Originally Posted by
livedarklions
Just guessing from your name--do you live in San Francisco? If so, you need a big gear range, number of speeds is far secondary to that.
I'm quoting this because my comment is agreeing strongly with the sentiment that the number of speeds (in the cassette) is secondary in importance to the overall gear range.
If a would-be new rider is considering candidate bikes going back far enough in time, it's useful for them to be aware that not all n-speed drivetrains are comparable. A bike with a more recent, fairly-wide-range 9-speed cassette and a compact double crankset is going to be a very different animal than, say, an early 2000s Ultegra setup that has a cassette with a maximum of 27 (or 25, or 23, or 21) teeth and a 53/39 double crankset.