I bought an old '93 Bianchi, steel-frame, 7 speed road bike from my sister-in-law about 3 years ago so I could ride with my very experienced friend. She rides a custom-built steel-frame 9 speed. She always rides away from me whenever we climb & she keeps telling me "it's not the arrows, it's the Indian". We started spin classes a year ago & I've definitely seen improvement in my performance, but she still shells me on the climbs. Yesterday we did a group ride with the ladies at our spinning gym. Every one of them had $5000+ 10-speed road bikes & once again I was seriously shelled on the climbs & way behind by the end of the ride. I only paid $200 for my old girl & I can't help feeling that maybe in this case it is the arrows. Does it make a difference what bike you're riding or do I really just suck?