My wife has worked her comfortable cadence up to about 90 rpm. Above that I can really feel the unevenness in her stroke. I'm good between 85-95. It's really helped to change our 11-32 to a 12-27 (9 speed) so we don't get so large a cadence drop on some of the downshifts. If you've got a really wide-range cassette this might help some. Also, sometimes when she asked for a shift I just slow down a bit knowing I can't push the higher gear at that same speed. It sounds like your partner, albeit cadence challenged by your standards, is a strong rider. This should be a big plus learning to climb once you figure out the cadence thing. Good luck.