Quote Originally Posted by Muirenn View Post
I try to spend as much time as possible in my small front ring, if that helps, when I do go to the large, it's temporary, and I can definitely feel ease of tension when I go back to the small front ring.

A lot of newer riders in my area, and some not so new, spend a lot of time in the large ring. Our roads are almost completely flat, I live at sea-level. And yet, they are mashing gears to keep up, whereas the racers (and those who copy them, like me), are in the small rings in front, somewhere in the middle in the back, and not stressing because they could ride like that all day long. (I've read big gears contribute to lactic acid build-up, and they are certainly not good for the knees, not compared to the small).
I think it's hard to make generalizations about what chainring/cog people should be, or are, using. It depends on their specific gearing, road and weather conditions, leg strength, preferred cadence and aerobic capacity.