No problem.

You can't help it.

As for the best all around street gear ratio for ANY rider, I nomimate 63 gear inches.

I know that sounds absurdly low to most fellow forumites.

I got that gear ratio from a web site addressing off road fixed gear bikes.

http://www.63xc.com/

They made a very good argument for that gear ratio, and so I tried it.

At first it seemed way too low, but as I learned to spin, I eventually found my trip times around town coming up to my times at higher gear ratios.

Presently I have three fixed gear bikes: one at 82 gear inches (with front brake) for a specific commute; one at 63 gear inches (no brakes) for around town; and, one at 59 gear inches (front and rear brakes) for unplowed snow.

During my experiments with gear ratios, I found that I could successfully ride without using my brake or skidding at a maximum of 72 gear inches, but just barely.

At my age and weight, 72 gear inches does not represent a practical gear ratio for me, as I cannot reliably brake nor adequately accelerate.

However, I think a young, strong rider of normal to light body weight could easily ride at 72 gear inches without skidding or using his front brake.

I submit that in normal urban riding (normal, for me, meaning stopping for red lights and rolling stops at stop signs), a young athletic rider at 72 gear inches will match trip times with a similar rider at 82 gear inches.

82 gear inches offers raw speed and efficiency on long uninterrupted flats; and, 72 gear inches offers control, agility, braking and acceleration.

And 63 gear inches gets me accross an intersection in the blink of an eye.

Or so it seems to me.