etothepii

I'm planning my first conversion right now. My stock chain rings are 40 and 52. I figure on keeping the 40, and getting a 14t rear cog.

Yoshi

My commuter bike is set up with a 48 chainring, a 17 cog and an 18 freewheel.

My track bike is currently set up with a 50 chainring with a 17 cog for riding to the track, usually a 15 for racing. I just got a set of Miche cogs so I'll be able to play around with gearing more often, and I also have a 48 chainring that I sometimes use at the track.

CycleOrchard

I'm riding 48/14 not bad for Kansas. I like to go as fast a possible. Locking up down a hill sucks sometimes.

abigscarybear

I'm riding 48/15 right now. Feels good on the flats, but I'd like something a little bit easier for hills...what would you guys reccomend thats better for hills but wont leave me pedalling like crazy on flats? I'd prefer to simply switch a cog than get a new chainring

aMull

I am running 48/19 and it's great for the hills and for the flats. I think around 68-72 inches is about perfect. I can climb pretty decent hills but i can still go at a good apce on the flats without spinning too much.

abigscarybear

Yeah Ive been debating between going either 17 or 19. 19 seems like a bit much as I'll be taking the bike into the city this fall where its basically flat...I wish my rear hub was fix/fix instead of flip flop so I could just run a 15 on one side and a 19 on the other and switch them out as needed

Yoshi

48x17 is pretty nice. And everyone should be comfortable spinning at 100+ rpms anyway.

roadfix

As long as you're running a brake and use it you can run a fixed cog on the free side of your flip flop hub, no problem.

theetruscan

I am running 48/17, which was great in Nashville, and is misery in SF, going to change to 46/17 or 48/18 to take some of the pain away.

I know there's a guy who works at a bike shop near here, has a flat commute about 22 miles long, and does it 52/14 fixed (he FLIES)

abigscarybear

interesting, I didnt know this...will it act as a freewheel or fixed though?

theetruscan

The freewheel is not in the hub. A cog will act fixed unless you manage to get it spinning loose, then it will act as doom.

roadfix

It'll be fixed. You can run fixed cogs on both sides of a fixed/free hub if you wish. Just make sure you're running a brake.
When you run a freewheel cog the freewheeling mechanism is in the cog itself, not in the hub.

Yoshi

Not only should you be running a brake, you should be using a brake. I know there are some people who run a brake but primarily skid/skip stop. Don't do this if your cog is on the freewheel side.

teiaperigosa

flats and hills. right now 57 x 19 . go big or go home

ADSR

I ride 53/17 and it was real hard to get used to. Its something like 83 gear inches, making me very happy that my town is as flat as can be. I'm going to go to a smaller chain ring as soon as possible.

serac

It's a good thing there are so many gears you can use because everybody seems to have different tastes. I find that I can grind up hills in just about any gear so that isn't my main constraint. Spinning down hills is where I'll turn the highest RPMs. If you can't spin, you will want a bigger gear so you won't have to pedal as fast down hill. Then compromise on the flats for how fast you go. 70-72 is my sweet spot right now. I spin like a mad man down some hills yet my speed on flat terrain is very comfortable for long rides.

Faust1976

I run 48/16. i keep it breezy. attack the hills!

BMonei

39x16.

Got to keep your speed down if you want to talk to the ladies.

sauce

In San Francisco, 49x19 worked well, though I think many MANY people ran 49x18. That seemed to be the standard ratio.

After I moved to LA, and I switched to 49x17 and it seems to do pretty well for lack of hills. Of course they are harder to skid but I think I can get used to it, and I get to go faster more comfortably, which is important cuz LA is so sprawled out.

91MF

wow. my ****ing head exploded.
thanks for all the input, when i have more than 5 minutes before work i will read everything.

abigscarybear

went out to one of my LBSs last night to get new tires for my girls bike, ended up having them thrown a surly 17t cog on mine. So far I've ridden about 6 miles with it, and overall I'm pretty happy with it. I find myself attacking hills a lot better and more aggresively although I still get tired pretty easily...I'm still not in the best shape though. Anyway, 48/17 is a pretty decent ratio for slight/mid grades and straights without spinning out too badly on the downhill.

jpdesjar

48x19 here
good ratio for the terrain i ride on, i can tackle most hills and i don't spin out on flats