Originally Posted by
niuoka
Yes of course I could pedal harder and faster. I have a cadence im comfortable with and just thought picking up a few more teeth would increase speed. Pushing a little harder is easier for me then pedaling faster.
Its hard for me to imagine this old hybrid with racks, panniers, lights etc hitting the speeds you mention
The fallacy here is that you can maintain the same cadence and effort with a higher gear. Gears do not increase the power transmitted to the pedals. Rather they control over what distance your effort is conveyed. If you go to a higher gear ratio and use the same effort you will expend that effort over a shorter distance, therefore will go no faster.