Hi all,
First off a thank you to Ambrose off the forum for his help re trail choice on our 3 day Brecon tour a few weekends ago. Only 87 miles but it was hard going....
The weather was foul but the riding superb despit wet conditions - its been a few years since I have ridden there - I know llangorse / brecon / gap area well enough but 3 of us put a 3 day 87 mile Hay on Wye to Llandagoc mostly off / on road tour - we stayed at b+bs but carried decent sized packs with food and kit.
We even used a survival bothy bag on one occaision to shelter and eat / change clothes as the weather was truely horrible - wind / rain = very cold on the tops... was glad we took it.
With all the interest re gearing at the moment re 1x 2x N gears etc I though I would stick my real world findings here. Bear in mind I was suffering a performance robbing man cold and a heavy pack ! I actually used very few ratios - mostly the 32T and the majority of the 9spd 11/34 block and towards the end of the long days / big climbs( 6/7 hr days )the 22T and the lower gears to winch up stuff and save the pain. I used the 44T minimally on the odd road section or grassy descents.
All in all I reckon a 2x set up would suit me on this type of riding / day pack touring - I couldnt go 1x as I still needed the 22T for steep bits / when tired out - I could happily bin the 44T though - but it was nice to batter down stuff in big ring...
I do think that gears are great and I would hate to have ridden singlespeed on this particular trip...
paul