Compact gears in Bermuda

I've noticed over the last few years that compact gearing (basically substituting a 50/34 crankset for the old standard 53/39) has been creeping into the road racing and triathlon communities in Bermuda.

Drawing on my own limited and not very recent experience with bike racing, I don't recall ever running out of gears at the bottom end and usually kept the bottom 39/25 or 26 as a "bail-out" gear although most of the courses I raced on didn't have any really steep inclines. That said, I've not come across any hills on the public roadways on the island that I've not been able to haul myself over with a little huffing and puffing using a 39/25 bottom gear. Which leads me to the question of why bike racers and triathletes, who are VERY much stronger than I, feel the need to use bottom gears of 34/25 or even 28 for training and racing?

Thus I fitted one of my own bikes out with a compact crankset and 11/23 cassette, which approximates the gearing range on all my other bikes, and took to the road. I didn't find the experience unpleasant but couldn't warm to the huge 16 tooth difference between the front chainrings. Shifts were smooth enough but its so much more difficult to change down to the next lowest gear when dropping down to the small chainring, requiring about three up-shifts with the right lever while down-shifting with the left. Not nearly as smooth and easy as the single up-shift with the right and down-shift with the left which I'm used to using a 50/39 (yes, I normally use a 50 outer because it gives me a lot more usable gears) when performing this same task. 

One shouldn't form an opinion on something like this based on just a single 90 minute ride so I will continue with it for the next few months to see if I can adapt and if the whole concept grows on me. At this point its hard to see an advantage for racers over using gearing based around 53/39 rings. I can, however, see that this gearing would be ideal for use in hilly sportives, gran fondos or anywhere with long and/or steep climbs. One local rider I know, who doesn't race, swears by his compact gears but rides mostly in the big ring except for the multiple hill repeats he does several times a week and for him the gears seem to be perfect. I can also see that compact gears are great for anyone just starting out with a road bike and some of the new bikes I've sold have been equipped with 50/34 x 11/32 or even 11/34. A compact is also simpler to use for newbies than a road triple while maintaining a similar gear range.

I'll be back with more on compacts after I've put some miles on mine. Maybe I should swap that rear cassette......