I have experienced it [gearing snobbery] several times. One rather amusing example was when I was out doing the old Pendle Pedal sportive. I was riding down to the crossroads at Quernmore. I would be turning left at the crossroads and tackling a stiff climb up to the
Jubilee Tower monument.
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Just before my turn, I was overtaken by a fast-moving group of younger male riders. One of them spotted the gearing on my bike and started laughing. He called out
"Ha ha - got yer triple ready have yer, granddad!"
They climbed away from me up round a RH bend where the road really starts to kick up. I engaged my 28/28 bottom gear and was twiddling my way up at a comfortable pace when I turned the bend and saw a slow-moving group of younger male
WALKERS ahead of me, dripping sweat, and pushing their bikes.
I couldn't resist it ... I took my right hand off the bars, leaned down to extract a drinks bottle from its cage, and accelerated as I overtook them, riding one-handed. I took a long, casual drink and said them
"Ha ha - looks like you need triples too, eh lads!" 
