Originally Posted by
PatrickGSR94
I have heard that you can achieve the same gear-inches on a folder bike as you can on a regular bike by using different gear combinations, to account for the smaller wheels. Not sure how that ends up working in actual use.
my Dahon Speed P8 has 20" wheels and a 1x8 deraileur drivetrain. a 20x1.25 tire with a 53 tooth chainring and 11-28 cassette gives the following gear inches:
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]
88.8[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
81.4[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
69.8[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
61.0[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
54.3[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
46.5[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
40.7[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
34.9[/TH]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
for comparison, my hybrid has an alfine 8 IGH. a 700x32 tire with a 45 tooth chainring and 20 T cog gives the following gear inches:
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]
98.1[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
86.2[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
74.3[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
60.8[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
51.7[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
45.4[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
39.1[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
32.0
[/TH]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
and my road bike has a 2x10 derailleur drivetrain. a 700x23 tire with 53/39 chainrings and a 11-28 cassette gives the following gear inches:
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD][TABLE]
[TR]
[TH]
126.6[/TH]
[TH]
93.2[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
116.1[/TH]
[TH]
85.4[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
107.1[/TH]
[TH]
78.8[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
99.5[/TH]
[TH]
73.2[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
92.9[/TH]
[TH]
68.3[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
81.9[/TH]
[TH]
60.3[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
73.3[/TH]
[TH]
53.9[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
66.3[/TH]
[TH]
48.8[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
58.0[/TH]
[TH]
42.7[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH]
49.7[/TH]
[TH]
36.6[/TH]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
so as you can see, my folder is a little under-geared at the top end compared to my other bikes, but that really only affects downhills (non-existent in chicago) and ripping tailwinds.