A change of two teeth on the rear cog makes a massive difference - there are some hills I struggled with when first riding 48x16 in my local area but after popping an 18 on the back they were breeze. Just gotta get used to the higher cadences when coming down the hill.

Track cogs can be had for fairly cheap, pick up an inexpensive 18T cog to see if you like it. if you do, great. Ride the hell out of it and then replace it with a better quality cog further down the line. If not, try a different ratio then rinse and repeat.