>Seems a lot of people with rando bikes are fine with a 48 - 50 tooth high
>gear. I'm more of a get my speed kicks on the descent kind of guy
I love going fast on descents, which is why I don't pedal above 25-30 mph.
I have dropped many a rider who was pedaling hard on descents. I'd simply get into an aero tuck and coast by them. Bicycle Quarterly's wind tunnel tests showed that the aero tuck is 37% more aerodynamic, and nobody can pedal hard enough to overcome that extra wind resistance at 40 mph!
It's like the 400 horsepower pickup trucks, which still can't go faster than 120 mph, whereas a 200 horsepower sports car easily can break that barrier.
There are many riders who can keep up going up long mountain passes,
but on short rollers, where it matters when you apply power and when
you coast, it's amazing how quickly the "downhill pedalers" lose
ground.
>I like to have something to pedal against when I'm descending. It makes the
bike feel more 'planted'.
A good bike should feel planted even when coasting. After all, I coast through corners, and I want the bike to feel planted. Pedaling through high-speed corners doesn't seem like a good idea to me, especially if the corners are bumpy.
Fausto Coppi et al. won Tours de Frances with a big gear of 50-14, and I am sure none of us could beat those guys either uphill or down.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com