As a person who’s bike commuted on and off in a very hilly city, but never biked athletically, it’s hard for me to think of gearing linearly. Yes, for equal level of effort, 4x easier is probably a good introduction. But climbing that slowly is frustrating. And it’s dangerous in traffic.

I’ve definitely “learned to climb”, and I definitely don’t have that strength and endurance now, but next time I’m riding I will still definitely prefer a little extra effort over the slow crawl.