Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 29er MTB Gearing ?

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA

View Full Version : 29er MTB Gearing ?

Kustomz
11-25-03, 08:31 AM
It seems most of the MTB world starts with 32x16 or 17 as a baseline gear to try. I am building an SS 29er and am wondering what a good starting place for the larger wheelset would be?

riderx
11-25-03, 09:03 AM
It seems most of the MTB world starts with 32x16 or 17 as a baseline gear to try. I am building an SS 29er and am wondering what a good starting place for the larger wheelset would be?
You are right, 2:1 is the usual starting place for 26 inch MTB's (32x16 or 34x17 being common). If you want to get an equivalent gear, I believe someone told me you want to gear about 20% lower. Check Sheldon Brown's website for a gear calculator and you can figure it out exactly. I've ridden my 700c fixed gear Crosscheck (damn near a 29er) on singletrack using a 2:1. It was harder, but not enough to worry about since it's not my regular off-road machine.
MichaelW
11-25-03, 11:42 AM
Use gear-inches to compare the gearing. You have to take into account the diameter of the outer edge. Normal 700c wheels are 27" diam. Just fit 29" into the gear-inch equation.
gear inches= (#front teeth/#rear teeth) x wheel diam