Quote Originally Posted by OakLeaf View Post
Does a smaller puppy gear (with no change in the middle and big rings) increase the risk of dropping the chain? Or make shifting rougher?
Oakleaf, can you clarify whether you were asking about the difference in chain rings sizes (number of teeth difference between each chain ring) or the difference in size between the small chainring and the largest cog. My answer had to do with the shifting performance pros/cons of the gap between chain ring sizes. It had nothing to do with cassettes.

aicabsolut, Northern CA has plenty of hills where a smaller chainring than the largest cog is appropriate. Tourers use small rings. Mtnbikers use a 22x34 all the time and manage to stay upright. It all depends on the demands of a specific person's terrain and her body.

From Peter White: "My most popular chainrings are 48 - 38 - 26 and 24 tooth replacements for Shimano's Ultegra and 105 triple cranks."