Approaches to gearing

Oh yeah!?!?!? Well, I ride a 6-speed 🙂 Honest.

This is on a loaded touring bike? I appreciate the beauty and efficiency of half-step gearing, but in my opinion it's not an issue for touring. For time trials or pack riding, you get that extra bit of efficiency in matching cadence to power output, and it's worth it to sweat over gearing designs and double-shift points. For touring, you simply downshift till you find a gear you can maintain for hours on end. Even if you're in a group, riders tend to get spread out because of weight, ability, gears, etc. After all, it's sight-seeing.

Don't get me wrong, gear choices are important, but I'd focus on upper and lower limits (especially lower), not the midrange. I've already labelled myself by admitting to a 6-speed freewheel.... but I haven't yet found a (paved) hill I can't climb, which is really what counts. Others may disagree, it's based on love of the sport. My 6-spd cluster is 14-28, which doesn't give many midrange options, but on tour I just match my speed to the best gear, not the other way around.

That said, I'm rebuilding my bike with 8-speed components before the summer.... But still I only pay attention to the high/low ranges.

-- Mark