Ok, so jur hinted that maybe I am just not peddling quick enough...Fat Boy pretty much told me I wasn't peddling quick enough. I checked Sheldon Brown's site as suggested, and he says "Most experienced cyclists pedal at cadences in the range of 70-90 RPM. " I think when I am going at my fast pace I am doing about 60-70 RPM on gear 7. I tried to measure this today but it was hard to watch the second on my watch and not get crash at the same time... On gear 6 I could easily do 90 RPM, though I would slow down a bit (or so it felt).

So my question is, just because experienced cyclists go 70-90 RPM, should I strive to also at this point? Sheldon Brown says "Inexperienced cyclists tend to ride in higher gears than they should, pedaling at a slower cadence. " I don't want to argue with him, so I guess I don't need a new bike... I was wanting a new toy, but I guess I don't need one, haha.

About the sidewalks, they aren't really used at all. During each trip, I will pass maybe 5 people and 1 or two bikes. It's not a downtown setting or anything. It's mostly commercial, so no one walks anywhere, everyone just drives. The bikers I see are people riding pretty old bike in non workout clothes just putting somewhere at maybe like 5 mph, slow enough I could run along, lol.

Just for kicks I rode mostly on the street today. It was great not having to worry about sidewalk cracks/bumps, etc. Several times though, instead of getting in the empty lane, people would pass me while still staying in my lane a bit, therefore passing really close... I could understand if they couldn't use the other lane maybe, but yeah. I also I tried to concentrate on peddling fast. On any slight up hill inclines where I couldn't peddle as fast I shifted to 6, even though normally I would've stayed in 7. I didn't really feel any kind of improvement. It felt like I was going faster in 7. This is why I originally wanted a bike with higher gear range, it seems I can go faster at higher gears, even if I'm peddling slower. I am not yet a believer in this high RPM "spinning" concept, but I am a newb and if the pros do it, I will just have to adjust, maybe it will come to me once I cycle more...

I was wanting to know if I was achieving higher speeds or not today, but my speedometer isn't really working anymore since late last week. Sometimes it will give values then go back to 0, values then 0. It is only 2 weeks old, and worked awesome for a week. I think some of the bumps knocked the magnet/sensor but even after putting it where I originally installed it it doesn't seem to work correctly. :'( Any ideas of common problems or things to try would be nice!

I'll look into the helmet mirror Jur.

snafu21, Thanks very much with the very in depth review of the Matrix. It makes me very much want one now, even more than before, but as I stated above, I guess I am just a newb who needs to peddle faster If I didn't have the mariner yet, the Matrix would've been a good choice.

PDR, thanks for the comments, they go right along with what I was originally thinking! Apparently my problem as I gave stated is I am not a cyclist yet, and need to vastly improve my abilities before I consider higher priced bicycles.

Taser, that orbit blue is amazing! It is similar to the color of my car. I love dark blue colors...Apparently I don't need a new bike anymore though ^^

Thanks everyone for your comments, helps and hints!

If anyone has anymore hints or comments or links I am still reading the thread!