Quote Originally Posted by Kalidurga View Post
Here's what I don't get about the way cog sets are put together:

There's a small differential between the higher gears, say 11 through 17. When you get into the lower gears, 19 through 27 or 28 or 34 or whatever, there's a much bigger jump between gears, which makes for more difficult shifting under load. Wouldn't it make sense to have closer gears for the situations in which it's more difficult to shift, and spread the gears out more for the range in which it's easier to shift?

Or is that logical only to my own wacky, hill-challenged mind?
That's a good point. I'm considering the 11-34 IRD cassette that SadieKate mentioned. 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-28-34. That's a big jump into the spinner gear. I haven't tried it "in person" yet.