Ratios,
Am I man enough?

Same?

Sheldon Brown’s gear calculator is your friend .

are those the number of teeth on the front chain rings?

30-40 would be a harder set of gears than the 26-36 set but there would be some overlap.

30-40 would be a harder set of gears than the 26-36 set but there …

‘s more or less nothing in it.

literally less than an inch.

‘s more or less nothing in it.

literally less than an inch.
but 30-40 is slightly harder than 26-36.

yes, slightly.

Sheldon Brown’s gear A calculator is your friend .

FTFY

30/40 = 0.75
26/36 = 0.7222

No need to overcomplicate things.

yes, slightly.

Indeed, but the OP asked if 30-40 was easier. The answer is no, but it’s only very slightly harder.

maybe useful: 30/41 = 0.732, 30/42 = 0.714
So about 1.5teeth difference, around 3/8 to 1/4 of a gear in it at that end of the cassette. Less than half a gear difference

Not a lot harder to pedal then. Maybe I’ll go 32T and a top chain guide.