Road bike gears

[jisk]

Howdy,

I'm looking to get a road bike, and I guess that I've been in a completely different world with riding mountain bikes but I was wondering - why do a lot of them have so few gears? I see heaps of pretty new road bikes with 9 gears. Are these okay for riding up hills and the like?

[DiabloScott]

Howdy,

I'm looking to get a road bike, and I guess that I've been in a completely different world with riding mountain bikes but I was wondering - why do a lot of them have so few gears? I see heaps of pretty new road bikes with 9 gears. Are these okay for riding up hills and the like?

It's not how many, but if you have the right ones.

9 or 10 in back is the standard - 10 becoming more common the last few years. Also 2 or 3 in the front with 3 (a triple) becoming less rare. You can get a road bike with more gears than a mountain bike, but that shouldn't be your deciding factor.

Welcome to roadiedom.

[artemidorus]

Howdy,

I'm looking to get a road bike, and I guess that I've been in a completely different world with riding mountain bikes but I was wondering - why do a lot of them have so few gears? I see heaps of pretty new road bikes with 9 gears. Are these okay for riding up hills and the like?
Any road bike that you see called a "9spd" bike is really 18 or 27spd; it's just a different convention of description.

[jisk]

Any road bike that you see called a "9spd" bike is really 18 or 27spd; it's just a different convention of description.Really? Okay, well I guess that is why then! Thanks.