The original chainring is 52/50, which is fine for a rider in good condition on fairly level terrain. After this photograph was taken, I replaced the pedal cranks with a pair of stronglights, with a 50/40/20 chainring. It is much more relaxing for me to ride, now. I live in what geographers and geomorpholigists would call "piedmont", which consists of rolling hills. The steepest gradient I ride is about 9%, but there are plenty of places where that occurs for as long as a mile, and the smaller chainrings make it possible for me to negotiate those hills much more easily. I also installed the diode/battery system, as I outlined, when I last posted to this tribe.