Quote Originally Posted by SouthernBelle View Post
Where I live I would never think about a double. I paid for everyone of those teeth on my triple and I'm going to use them. One of my favorite routes has a 22% grade on one hill. 15% is not out of the ordinary.
Same here SouthernBelle. Indy is flat, but just south of here are some really steep, short climbs that our local clubs like to ride for "fun" with grades in the 15-20% range. I use the term "fun" rather loosely of course. Even though I don't need the triple for most of my rides, I'm sure happy when I have it. I know some guys in my circle of cyclists who only ride with a double, even on those grades. I've started to pass a lot of them on the way up!