When I was a kid, I used to think that an expensive bike would allow me to go faster. When I finished engineering school, I figured out that I need to train the ENGINE if I want to go faster. I can't keep up with the top 15% of cyclists, but that's because cycling is my hobby, not my job. I don't care about what others think about my gears. They work well enough for me. Just ride and continue to train the ENGINE and fine-tune your hill-climbing technique.