Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Gear Ratios in San Francisco

Okay.

Right now im running 52x19 which is just on the safe side of madness in San Francisco. It's nice for the flat part of my commute, but its sort of rough on hills, and skidding can be a little rough in emergencies. I tend not to use my brake if I can help it due to it once causing my back wheel lifting up and me pulling a superman and snapping my arm in half.

Im building a new bike right now (my first with a proper track frame!), and I'm not going to be rocking brakes (I couldn't if I wanted to, neither the frame nor the fork are drilled.) Most my friends ride 48x18 but I have a 47 tooth chainring, and I was just wondering about what people thought I should pair with it to a) not die and b) have a nice easy ride. I use my bike for commuting to work mostly, I'm not a racer, nor have any intentions of being so. I know about the 17 gets me more skids spots so I've been thinking about that, but I'm open for suggestions.

Thanks!

ps. if anyone in sf is looking for a decent road conversion, i'll be selling my current one soon. pm me. its nothing special but it gets the job done.

when i lived in SF i was pretty comfortable with 46x16, could have gone a little bigger, but never did... after leaving SF i took my 50x14 track bike there a couple times and the gearing was way too big... have it at 50x18 now, wanting to see how i'd fare on that in SF...

I ride 40x15, which works really well for me except on downhills (I spend a lot of time around twin peaks), but I'm thinking of going to 41x15 or so.

I ride 52x14 I live in lake tahoe. stop your whining girly men.

47x18 and 47x17 on the other side.
Both work well all over SF.
Rode 48x18 for while here too but the 3 skid spot scenario kind of sucks a little.

46x17 works well for me.

Thanks. 46x17, judah - I met you on the ride where 46x17 pulled the willy mays. I had the crappy blue road conversion and I was slow. :P I think I'll just stick with my original plan of 17. No flip flop for my new bike so I'll just keep an 18 in my random crap drawer :P

I guess I'll post up my new ride when its done. getting closer day by day. I'm really just a bottom bracket and some toe clips away, once my random ebay purchases show up.

learning as i go....

48x18 here and probably moving on to 47x18

Thanks. 46x17, judah - I met you on the ride where 46x17 pulled the willy mays.


You mean this?

http://static.flickr.com/29/67305270_d6196f81b0_b.jpg

I got a shot of you too:

http://static.flickr.com/31/67305273_cb2f6430d7_b.jpg

your 47x17 is going to be half an inch taller (harder) than your 52x19 FWIW. Running brakeless on hills when you're not super-confident of your ability to stop doesn't sound so smart to me...

haha. i remember when you took it, and i remember immediately thinking after you took that photo how stupid i must've looked.


and i was right.

You mean this?

http://static.flickr.com/29/67305270_d6196f81b0_b.jpg

I got a shot of you too:

http://static.flickr.com/31/67305273_cb2f6430d7_b.jpg

Man... I remember when it was still nice enough to ride in shorts :(

46x19. towards the end of my days as a messenger (in the PDX) I switched from a 42x16 to that. It's really quick and lets you slow down on the hills. Also, as a perpetual sort-of road racer, it's nice to have a gear that approximates the 39x16.

hey 128, how do you have your brake lever attached to the blue bike? do you have a better pic?

what's up man, can't wait to see your new bike all set up. In regards to skid spots: since 47 is a prime number, any cog with X teeth will provide you with X unique skid spots, unless of course X is a multiple of 47, which would be an exceedingly strange choice.

oh, and i've been running 48x17. Still have my brake installed but have managed to get all around SF without using it, almost ready to ditch it. My pista came stock w/ 48x16 which gave me 1 skid spot per foot, then i changed it to the 17 and i now have 17 skid spots/foot. it's all about the numbers of teeth being mutually prime. let me know if i should explain that any more, it must have been covered before.

If you already have a 47t chainring, go for 47x17. 72-73 gear inches is the best combination of hill climbing and fast flat capability.

49x18 here.

44x16

42x16x700c
38x15x26"
43x14x650c

Brakes on all of 'em.

(oh yeah, and the cruiser's running 42x20x26")

mouton. i have a road lever on the underside of the left of a pair of nitto bullhorns. The brake faces towards me, and I wrapped the cable inside some celiini cork bar tape. its nothing fancy but it worked nicely for me when my right hand was crippled and I needed something accessable. I like it because the brake is far away enough that I have to reach for it, but I just lean forward and its right there. Just incase.

I almost never touch it.

If you want I can take a better picture of it in the morningn and post it.

spor- i cant wait till my new bike is set up either. I've got a 1950's track frame to dura ace hubs, phil bottom bracket, chris king headset, vintage nitto bars, miche cranks (i want to replace them eventually, they're good, but not my dream cranks), campy seatpost, brooks seat.... its a mix of old and new, western and asian, total bastard bike but its the things I like together...

52:16 and 32:16

spor- i cant wait till my new bike is set up either. I've got a 1950's track frame to dura ace hubs, phil bottom bracket, chris king headset, vintage nitto bars, dura ace hubs, miche cranks (i want to replace them eventually, they're good, but not my dream cranks), campy seatpost, brooks seat.... its a mix of old and new, western and asian, total bastard bike but its the things I like together...

Whoa...I don't know what I'm even doing in this thread, but this bike is going to be awesome.

Yeah it will!

The frame has a great story too!
Stolen and recovered!

Oh is that the cool blue one from the craigslist post with the ornate lugs? Sweet!

Man... I remember when it was still nice enough to ride in shorts :(



Happy first day of winter!

Johnb- yep. It's white now though, the blue was beyond saving. Someday I'll save up and get it powder coated. I unfortunately have no idea what the original paint job looked like, so I may just make something up and do a fake restoration myself.

ps. eff this rain. my next bike project is going to be "das uber commuter"

<on topic>

46x16, soon to be 47x16

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45x16
47x17
47x16
44x17

<on topic>

46x16, soon to be 47x16

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47x16 everday!!!!!!!!!!!!

49x18

You mean this?

http://static.flickr.com/29/67305270_d6196f81b0_b.jpg

I got a shot of you too:

http://static.flickr.com/31/67305273_cb2f6430d7_b.jpg


judah didn't like my pedals and clips. sigh.

My new bike (funky old 103 Peugeot conversion, love the ride to DEATH) has 40x18 simply because it has french cranks and I don't want to splash out the dosh for a new crankset/bb/ring.

I feel like a noodle on fast descents sometimes but it's helping my spinning/circular pedaling a lot, and I scarcely ever walk up a hill.

I'd sure feel more xhardxcorex if I were running 75+ inches but for now this thang feels straight-up luxurious compared to my old 51 + 18.

46x17

128- hey man, havent seen you around since when you still had the cast on, good to see you got everything back together and that new bike sounds awesome

well anyways, i ride 45x16 and 46x16 on my two bikes.

hey! good to hear from you, too. I just started riding again late last month, and man is it good to be functional again. I'll post up pictures when its all done for sure.