Originally Posted by bcc423
why 32:16 and not 22:11,enen though they are the same(i think) with the 22:11 you would have more ground clearance, but i dont know anyhting so ill let you all enlighten me!!
As redfooj said, you will wear out both sprockets more quickly with the 22:11. In the book Bicycling Science, they also show that there is a marked drop in drivetrain efficiency for sprockets with less than 15T. It's about a 5% drop due to the chain having to bend more sharply.
A 32T sprocket only sticks out about 0.8 inches lower anyways!!!! (32T-22T = 5 inches difference in circumference = .8 inches difference in radius)