The fashion nowdays is to use lower gears and spin, but its really upto the individual. For example, Ulrich goes up hills in quite a big gear and he ain't slow.commi wrote:from now i'll ride on the 42 and go from there
Me, I've tried various gears and cadiences and found that personally theres pros and cons. When I get tired legs, I'll change my cadience to kind of rest the legs from that type of stress by using them differently.
The rings can be used quite effectively for powering over hills. Put it in the big ring and accelerate a little just prior to the hill, hold the gear on the hill and stand up on the pedals, using your back and arms to apply more force to the pedals. When (if) the hill starts to win, hit the front derailier leaver and drop from the 52 to the 42, sit down and spin hard. You may also consider going up a gear (right to a smaller one) at the same time. BTW, this is just one of many methods of taming hills and wont suit everyone and certainly not every hill.