Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - SF: What ratio do you rock?

Hey all

I've been trying to convince my friend from SF to give riding fixed a try, but he says the hills are too prohibitive. Granted, they are huge, but I know a lot of you ride fixed out there and I'm curious as to what ratio you use/strategies for dealing with the hills. My friend lives in mission and works over in the mission bay area.

holla!

g

46x17 and 49x18. anywhere from 69-73 inches should be fine. My main strategy is to go around the hills, haha.

I live up by the panhandle, and work in soma. If i went in a straight line I'd hit some nasty hills, but if I do a little weaving around smaller streets I can do it with no problem, pretty fast... sfbike.org has a map that has hills marked that you can download or buy.

anything under 70 gear inches will be quite easy to pedal up hills ... lol =)

Hills? Bah! You can get from the Mission to Mission Bay without ever going uphill :)

I'm riding 44x16 right now, which is 63 gear inches, I think. My cog may need to be replaced soon, and when it does, I'm going down to a 17 in the rear. I do have to spin pretty fast on downhills, but I can get up most hills. Plus you learn to go around the ones you can't. I've never not been able to get where I want to go riding fixed - a fixie's been my only bike for the last year.

EDIT: Oops, I'm riding *18* in the rear, not 16.

47x16

I live up by the panhandle, and work in soma. If i went in a straight line I'd hit some nasty hills, but if I do a little weaving around smaller streets I can do it with no problem, pretty fast... sfbike.org has a map that has hills marked that you can download or buy.

Dude, I bet we ride parts of the same route a lot. I live near UCSF and work downtown - my usual route is panhandle -> Oak -> wiggle -> Duboce triangle -> Market St.

Thats my route, exactly. I live 2 blocks from freewheel, off fulton.

44x16. onetwentyeight is right, go around the hills. actually, riding in SF, i've come to understand better where the hill ARE NOT, rather than where they ARE.

other tips (mostly joking - you can make it anywhere in the city if you really try):
- don't become friends with people who live at the tops of hills
- don't take a job that's at the top of a hill
- don't let your favorite bar be at the top of a hill
- don't take an apartment that's at the top of a hill

anyway, from what you've said, your friend has tip #2 and #4 taken care of already. Mission District -> Mission Bay is as flat as can be.

I ride that route everyday. If you want to grab a coffee at the beantrea let me know. Regarding gearing - 49x17 here.

46x17. head down 16th to 3rd and hanga left/right to get where you need.
should be mostly flat on 16th work up to 17th and potrero for more hill goodness.

46x17. head down 16th to 3rd and hanga left/right to get where you need.
should be mostly flat on 16th work up to 17th and potrero for more hill goodness.

it's less trafficky (and an easier climb) to take 17th from harrison and across potrero...

it's less trafficky (and an easier climb) to take 17th from harrison and across potrero...

Plus, the graffiti's better == nicer scenery :)

+1 47X16 is nice.

one bike is 52X18


47x16

There are two bikes that I ride in SF, one is 42x15-18, the other is 49x18. 63 inches to 72 inches.

it's less trafficky (and an easier climb) to take 17th from harrison and across potrero...
this is true...but we are talkinghills here, not traffic:p

I ambulate using a 46x18 ratio. 172.5 cranks, also.

42-17, which makes hills super-easy.

I ride that route everyday. If you want to grab a coffee at the beantrea let me know. Regarding gearing - 49x17 here.

SF - I miss you!

Wanted to come down to visit before flying home - but I fought the law, and the law won... :(

(46:18) 69 all the time.

Here's a pic of a SFmessenger mate of mine who crazily worked on 49:16 or something HUGE. He could pull a wheelie (manual) and ride out of sight - FAST!

http://www.fyxomatosis.com/public_html/emAlbum/albums/A%20Revolution/11.jpg

im riding 46x17 but the knees are starting to complain a bit (i live in potrero hill tho...)
gonna switch back to 46x19 or something.. should be dandy

49x17 is pretty big IMO...

-a

44x16.
meh.

nice photo.

this is awesome people. i've sent the url of this page to him but its a good resource i think. probably something in the mid to high 60's would be good for things, it seems. i rock 46x16 here in boston and its lovely.

thanks again, keep posting

g

giessel - feel free to tell him about www.onetwentyeight.com/sffixed

50 x 16
or
49 x 16 recently.

52x18

giessel - feel free to tell him about www.onetwentyeight.com/sffixed

word- community is COMMON UNITY (yay)

no seriously, thats cool. i'll let him know.

after having my conversion for a month or so, i can't ride my mtb anymore. i'm that hooked and pretty much a zealot now.

Im surprised your friend hasnt noticed how many of us are riding them out here.

48(?)x18. I can climb most hills, if I wanna. And can go really fast on the flat streets!

42x16/17, 43x15.

42x16 Fixed, 42x18 SingleSpeed (hardly ever use the SS side). I'm heavy, old and weak, but the 42x16 allows me to climb most everything I try to climb.

There's that little short steep hill between Aquatic Park and Fort Mason (McDonnel Avenue) that I have to get off and walk it up, though. I get down to about 1/2 RPM and figure I've lost the battle. ;-)

50-17 for the steet (need to keep up with the busses:D )
50-16 for track

49x18

that looks like demarco in your photo, mrwhite. about a month back he had a nasty crash and lost an appendix or something. he's a nice guy and crazy fast.

i live in soma and work at usf, so it seems i take the exact opposite route from a few of you.

several bikes all set up with different options, depending on how lazy I am feeling:
49x17
48x17
46x16
44x19 (with fenders and some gnarly flip-n-chops - for slumming!)
50x15 (track only)

49x17

Dear SF residents: Please find me and the lady decent jobs so that we can move back. OK, thanks.

40x15, but am thinking of gearing up, now that my friends don't all live at the top of twin peaks.

49x18

49x18 gets me around SF

49x17 now, 49x16 soon. 50x15 next year?

Speaking of jobs, I need a summer job. A good one. I have experience in everything, and I smell nice.

Speaking of jobs, I need a summer job. A good one. I have experience in everything, and I smell nice.

can you hack python and jsp?

i can...

whatcha got?

-a

...by "i have experience in everything", i really meant office ****, cablecast master control, and making cheesecakes.

we're looking for a competant wrench or two at my shop.

by "competant," i mean "can build a bike out of a box in about 1 hour and have it be safe to ride and not need an additional hour to fix the mistakes that were made."

47/18

oh yeah, when i'm not riding my geared bike, it's 45/17. but that's not very often. and the above was in response to gh-ap's post about needing a summer job...and a general announcement to anyone who might care.

i've been riding my track gear everywhere, 48-15, getting up hills is fine, i just don't have to pedal as much, but sometimes it feels like i might tear my arms out of their sockets. And on the downhills, i dont spin out that much, but sometimes i feel like i might die. It's all sortof a give and take. ;) I think i'm gonna switch down to the 48-17 that treated me well for a long time :)

the 44 to the 16

I used 48x18 which got me over Twin Peaks and Bernal Hill without dying and then down the other sides with control. Probably would go 48x17 just for the skid patches though, cause I'm wiser, weaker and lazier.

I work in the soma and live in the marina (don't get the wrong idea, i grew up
in the sco so my rent is cheap, which is why i havent left yet) and generally
try to avoid hills. However, my 48 x 18 gets me around very easily (a little too
easily) for the other areas where hills are unavoidable. You know places
OTHER than the mission.

<rant>side note, in my 23 years here in sf, I've learned that
a grip of mission folkers are EXACTLY like the marina fools
just on the other side of the coin, so to speak. A liberal snob
is still a snob.</rant>

edit: werd on going from 18 to 17 in the back.