With regard to learning to pedal faster in a lower gear--You can't teach an old dog new tricks! I'm pushing 70years and can still do 240 situps, bench press 160X9 and ride 10+ miles/day. I burn out really fast when I try speed pedaling whereas when I'm climbing a hill and working the pedals hard, I never seem to reach bottom. Just me. But with that considered, higher gearing just makes sense. I have a 13T off an old MTB so when the weather turns nicer I'll see if I can swap it out with the 14T currently on it and go from there. Love it when you guys do all the math for me...