Originally Posted by
susanrm
I go from about a 13-14 MPH speed on flats and slight inclines to 5-6 MPH on the hills, breathing heavily (allergies in the Hudson Valley don't help!). I'm slender and in reasonable shape. The bike is about 23 pounds without the extra stuff (small bag, pump, lights, etc.).
I tried out the gearing calculator before posting here. It's nifty, but it was just a lot of numbers I don't understand. Like I said, I'm new to all this.
Think I'm starting to understand it now, though. You've been very helpful!
Do you know what cadence (rotations of the crank per minute) that you normally ride at? If so, enter that into the calculator and figure out what gearing you'll need to be able to maintain that cadence at 5-6mph. That should allow you to comfortably climb those hills.
For example, I just inputted a 30 small chainring with a 26 large cog, 700 x 23 tires, and 90 rpm. At that cadence, 8.1mph is the slowest you can go with your current gearing. Any slower and your cadence must fall. With a 30-32 low gear, you'll be able to ride at 6.6mph and 90 rpms (getting closer to what you want, based on my assumptions of course). A 26-32 low gear will get you down to 5.7mph at 90 rpms.