Quote Originally Posted by aicabsolut View Post
IMO, a 34/26 is a pretty light climbing gear and should be plenty for rollers. Did you use your easiest gears on the triple? I would assume you didn't if you weren't climbing anything really substantial, but if you were, then the compact may seem a bit harder. I think for going DOWN hills, you'll really like the 50/12 over the 52/13.
About the only time I've used my easiest gears was when I was riding those hills in Indiana. Most of the time, especially when riding in the Chicago area, I'm riding in my big chainring.

I did check Sheldon Brown's website, and while I'm not sure I completely understand gear inches, I can tell you that the lowest on my Trek is 28.1, while it looks like the lowest on the Cannondale is 31.8. Is that a significant difference?

One thing I'm betting on, though, is that the Cannondale is probably lighter than the Trek, so I know that'll make a difference too.