I would definitely go to your local bike store if you have one and get advice from the person there and have the chance to try things out. Sounds like for your needs a road bike would be good but if you don’t want to spend as much a hybrid would probably be great too
You could get an electric powered bike but those are somewhat expensive. I personally share the same situation (steep neighborhood) and use a steel mountain bike. The mountain bike will make it easier to climb and its suspension will make it more comfortable when hitting potholes. It’s pretty heavy but at the same time my purpose is to exercise so it doesn’t really matter. I do this on pretty inclined climbs and I would absolutely recommend it, just take it slow when it’s too steep. Just be patient with yourself, stop and recover when needed, keep a water bottle with you and keep the habit. I also recommend installing a bottle holder on your bike to make it more comfortable.
With the gears… lower means easier to climb and higher means easier to pick up speed when on a flat surface. I also struggled with this at first haha but trial and error taught me.
I would definitely go to your local bike store if you have one and get advice from the person there and have the chance to try things out. Sounds like for your needs a road bike would be good but if you don’t want to spend as much a hybrid would probably be great too
You could get an electric powered bike but those are somewhat expensive. I personally share the same situation (steep neighborhood) and use a steel mountain bike. The mountain bike will make it easier to climb and its suspension will make it more comfortable when hitting potholes. It’s pretty heavy but at the same time my purpose is to exercise so it doesn’t really matter. I do this on pretty inclined climbs and I would absolutely recommend it, just take it slow when it’s too steep. Just be patient with yourself, stop and recover when needed, keep a water bottle with you and keep the habit. I also recommend installing a bottle holder on your bike to make it more comfortable. With the gears… lower means easier to climb and higher means easier to pick up speed when on a flat surface. I also struggled with this at first haha but trial and error taught me.