Questions for those who live in hilly areas or love to climb:

What's your typical gradient and length?

Do you use standard or compact? What's size of the cassette?

I have standard with a 9-speed 12-26T cassete and found it difficult to maintain good cadence on hill. I'm new to road biking but used to do mountain biking. Am I just too weak or should I try a different cassette? Also with the bigger cassette, is there anything special I need to do with the RD?

Can I just blame the bike for being too heavy? I know that not taking the two bottles of water make climbing easier (so much for the "weight doesn't matter") but that's not an option. Thanks.