Sometimes I see people spinning at a high rate that makes it look ridiculous. Maybe this is the case with your husband.

Always you see it with MBs on roads, never with road bikes. There is a point when you begin to look ridiculous when your gear is so low that the spinning rate translates into a very slow speed which makes you look like a cartoon character.
Many MBs have so low gearing that you could climb a vertical wall with it if that were possible. I once tried out one such bike and immediately flipped on my back when I tested going up a little grassy incline. I am used to apply power on my road bike.