Quote Originally Posted by crazycanuck View Post
Hey, great work! Sounds like you've got it

I too have one uphill trail that i'd like to do well on.

I think i might have partially solved an uphill issue...I use my roadie as a mtb training tool and always stay in the saddle uphill. I only had a double and was just getting really frustrated with not being able to spin esp on any steep hills in the city. Anywho, i made the call to my lovely bike shop boys & they put a compact double on my roadie this week. Tried it today & was able to get up a really steep hill that I would normally have to walk because of the grade.

I think part of my hill climbing issues off road may have been solved with the new roadie crank...Story to be continued

Oh - now that's really interesting, because all my hill issues were born from my young and image-conscious days trying to ride my old roadie with a 13-18 on the back! I could barely get up a driveway I swear! But it was what all the guys were riding in the club I was with and I was young and impressionable and thought I should be able to ride it! So I rode that bike with that bunch of gears for twenty years and hated every hill I clawed my way over! When I bought my new roadie it had a sensible bunch of gears on the back and all of a sudden I could punt over things with ease that had caused me angst in the past. Imagine my delight when I got my MTB and had more gears than I knew what to do with!

So - yes - I think you are definitely on the right track there with a set of gears that suit you better (whichever end of the chain you attack it from).