Right I think I've bought the wrong bike so best place to sell/swap it.

[Kbrook]

Thanks all for the help.

 

[jugglingphil]

I made the same "mistake", and the 1st road bike I bought had a double rather than compact or triple.
I still loved that bike, but considered my routes a bit. A 39 inner shouldn't be enough to stop to cycling but it does make some hills harder.
In the end that bike got knicked , but it gave me hours of pleasure and I learned a lot about my type of cycling and it enabled me to get a bike I'm very happy with.
Don't rush to sell, but in the end you must enjoy it. If it does stop you getting out then change. There has been some good advice given, now it's time for you to decide with advice is appropriate.

 

[lulubel]

Thanks all for the help.

Don't go away from this thread. As you said, you've had replies that have hopefully helped you. I've asked lots of questions on this forum, and sometimes very similar questions asked in a slightly different way, and there are always people who are happy to answer.

There is a point at which running fitness does translate to cycling, but it doesn't involve pushing big gears. You've got a good level of cardio fitness through running, and that will make you very capable of spinning (turning the pedals fast) in small gears, which doesn't work the muscles so hard, but does give your CV system a good workout. So, I think small gears is the way to go if you want to make quick progress with cycling, and you can always practice climbing in bigger gears later on, as you gain confidence and develop your cycling fitness.

Whether that means changing your bike or not is another matter. You can change all the components on any bike, but there comes a point when it's cheaper to replace the whole bike.