Explain Cassette Gearing

[ttaylor508]

I ride mostly with guys who out weigh me by quite a bit and on descents I can pedal my heart out in my biggest ring (52 on front, 11 on back) and they can still beat me down the hill without pedaling, so I believe weight does factor in quite a bit. On our last ride we were going down a pretty steep section and DH and our other buddy were doing 53+ MPH and I was at 47MPH.

[Cataboo]

I ride mostly with guys who out weigh me by quite a bit and on descents I can pedal my heart out in my biggest ring (52 on front, 11 on back) and they can still beat me down the hill without pedaling, so I believe weight does factor in quite a bit. On our last ride we were going down a pretty steep section and DH and our other buddy were doing 53+ MPH and I was at 47MPH.

I can bike with a friend who's taller than me but equal weight - I always beat them downhills even without pedaling. On a couple different bikes for either of us. I'm just a more compact weight, while I think being just broader in the chest & taller, they have more wind resistence.