough unless you are being paid to ride a bike fast. 42x28 is a big bailout gear for me on almost all my riding. 42x23 is the lowest I need for 98% of my riding. All this is paved road riding. My mountain climbing bikes have 24x28 low gear on the road bike and 20x32 on the loaded touring bike. Both triples. You got to have a triple crankset for mountain climbing.

When I ride in Bangkok I use, perhaps, two gears for a 40 or 50 km.
ride as Bangkok is built on what is or was an aluvial plain and is
essencially flat. When I ride at our other place, in the hills leading
to the Korat Plateau, I use a tripple chain ring and a 13 - 25
cassette and, to be frank, there are short sections, where I would
have to get off and push (so I take a different street :-)

Gearing is all about where you are.

I agree, your terrain is critically important. So are the distances you
ride and the speed you ride at. Or maybe I should say the level of
effort you put into riding. I'm less picky about having the precise gear
when I'm riding leisurely.

I imagine wind can be a factor too, especially if you live in an area
where it's always there. I remember my first trip to the American Great
Plains as a young man. My friend and I couldn't light a campfire because
of the winds blasting out of the south. We later asked someone how often
it was that windy and they said "Always."

Fortunately, when we passed through there on our coast-to-coast ride, we
were headed north at that point.


--
- Frank Krygowski