This bike shopping thing is hard :) Help?

[indysteel]

Huh; that's weird that it's not specified. You might contact your local dealer and see if they can't hunt that information down for you. In any event, I wouldn't go with anything but a compact 50-34 and a fairly wide cassette if you're worried about climbing. That said, cassettes can be swapped out and, depending on how wide you want to go, you may not have to change out anything else other than the chain. Talk to your shop about how much wider you can go without having to worry about changing out your derailleur. I, personally, would prefer the 50-34 crank coupled with the 11-28 cassette.

What gearing did you have on your old bike?

[SFLiz]

Wheels also can make a significant difference in climbing. The Amira is supposed to have the advantage over the Ruby for climbing but when I tried to compare these two on some 14% incline hill repeats, I couldn't feel a substantial difference. I ended up getting a Ruby but I did have my lbs build some sweet wheels shortly after riding around with the wheelset it came with (which felt heavy), and I feel my new wheels have made a real difference in climbing for me. My climbing ability is markedly better with my new wheels.

As for the bike with digital shifting, you can get the same bike without it, can't you?

[emily_in_nc]

Bike #1 would be my choice if you're worried about climbing and don't want to have to change out the cassette. And if it fits and is in your budget, of course!

I had a carbon bike with a 34/50 compact crankset and 13-29 cog (Campy), and I could climb anything on it.