OK, I know this subject has been beat to death and I have been looking all over the net, because most of the LBS I have visited and/or talked to are too snobby to give me a decent answer, and I hate to even ask, so hopefully I can get a little insight here w/o too much BS, know what I mean? I have a Specialized Allez Sport triple, 50-39-30 crank and 12-25 cassette. Ive been riding a couple years now, and I do OK on it, have been in the 30-40 mile range mostly w/o too much of a problem, except for hills, I have 2 bad knees, one is shot, bone on bone, and will need a replacement within the next 5 years or so if I take care of it, the other one just had ACL reconstruction and a little meniscus trimming, this happened about 4 months ago, and I've been rehabbing it back and have been riding quite a bit lately, will it make much difference to go up a couple teeth on the cassette to give me a little lower gearing? or do something different at the front? I have a hard time standing to pedal and can only do it for a short time, but stomping the pedals, even in the granny gear I have, is not very comfortable, so, now you know, yes I'm a crippled wimp, but I do enjoy myself, and it keeps me relatively fit despite my joints, so any suggestions would be appreciated....thanks in advance!