Originally Posted by
bhtooefr
I was thinking 48/22 (stock 48T chain ring).
That would give, with the Nexus Inter-3, 29.9, 40.8, and 55.6 GI - pretty close to the 56.0 GI in top gear that the stock 48/16 gearing gives. This is a pootle bike, and I'm slow. 2nd and 3rd gear in that setup would be my normal use gears, 1st would be the climbing gear, and it just wouldn't have a downhill gear. ..
FWIW 48/22 is exactly what my Nexus 3-speeds are. Third gear is almost almost always fine once up and running, even on most inclines. I'm sure the pedals spin out about 20 mph. Second is low (starting off, pavement speed). Third is emergency low-gear, it was handy in the snow.
At first I did think about raising the gearing but now I'm glad I didn't.
Of all the reasons not to take a trip on the bike, I've never found 'not fast enough' to be one of them.