KarlC wrote:Would not a 50/34 with 11/28 be ezer than a 53/39 with 11/28 to climb the steeper and longer hills ?
How about a 50/34 with 11/28 VS a 53/39 with 12/30 ?
Thx
They are just different gear ratios, easy is relative! Depending on the rider, preferred cadence, fitness, what the hills actual are like (you haven't told us what hills you are talking about, mountain cols, or gentle drags?) the smaller gears *might* just make you slower. See it fairly often, people just use lower gears to go slower instead of pedaling faster.
And as for the descents, there is little training benefit in going down as fast as is physically possible. So they may just have been braking early and rolling down the hill, taking it really easy.
I know the difference for me between just rolling down steadily and rolling down *and* thinking about lines, maintaining momentum etc can be anywhere between 15 and 30kph (ave) depending on the hill.
That's not even going into descents where I'm *trying* to get down as fast as possible. There might be another 10 kph or more to be wrung out of a descent. I know the fairly boring descent on my usually training loop (not very steep, only 4 or 5 gentle bends and a 90 degree bend at the bottom) I can roll down it at around 40, take a good rolling line at 50 and pin it at 60.