Sparky's 2009 Kona Fire Mountain

Around home I'm almost always in the middle ring, so a 2x10 setup with a bashring makes a lot of sense. But occasionally I head to Wales and wouldn't be without my granny ring. I like the idea of weight-savings though.

I'm rubbish at using gears. So for me its a simplicity thing, not a weight thing.

Eg. change your inner ring to a 34t, and get a 11-36t 10 speed cassette. You get these gear inches (26 x 2.35" tyres)

24.9
28.1
32.1
37.4
42.8
49.9
56.1
64.1
74.8
81.6

25 Gi will get you up anything, and 82 GI is plenty fast enough, even for road sections.

Punch your current 3 x 9 set-up into the calculator and compare.

http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/