I changed out the cassettes on the Expedition and the 700. My shortest route around my home town is 12 miles with almost 1,000 foot gain. My 50 mile ride has well over 4,000 feet of gain and I don't even ride in the Santa Monica mountains just to the south of my home and I still have to do all this climbing.
The 34/11 cassette on my Expedition gives me a little more leverage for when I pull Betzi uphill in her trailer. Some of the hilly roads that I ride with her have a lot of cars and even worse big ole SUV's buzzing around. I don't feel comfortable letting her walk on these hills so a 34/11 cassette gives me a little extra climbing power. In addition the Expedition still has the MTB crankset and it's working well. (New Crankset)
The 34/11 on the 700 also helps with the hills when I get to the end of a ride and the legs are spent. Plus the 34/11 cassette I originally bought for the Expedition seemed a little bit light so Dana at Bent Up Cycles sent out a more basic heavy duty cassette for the Expedition and the lighter one went on the 700. The down side is that I now have a pricey Sram X Glide super light 32/11 cassette that is not being used. I'll try out the new cassette for awhile before selling the X Glide.
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| Gears inches with latest setup
UPDATE 4/7/12
The 700 is back to the original gearing.
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I put the Sram X Glide 10 speed 32/11 back on the 700. The chain was doing some serious rubbing on the frame when the chain was on the 34 tooth cog.