Quote Originally Posted by featuretile View Post
I keep reading all these numbers about triple cassettes and compact doubles, and I don't really understand what they mean. Could someone explain this to me? My bike has a 12-25 cassette, and a 48x38x28 chain ring (triple). Is that adequate for serious hill climbing? Someone suggested that I needed a bigger rear cassette. I'd like to know if that is necessary. Thanks.
The combination of the 28 chain ring with the 25 cassette in the back should really be able to get you up hills... However, that depends on you, your biking style & your legs. If you need more gears to get up hills, you can put a bigger cassette ont the back of your bike - a 12-28 or a 12-37 if you want to get a mountain bike rear cassette & derailleur on your bike.

The smaller the # of teeth on the front chain rings, makes it easier to go up hills. The larger the # of the teeth on the rear cassette makes it easier to go up hills. You have smaller chain rings up front already than most road bikes.