Quote Originally Posted by ginny View Post
Oooo good metronome idea... I already have one of those! Thanks for the replies everyone! I have the 2006 Bianchi... campy deraileur and stuff (three cranks in front dunno how many on the cassette on back). I should go look at the specs again... duh! Anyway, thanks! I 'll stick the metronome in my pocket next time I ride - I'm perfectly okay with ticking away on my ride
I LOVE the metronome idea. I have a cadence feature on my cyclometer, but I love the idea of having the audio reference! I'm going to try that!

Depending on your weight, strength, etc, your triple up front and 26 in back should be fine. However, just for a different point of view, here's what I did:

I have a triple up front, and I had a 27 on the back. As a new rider, in a very hilly area, and overweight, I was seriously struggling with my rides, and it wasn't as much fun. My cyclist friends told me to just keep going, that whatever didn't kill me would make me stronger. Well, I did that for a couple years. Then I decided to heck with it, and got a mountain derailleur and a 32 cassette put on the back. Now I have a billion low gears and I just finished my first 10,000' century this weekend. Even Arnie Baker says why not go for a bunch of low gears if you are doing sustained climbing all the time. Sometimes I climb 20 miles at a time without any level ground, and my knee never hurts!

I hope and plan that by next year, I will have lost some weight and gained more strength...and I might put the old cassette back on. But, I know that having these granny gears have helped me get out for a lot longer, on a lot more difficult rides. And that, in turn, has motivated me to lose weight and train harder than I ever felt when I was struggling all the time with climbing.