Disclaimer- I ride at Capitol View Frankfort (live in Lex), so I can't really comment on gearing for Cherokee.
But, for what its worth, I recently switched from 32/20 on my 29er SS to 32/18. I was uncertain how the harder gear would work for the terrain at Cap View, but have been surprised by how much more I like the harder gear. For terrain around here, having a harder gear to get as much speed as possible before short, steep climbs seems to work better for me.
Chuck has a point about knee strain, but it seems that I get most of my speed on the flats before the hill and carry the momentum as much as I can up the hill (that's what SS is all about...). It seems like most knee strain is associated with grinding it out on a climb, not hammering on the flat before the climb.
Long, sustained climbing is a different story. If I rode my SS at Cave Run very much, I would definitely keep the 32/20 gearing. But on the short, punchy stuff around Lexington and Frankfort, I prefer the higher speed and faster acceleration of the 32/18 gearing.
If you are stalling out on climbs and can't catch a rachet, sounds like the 32/20 may be better suited for you until you can push the 32/18 without stalling.
Try both out on your new wheelset and use whichever one you like better. Like everything, its a trade-off-- 1) use 32/20, don't stall, but spin out quicker on the flats; or 2) use 32/18, maybe stall, unquestionably faster. I pick number 2.
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