I think this is a good answer !Short answer:
Lower gearing.
Long answer:
I'm doing much more long-distance riding now with a lot of climbing. Honking is great if you are doing a short rides with a big climb or two and your legs change to generate strength. I'm doing much longer stuff, which means that I need far more of those slow-twitch fibres and have consequentially lost a bit of outright strength. So it suits me better to sit and spin and get up faster, as opposed to standing, honking, and just getting there.
This. Road bike and hardtail I'll honk occasionally, maybe over a short steep section but on the full-sus I stay seated as honking just feels unproductive.Uswd to honk it on the road bike, but a bit tricky on an MTB with full sus
Using a horn liberally or soap less liberallyWTF is Honking?
What happens when you run out of gears?In answer to the question ... it depends on the hill.
Some hills are just to steep for me to do anything other than grind my way up slowly. I'd love to be able to say that I "spin" up hills but dragging my bulk up a 10% or steeper hill ... it just ain't gonna happen. Select bottom gear, switch to dogged survival mode, and stand on the pedals every now and then for a different kind of misery.
I just keep grinding more and more slowly until I fall off. Then I walk.What happens when you run out of gears?