Struggling with hills - well any incline really.

[StaySafe]

my bike, Temple ladies lightweight
I have 9 gears on my new bike and have been going out trying to improve my cycling for weeks now. typically DH (who has the men's version of this bike) and I are going 10 to 12 miles down the lanes near our house. He is getting on fine, I'm really struggling with the hills. DH says they are not hills, just gentle inclines and overtakes me because he says he can't go that slow without falling off.
I change down the gears as I go up hill and by the time I reach the top I'm in the lowest gear struggling to turn the pedals at all.

Am I doing something wrong? It is very dispiriting seeing lycra clad ladies zooming up the hills, as well as fat blokes on heavy mountain bikes, who look less fit than me. What should I do? I don't want to be a super cyclist, just enjoy it and to be able to proceed on this sort of terrain at a reasonable pace.

Is your seat high enough and do you have your feet in the right place on the pedals? I see a lot of people sitting much too low with their heels on the pedals which means it takes a lot more effort than if you were in a better position.

Also, don't assume that just because people are on mountain bikes they are heavy bikes, my mountain bike is only 10kg

Yes, the seat is high enough and my feet positioned correctly. I swapped the pedals from my old bike over as the Temple ones were a bit slippery. I suspect I'm changing down at the wrong time, but not quite sure what I'm doing wrong. What sort of mountain bike weighs 10kg?

www.scott-sports.com/gb/en/product/scott-scale-925-bike

Changing down at the wrong time certainly won't help but your description of in the lowest gear struggling to turn the pedals at all. suggests it's more than just that, especially if they are really just inclines not hills.

Road bikes and mountain bikes probably both have lower gears than you do though so maybe what you're doing is too hilly for the gear ratio on your bike for you?

Although DH has the same bike with a medium frame I suspect he could ride my small one with the seat up, so I'll ask him to tackle the hill on my bike next weekend just to check it is not a problem with the gears, though I suspect not. There are 9 gears so surely it should be OK on a normal rural road with ups and downs? I'll tr changing down a bit sooner and keeping up the impetus a bit more - which is the advice on the Total forum to someone with a similar problem. By the time I had m main problems I'd already got painful nether regions from a bumpy ride over a pot hole and I suspect trying too hard in a spin class on the previous Friday didn't help. Nice bike souldrider, I'm trying ot avoid collecting them and just leaving them in the garage though.

What is the weight of your cycle compared to his? (It makes quite a difference)
Also check your tyres are fully inflated - flat tyres= hard work

There are 9 gears so surely it should be OK on a normal rural road with ups and downs?

Depends whether you're in Lincolnshire or Derbyshire really . Certainly round here (Derbyshire border) there are a couple of roads where I'm dropping down to almost my lowest gear, especially if no momentum and I'll suspect my lowest gear is lower than yours (can't tell as no crankset listed for your bike)

Do you get out of seat on the hills?
What is your smallest gear ratio?
Read here about gear ratios
what is the number of teeth on your front ring?
tbh, I have regeared both my bikes down, front ring about 24" IIRC. I had to argue with the mechanics on this almost fiercely. "Where do your ride, up Mt. Etna?" (they almost sneered,... argh.... I don't give a shiny what other people need, I need low gears). I can ride up hills on 34" front ring but it's awfully hard work, and I have knee trouble already, and everybody overtakes me going uphill and that's with the 24" ring. My 44" rings are pristine, I never needed the damn things, even speeding downhill. (only triples possible on my bike, so I'm stuck with the pointless 44" rings whether I want them or not) I don't have any natural power. Even DH finally gave up on my lack of power & has helped me reset the gears so that the 24" is reliable even if I can never use the 44". Give me a granny ring, any day.

Sounds like the gearing might not be ideal if you live somewhere hilly

In my area of Yorkshire we have some brutal hills and it really helps if you have a smaller chain ring at the front to go down to some big sprockets on your rear cassette

Its better to keep cadence high in an easy gear than have to work really hard to turn your pedals

I am peeved to report I can't find any info about the size of OP's front chain ring. Manuf. just don't say.

I suspect it's a 38T, anyway. Doesn't LOOK very big. With hub gears and the crankset they use, I'm not sure of OP could adjust the front ring but maybe the back (hub gears?) can be customised. Default is 12-36T in back, so 38T in front would mean lowest gear ratio of 1.06. Smaller is easier, and my smallest is probably 0.67. That's how much easier life could be...

I regret to say I don't understand the technical stuff in detail, though i get the gist. DH is an engineer, I will ask him about it later.

Basically, if the front gear ring (the one that sprouts your pedal cranks) is too big, then it's too hard for you to push. If that front ring was smaller, easier to pedal. Good your DH is engineer, he'll get it and you can report back to us what is the smallest gear ratio you had.

There's an expectation that most people are fine with smallest = about 1.05; not true. Sometimes folk need smaller, less than 1.0

In my experience, lots of off the shelf bikes (which I avoid buying) have too large chainrings. This is probably because a large shiny dinner plate sized outer chainring looks nicer. Don’t forget if you change your chainring(s) and have more than1 you’ll probably have to move the front derailleur and retension the cable and retune the gears, so get a reputable bike shop to do this if you don’t know how to.