Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - what's your preference? (gearing)

not necessarily looking for specific tooth count but....

I ride my SS A LOT and some of my rides cover moderately hilly terrain. I go out of my way to avoid anything too steep. My gearing as-is is comfortable going up hill, I actually manage to gain a lot of ground and pass other riders during group rides when climbing. BUT... I spin out going down hills and feel like I could afford to have more gear on the flats.

So my question... in your opinion, is it worth working a little harder on the climbs to have more on the descents and flats?

Thanks in advance...

try different gears. Freewheels don't have to cost you tons, so experiment.

54 x 14, for hills

I run it slightly higher than rusty, since my town has huge hills. 68 x 12.

You are more man than I.

I suppose it bears mentioning that I am currently running 48x17. I'm yet to find myself walking up any hill that I've encountered but all of the riders I pass going up fly past me on the way down, I just cant build speed.

If you can't build up speed, seems like you could go up a tooth on your freewheel.

48/18 is a very sensible gearing for any sort of city riding.

You are more man than I.

who said i was male? *wink wink*

I like 46 18

Oh, the lament of one gear!

Spin to win, my friend.

Fixed gear 42x18, single speed 49x16

48/16.

My bike came with 42/18. But found it a bit too easy. So I changed to a 16 cog. Now I've ordered a 47 chain ring. I hope
47/16 isn't going to be too big a jump from 42/16.

That's about 8 gear inches...

5 freaking teeth...

Your knees are going to hate you.

big jump. someone needs to post the link (i dont have it) to that Rabbit gear calculator every time something like that^^^^ is posted

http://software.bareknucklebrigade.com/rabbit.applet.html

BAM!

Maybe I should go 47/17 first.

Going from 48/15 to 48/19 was a big jump, my knees don't hate me anymore.

I'm currently running 46x17 with about 71 GI. It's great for getting around slightly hilly Berkeley. I also don't spin out too much on the flats. I might go up to an 18 or 19t cog when I move to Seattle though.

46/17...... Kinda low but I never have to walk up hills.

48/17 is perfect for me. Sometimes ill make really good efforts on climbs, but its not so hard that it forces me to gear down.

And I can usually hold a good speed on flats and even better on downhills XD. Acceleration is verry easy (when all compared to my stock ratio of 48/15?)

Because this hasn't been done a few thousand times...

http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/ludicrous-speed.png

49/16 here. No shortage of hills here in New Westminster/Surrey/Vancouver.

35+ kph on the flats with no wind. I mash/pull up most bridges and hills. There are some hills everyone avoids. Gearing is something you play with until your patellar meniscus is happy.

If you can't build up speed, seems like you could go up a tooth on your freewheel.

48/18 is a very sensible gearing for any sort of city riding.

I really wanna try 48/18, but its only 3 skid patches :crash::crash::crash:

19

I'm thinking of picking up either an 19, 18 or 17 cog + some lights...and some clipless ****....but I'm running 48/16 right now and I can't seem to spin out other than going down hill so I'm thinking of lowering my Ratio and seeing if I cant get my spinning into better shape.

I managed to spin towards the top last night but i got drained really fast.

I ride 46/17, Been thinking of cutting that down to 44/17 not a huge difference, but makes it a little easier and forces me to spin more.

I guess I could go 46/19 and make a larger jump, especially since Cogs are cheaper than chain rings.

Ive been riding 48:16 for 3 years. It is a little tough at times but you can really pick up speed on flat ground and just have to power through hills. That being said I am picking up a 17t cog pretty soon.

Ive been riding 48:16 for 3 years. It is a little tough at times but you can really pick up speed on flat ground and just have to power through hills. That being said I am picking up a 17t cog pretty soon.

I like 17t and 19t cogs for skidding purposes. Though I am not a particularly good skidder. Usually I can lock up the rear wheel for a second or so but then it puses my leg around and I have to do it again with my left leg.

I like 17t and 19t cogs for skidding purposes. Though I am not a particularly good skidder. Usually I can lock up the rear wheel for a second or so but then it puses my leg around and I have to do it again with my left leg.

Right. Well I do not really skid much anymore but still for general tire wear I think a 48:16 gear ratio is not the greatest. I mainly want to hop down to 48:17 just for hills and starting up after stopping. It only recently occurred to me through starting to read these forums again that 48:16 is a pretty high ratio and most are riding something a bit lower and liking it a lot more for various reasons. Cogs are cheap so I am going to give 48:17 a go.

speaking of cogs. I'm shopping for one, and I suppose a lockring although I may just try to refuse my lockring. What is the cheapest cog that you guys would recommend?

speaking of cogs. I'm shopping for one, and I suppose a lockring although I may just try to refuse my lockring. What is the cheapest cog that you guys would recommend?

Surly cogs are generally pretty good

I would not recommend a cheap cog. I have a dura ace cog.

Dura ace, or EAI.

I like 17t and 19t cogs for skidding purposes. Though I am not a particularly good skidder. Usually I can lock up the rear wheel for a second or so but then it puses my leg around and I have to do it again with my left leg.

Brakeless?

I'm a spinner with 38x16 (in town with lots of hills). If I want to go fast, I can always hop on the track bike at 48x16 and spin like a madman... until I hit the two to three mile climb back home, just not fun or good for the knees.

to hijack the thread. How are formula cogs?

Formula made cogs?

Site?

I'm at 46x16 which is 75 GIs. But planning on going up to 48x16 which is 79

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-FORMULA-17T-COG-FIXED-GEAR-TRACK-17-TOOTH-3-32-LOW-/370421512133?pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories#ht_6283wt_992 was look at this on ebay.

just picked up a new fuji classic track with 46x15 and it is killing me. i have not been on a bike since my late teens and now that i am 39 i am severely out of shape. the 46x15 is 80.9gi and would like to get down into to the lower 70's ?

just looking for an opinion on what to try, i can keep the 46 and pop for a 17 and that will get me to a 71.4gi.

my city is mostly flat and i and out of shape. went for a 1/2 mike today and thought i was going to fall down when i got off the bike from my jello legs ! LOL

Brakeless?.


Nah, I am not cool enough to go brake less. I can get to a stop pretty quickly by alternating legs and locking the rear wheel though. But down steep hills and in traffic, I prefer to have a brake.

I really like the idea of using own strength and leverage to power/stop the bike as much as possible. It feels more organic to me. So I tend to lay off the brake as much as I can, which means if I see the opportunity to skid in a non-******y way, I usually take it, even though I know I can stop faster with my hand brake.

I have 46/15, what came with the bike. It works just fine for me! A little slow starting sometimes but I like how fast I can get going.

just picked up a new fuji classic track with 46x15 and it is killing me. i have not been on a bike since my late teens and now that i am 39 i am severely out of shape. the 46x15 is 80.9gi and would like to get down into to the lower 70's ?

just looking for an opinion on what to try, i can keep the 46 and pop for a 17 and that will get me to a 71.4gi.

my city is mostly flat and i and out of shape. went for a 1/2 mike today and thought i was going to fall down when i got off the bike from my jello legs ! LOL

That seems reasonable or even 46 x 18. Many road oriented fixed gear bikes are geared this way. For example, standard gearing on a Surly Steamroller is 47 x 19. I run 42 x16, 48 x 19 and 46 x 20 on my road FG bikes.

48/16

39/14 currently. flip flop at 39/16. i really enjoy the 39/16 for the hills.

I'm running 48:18 on my rig and it feels great. The only times I spin out are on steep downhills, and the 72GI is comfortable to climb in. The only downside is there are only 3 skid patches. I'm looking to gear up or down, 17T or 19T, to increase the number of skid patches. I leaning towards 19T to make it easier on my knees, but afraid of spinning out.

Im running 48/16 too. I rather like it, though I've not been able to spin out going down hill since my first 2 weeks on my fixie :/ buying a 17 cheapo cog, my grab at 18 or 19 eightinch just to bring my GI down further.

I really wanna try 48/18, but its only 3 skid patches :crash::crash::crash:
OP said he rides SS, not fixed, so no skid patch worries.

I ride 44 X 19 with 28 mm tires for a little less than 63 gear inches.

Two prime numbers, 47 X 19, will give 65-66 gear inches depending on the tire size (23-28 mm), and will allow stopping without skidding and without a brake.

Learn to spin and stop skidding.

=====

EAI makes the best cogs, and Dura Ace cogs represent the best cog for the money.

sorry, what does it mean when you say 'learn to spin'?