Quote Originally Posted by Catriona View Post
the downhill thing I think depends much more on weight, wind resistence, etc... As a solid heavy little person, I tend to go down hills very fast whether or not I'm pedaling. tires & hubs'll affect it as well.
Weight does greatly affect downhill riding, but no matter how much you weigh, if you are just spinning and not engaging a gear, you can no longer pedal to improve downhill speed. If your bike has another harder gear, you can keep pedaling. Sometimes I pass people who weigh more than me because they can't pedal anymore and I can ... and I choose to use it. Which is another point. I pass people who could physically go faster, but choose not to. I make up for my slow climbing by excelling on the downhill. I'm a stat freak. Love trying to improve my average pace on each ride.