Granny Gear??

[lph]

Only if it isn't right for you. If it works and it has the gears you want when you need them, then it is "normal" and every one else's bike is "strange".

Double vs. Triple vs. Compact Double....oh dem's fightin' wurds. Mention that and, egads, the discussion board goes nuts--it is a very cycling relgious issue. I don't know what the distribution of bikes vs. crank configuration is--generally, the racier the bike, the more likely it will have a standard double; the more relaxed and targeted at the weekend rider, the more likely it has a triple.

...my bike comes complete with a great granny gear...that is, when I get off and walk it. It has been a while since I had to succomb to using the great granny, but it is always nice to know she's there and waiting....

I've never understood this, but then I've never been much part of the cycling "scene" either. In Norway we have some rides and races that go up GREAT BIG HILLS that last for a really LONG TIME, these can be really hard and it seems really tiny gears are very popular - hardly grannylike. We don't have a big roadie contigent at all and for most people a "bike" is a mtb, so grannies are everywhere.

[Thorn]

I've never understood this, but then I've never been much part of the cycling "scene" either. In Norway we have some rides and races that go up GREAT BIG HILLS that last for a really LONG TIME, these can be really hard and it seems really tiny gears are very popular - hardly grannylike. We don't have a big roadie contigent at all and for most people a "bike" is a mtb, so grannies are everywhere.

Yeah, I don't get it either and I guess why I think it is so important to grab your inner self confidence and shout that *your* bike is normal because it works for *you* in *your* terrain, whatever that bike may be. There is no one-true bike. No shame in a granny gear--I kinda like dropping into the granny and spinning up the hill. I see so many more wild flowers on the climb when I can enjoy it.

But, what do I know? I don't race. I just like to get on my bike and ride and ride and ride and ..... (well, until I have to get off of it and go into work so that I can earn enough money to provide it with pretty things like tires and tubes and saddles and a new coat of wax....)