Originally Posted by
Thalia
How much of this is me being a big wuss, and how much is due to riding a big heavy upright bike?
Assuming you're just at the 200 pound Clydestale cut-off, the 15 pound difference between a 30 pound comfort bike and $5000 road bike at the minimum weight allowed by UCI for racing is slowing you down almost 7% (a fraction of 1 MPH).
More weight on you means even less effect from a heavier bike.
IOW, don't worry about it.
I really don't want a super-aggressive bike -- I love being able to look over my shoulder easily, and I enjoy being upright. But I'd be willing to upgrade to a better bike, and maybe one with slightly more efficient geometry (I'm intrigued by the Trek Allant) if it would give me more power uphill. I'd like to start doing 10-mile rides instead of five-mile ones and run errands farther afield, but I'm not sure I can struggle up five miles uphill on the way home ...
If you can ride five miles you can ride ten miles at a less intense pace provided you don't run out of gears. For that matter you can probably ride 10 miles at the same pace but perhaps not on consecutive days.
Given low gears that allow you to ride "super-slow" and "feel effortless" you probably won't be running out of gears on the way back.