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word. people seem to think having big gears wins them some sort of manliness . if you want to do that ride a single speed up mountains. that shit is impressive. when i blow past some dude struggling up a 15-20% paved pitch in 36-28 at 40rpm i don't think "wow he's hard." my power goes down if i'm doing 40-50rpm, so if i want to go as fast as i can i get the appropriate gears for my w/kg. i mean if froome is going to ride 34-32 up the zoncolan then we all probs need a bit more gear-inches for any similar terrain. plus like you say, some of us get tired.
zmjones_
frankenbike
Could not agree more. I don't know what everyone else is riding but I've ridden up stuff unladen where I had to get off and push with my 34/11-42 not being low enough. I have never, ever regretted having too low a gear. I don't know, maybe people have never tried riding through a perfect storm of heavy gear, 30mph headwind, rain/mud/snow, fatigue and steep slopes - which I thought was the whole point of gravel riding personally.
Or maybe I'm just weak. Still, I'm fitter than 90% of casuals, so if I can't get up a hill they certainly can't, and Shimano should be making something for them/me.