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@neil6814
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I think that the logic behind gearing down in winter goes back to the 40s and 50s.
Nearly all racing was time trialling and nearly everyone rode fixed.
At the end of the season, after the hill climbs, most people had a lay off of about a month and then started training seriously in about January.
By this time you were out of condition and so it made sense to start off in a low gear and gradually increase as you got fitter. In fact quite a lot of the early time trials were restricted gear, 72 inches if I remember rightly.
Neil