I need a bit more help from my lowest gear. I'm 63, have two artificial knees and live in an area with very steep hills. I ride about 100 miles a week and am very fit, but my knees limit my leg strength somewhat. I currently have a 11-34 cassette and a 53-39-30 crankset. I'm considering a 48-36-26 crankset. My current 30 tooth chainring is 23.8 gear inches and the proposed 26 chainring is 20.6 gear inches. Not knowing about things this technical, is this a big difference? I'm very close to being geared low enough but have to stand about halfway up my short steep hills. By the math, it is 15% or so lower but what does this feel like in reality???

I'm really surprised that you can stand on a 30-34 combination, that is a very low gear.
The advantage that I see of the smaller ring set that you are considering is that it would allow a closer ratio cassette with more usable gears. Do you really need a 53-11 combination, that is a very high gear. I'm 61 with bad knees and it makes my knees hurt just thinking about the big ratio jumps on your 11-34 cassette. If you go with the smaller triple maybe your could also change the cassette to something more usable like a 13-30, or 14-30 with closer ratio spacing. Generally people with knee problems do well by keeping their cadence in the 85 - 100 range. Of course your situation may be different.
~Al

I'm really surprised that you can stand on a 30-34 combination, that is a very low gear.
The advantage that I see of the smaller ring set that you are considering is that it would allow a closer ratio cassette with more usable gears. Do you really need a 53-11 combination, that is a very high gear. I'm 61 with bad knees and it makes my knees hurt just thinking about the big ratio jumps on your 11-34 cassette. If you go with the smaller triple maybe your could also change the cassette to something more usable like a 13-30, or 14-30 with closer ratio spacing. Generally people with knee problems do well by keeping their cadence in the 85 - 100 range. Of course your situation may be different.
~Al

Al..I don't use the 30-34 when standing, usually the 30-30 or the 30-26, what I'm looking for is a gear that will let me stay in the saddle when climbing pretty steep stuff. Is the difference between the two gear's gear inches enough to be a big difference?? My impression is would be very noticable.

I need a bit more help from my lowest gear. I'm 63, have two artificial knees and live in an area with very steep hills. I ride about 100 miles a week and am very fit, but my knees limit my leg strength somewhat. I currently have a 11-34 cassette and a 53-39-30 crankset. I'm considering a 48-36-26 crankset. My current 30 tooth chainring is 23.8 gear inches and the proposed 26 chainring is 20.6 gear inches. Not knowing about things this technical, is this a big difference? I'm very close to being geared low enough but have to stand about halfway up my short steep hills. By the math, it is 15% or so lower but what does this feel like in reality???

I created this spreadsheet to illustrate what you want. Plug in your numbers, then plug in the slowest speed you will be going. This will tell you the rpms at that speed; conversely, plug in the slowest cadence you want, and it can tell you the gears you need.

http://www.midcalracing.com/gears.xls

That'll give you a gear that's a little bit easier, but it won't be a lot easier. My subjective feeling is that it'll be like being able to shift down one more time when you're in the lowest gear that you have today. I think that I might want to see a little more difference if I were to go to that much trouble.

Al..I don't use the 30-34 when standing, usually the 30-30 or the 30-26, what I'm looking for is a gear that will let me stay in the saddle when climbing pretty steep stuff. Is the difference between the two gear's gear inches enough to be a big difference?? My impression is would be very noticable.

I think I understood your question OK. I know I didn't answer it directly.
If you can stand on a 30-30 I would expect that you could sit and spin a 30-34, but only you know the answer to that. If your budget allows I would recommend you try the 48-36-26 triple set and also consider a cassette with closer ratios, that way you can maintain a higher cadence in all situations. Adjusting your current front derailleur to a smaller crankset may be tricky but others have done it with good results. "Cory" posts here often and I think he has that kind of triple.
~Al

I need a bit more help from my lowest gear. I'm 63, have two artificial knees and live in an area with very steep hills. I ride about 100 miles a week and am very fit, but my knees limit my leg strength somewhat. I currently have a 11-34 cassette and a 53-39-30 crankset. I'm considering a 48-36-26 crankset. My current 30 tooth chainring is 23.8 gear inches and the proposed 26 chainring is 20.6 gear inches. Not knowing about things this technical, is this a big difference? I'm very close to being geared low enough but have to stand about halfway up my short steep hills. By the math, it is 15% or so lower but what does this feel like in reality???

Since you have an mtb cassette, why not use an mtb crank (44/32/22), bottom bracket and front derailleur to go with it? Then your low gear will be 27% lower (17.5 inches).

If you get a Mtb front der make sure it is bottom pull for a road frame which usually only does bottom pull, not top pull like on a MTB.

You could also get a compact road triple crankset and change the small ring to a 24.