Originally Posted by
TejanoTrackie
Changing the cog will cost a lot less than the chainring and will give you a much bigger change in gearing. I ride a 47 x 17, which is only slightly lower gearing than 48 x 17, so I'd suggest trying a 17T rear cog first and see how it feels. I can still average 20 mph on the flats with this gearing and crank it up to 35 mph on downhills, but still get up hills easily. I don't skid, just backpedal to stop and have a front brake for fast and emergency stops.
Yeah that's what I was thinking. So the more teeth on the cog will allow me to spin more? I hardly ever skid either I usually just backpedal quite alot but wouldn't mind being able to skid easier. On the set up I'm currently running I can max out to like 35mph on flat, I haven't actually checked for downhill..
Would it make sense to just go one up though and get the 17t cog? Would that even be noticeable from 48x16 to 48x17? Am I better off getting 18t?