Originally Posted by
livedarklions
I ride in lower gears, especially in a headwind, and I'll actually spin a low gear going uphill. I'm just fastest in the 53x11 on the flat. Mostly, though, I just find spinning a lower gear tedious. There's a certain sense of power I experience pushing a high gear that I just can't duplicate in lower gears. The great distance covered with a single turn almost feels like a super power. Also, I can accelerate like crazy a few gears below and shift up rapidly.
I've measured it a lot, I'm 1 mph or better faster in the highest gear than I am in any other.
That sense of power is actually your sense of torque. Power = Torque x Cadence so for any given power you will feel more force/torque at the pedals at a lower cadence.
But if you are 1 mph faster in your highest gear than any other then it means that you can't spin your legs any faster at a slightly lower torque to make up the same power. What makes you unique is that most people can comfortably generate more power at say 80-90 rpm vs 50-60 rpm.