I've been cycling for 3 years or so now, back and forth to work on a fixie, round trip of 25 miles all pretty much flat. Prior to the fixie I had an old Giant road bike which I was riding on the weekends as well.
On the weekends I now get the mountain bike out and have been for a year or so, doing 20 or so miles off road across some pretty nasty terrain.
I've always loved road cycling and with the misses getting some unwanted halfords vouchers through work I thought it was about time I got back into it and after reading plenty of good reviews on the Boardman range I took the plunge. I got myself a Team road bike and very nice it is too for the price.
I hit the roads over the weekend, taking in the Wye Valley and I was pretty much struggling all the way. I'm finding the climbs very hard and I can't spin going up them as I thought I would. The low gears just don't seem to be as easy as they were with the old Giant and comparing the gearing there is a huge difference. The smallest chain ring is smaller on the Boardman than on the old Giant but the rear cassette is smaller also compared to the Giant (the rear cassette and 1st is huge in comparison).
I've been out of road cycling for a couple of years so the gearing I'm supposing is no harder now than it was 10 years ago, the difference in gearing is probably minimal. I'm starting to wonder if the fixie has reduced my leg strength when I thought it would've increased it (you get to a certain speed and you're spinning really quickly). Also, when climbing on the mountain bike I tend to use the granny gear as they climbs are extremely steep and you need to keep traction. Maybe a combination of this has reduced my strength?
Very, very dissappointed. I feel like I'm staring afresh. Still did about 50 miles around the Wye and climbed everything, but it was a hard slog.