Is it the Indians or the arrows (new bikes vs. old bikes)?

[Bike Writer]

Thanks everybody for the replies! I guess I just needed reaffirmation of what I already knew. We are about the same size & I tried suggesting we switch bikes for a day, but she made an excuse that it wouldn't make any difference! I didn't feel like arguing with her. I didn't know about changing my wheel set out though, thanks for the advice. When you have to struggle with your ego that much on a ride, sometimes it makes me not want to deal with it, but I also realize that's part of the zen that comes from riding & ironically that's exactly why I do it. I have nothing against pushing myself to become stronger, just sometimes it can be demoralizing & I start to question "is this fun?"

I believe it to be a combination of the bike and the rider also as many have attested to here. I know for certain that one of my bikes is faster and climbs better than the other. That being said, your commentary about your friend not wanting to switch bikes with you for you to try her's out is a bit telling in itself. I question if this person is a friend, because a friend would want to help a friend along with coaching you up a hill instead of leaving you behind. I imagine that some people could be possessive about their equipment but still, even swapping bikes out for a couple of hills does not seem unreasonable.

Challenging yourself by trying to ride up to a different skill level is fine but continuosly getting smoked by others would be discouraging. You might want to try riding with other groups of people on occasion and you'll know right off where your comfort level is and whether riding with superior riders is helping or hindering you. Riding should be fun and no, you don't suck - you're out there riding a bike and trying to get better at it. With all your training it sounds like you are.

[ny biker]

I don't think I would have fun riding with someone who told me repeatedly that she is better than me and nothing I do will make me improve.

[Tri Girl]

I don't think I would have fun riding with someone who told me repeatedly that she is better than me and nothing I do will make me improve.

that's the truth!

I definitely climb much slower on my steel Bianchi than on my lightweight carbon tri bike- even tho the Bianchi has better climbing gears- it's just heavier and that makes a difference. But that being said- I'm a sucky climber. I can descend like a crazy woman- but climbing is torture for me (even when I was lighter climbing was difficult).

[ny biker]

that's the truth!

I definitely climb much slower on my steel Bianchi than on my lightweight carbon tri bike- even tho the Bianchi has better climbing gears- it's just heavier and that makes a difference. But that being said- I'm a sucky climber. I can descend like a crazy woman- but climbing is torture for me (even when I was lighter climbing was difficult).

I will never be a good climber, and I know there will always be people who are faster than me no matter what I do. That doesn't bother me at all. But it doesn't mean that I can't ever get better by changing something about the bike.

[lph]

what they've all said - a lighter, stiffer bike is easier to move uphill, and light enough gearing makes it possible to keep your cadence down and not blow up going uphill, all of which will make it more fun and inspire you to try harder up hills... but fitness still trumps a lot of this. Experience does play a part too, knowing at what level to keep your effort. And some people are just better climbers than others, body weight is often important. I'm a reasonably good climber, but I'm pretty useless on the flats, it's a bit limited how much power I can produce.

But the line between keeping up and not keeping up is pretty fine, so just because they ride away from you on the hills doesn't mean you're a much slower rider unless you're continually barely able to keep up no matter what. On club rides it's pretty common to wait and regroup at the top of hills.