i wouldn't expect anyone to match my pace on a hill. they can wait for me at the top. From experience, it is really really hard to climb a hill at a slower speed than your own. Basically, it means I mash my way up instead of spinning my way up.

As for loaning out a bike... Her friend probably has her own pedals, etc that don't match whatever the pedals are on the bianchi. Her friend's probably fitted to her bike and doesn't want to ride an entire ride on a bikethat doesn't fit her. I have loaned out bikes - I let TxDoc borrow my litespeed to ride when we were out here, and we swapped the pedals, seat height, flipped the stem, and moved the spacers. NOt a big deal - it did take me a few rides to tweak it back into "my position" that I was comfortable with. I did that knowing that TxDoc was a skilled rider and was unlikely to crash or scratch up my bike or carbon compoenents. But if I go with someone who isn't as good of a rider, no, I don't let them borrow my fancy road bikes with carbon components, because I've got to replace a bike that's worth thousands. They can borrow my steel frame, they can borrow my mountain bike... but I'll cry if they drop my bike and my carbon handlebars break.

Maybe her friend would have a different view about swapping bikes for just one or two hills to see the comparision.

As for the indian arrow thing... count up the number of teeth on your front crankset and let us know if it's a double vs. triple. Then count up the teeth on your back cassette... It may be that you have a standard double and huge gears, and you'd benefit from adjusting your bike so that it has more climbing gears. Your friend probably does have better climbing gears. She also has years more experience with changing gears and biking in general, and that really does make a differnce for climbing. A few years ago, I was horrible on hills... I'm still not great, but even if I take the winter off cycling... I still can climb a hill in a reasonably competant manner 'cause I've got better hill climbing skills than before.