Fair enough, sounds very odd – to go from being able to ride everything on a 46 to wanting a 24, each to their own!

I know it’s a bit of an odd requirement, like I said, I barely move out of the big ring on most rides but on the very steeps and when I’m knackered I would like the bail out option which is why I’ve not gone single ring.

I’ve not tried an 11-36 rear cassette, only 11-34 so you might be right with 26/42 if I got a 36 tooth cassette as well it could work, but I’m loathe the replace perfectly good cranks and cassette when they still have loads of life in them… maybe in a few years when I can’t get spares any more!

my hardtails are all SS at the moment, but I’d never run into the stupid feedback problem there so maybe I should experiment a bit more at some point

Hold on – so you ride big ring all the way up the White’s climb? Honestly? you must have f**king massive legs then as I have 18 or so inch thighs and I still have to use the granny on the way up there (admittedly that may be more to do with my paltry lung capacity but still).

Honestly? yes, I do whites climb in the big ring, have done the whole of skyline in big ring too, and no I don’t have massive legs and I am NOT some super racer god, I’m just an idiot who prefers low cadence standing to spinning.

To be fair, I can ride the White’s climb in the big ring, not really about your thigh size is it? That’s more about power, and just adds weight.

I’ll wager Chris Hoy’s thighs are far bigger than Contador, but I know who I’d back as the stronger climber…

Depends on the length of the climb 🙂

And the gradient.

100m 1% climb I’ll go Hoy
100m 20% climb I’ll go Contador 🙂