Once again, thank you for the comments.
Day 2: I took note of some of the above suggestions (No! Not the Lycra and veg oil on the nuts.
), made some tweaks, studied the trimming, and tried them out for 10 miles this evening—on
gravel (
@novocaine). And it was pretty good. Average speed was better and roughly equal to my MTB speed and the trimming gave me four extra, useful mid-range gears. It's still far from intuitive but the potential was much more apparent today than yesterday.
The tweaks? I changed the saddle and raised it slightly; I reduced the reach by about 1cm (saddle forward 0.5cm, bars tilted upwards a touch, as per
@KermitGKona88's suggestion); and I swapped the 25mm tyres for 32mm Vittoria Zaffiro Pros, which I'd bought from
@Fatal Swan a few weeks ago for a different project which has stalled. I also lowered the tyre pressure from 90 PSI to 50 PSI. (However, 50 PSI is perhaps a little too low.) Coupled with the trimming, it was a much more comfortable ride with some good turns of speed in places. There's more to do but the signs were encouraging this time. Once it becomes more intuitive, I expect my speed will increase further, to beyond my typical MTB speeds, and the objective will be achieved.
@Woz The right cadence? I find it easier to think of it as the right gear, which I would explain as the one yielding the right cadence-torque combination for me in the given terrain. After all, I could keep the same cadence but in a lower gear and feel dissatisfied by the lower speed and easiness.
@Peachy I know I said that Claud Butler's parents' spelling was unusual but trying to lure me into a death trap is a bit strong, Sunshine!
I hope that hasn't got steel wheels.