Originally Posted by GhostRider62

You need realistic expectations

A bike that weighs 5 pounds more is going to slow you down very little on a 3% climb. If you weigh 150 pounds working at 200 watts, adding 5 pounds to the bike will slow you down by about 0.2 mph oe around one linear foot every 3 seconds. So, you might lose 1/4 mile on a longer climb and sure, when you get to the top they are gone. I say good riddance. Ride at a pace that you can handle. This is your challenge.....pacing.

I would never pace myself against another rider, especially someone I did not know. For instance, I did 200km yesterday with nearly 10,000 feet of climbing. I enjoyed the first hour riding with a younger and much stronger rider. At the base of a very difficult climb, I thanked him for the chat and said I know my limits and rode the climb at a power level that worked for me. If I tried to keep up with him, I might have barely been able to stay in touch. If you do not have a power meter, a heart rate monitor works fairly well once you are really into the climb (slow component delay). If you want to go faster on climbs, increase power, lose weight, and master pacing and there will still be hundreds of riders faster than the new you.