Thread: Gear ratio
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Old 06-25-18 | 01:53 PM
  #15  
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79pmooney
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From: Portland, OR

Bikes: (2) ti TiCycles, 2007 w/ triple and 2011 fixed, 1979 Peter Mooney, ~1983 Trek 420 now fixed and ~1973 Raleigh Carlton Competition gravel grinder

Originally Posted by kingston
I agree that you need to try out a few and see what works, but I have been riding fixed for a while, have a bunch of different gears, and sill use the calculators. Yesterday I went for a little 25 mile ride, and my top speed was just over 31 mph. I was spinning like crazy, so I thought about changing to a higher gear when I got home. I used the bikecalc cadence at speed calculator to determine that I was spinning at over 150 rpm at my top speed, which is about my limit. My average speed for the ride was a little over 19 mph, which means I spent most of my time on the flats in the 20-21 range, which is a cadence of around 100 rpm. If I add two teeth on the chainring it drops it down ~5 rpm or I could drop a tooth on the sprocket to bring the rpm down by ~7, but then I'd have to shorten the chain, so a bigger chainring seems like the way to go. I guess I could have just started swapping parts, but it's nice to have some idea of what's going to happen before I make any changes.
I used to ride up to Skyline Blvd over Oakland, CA from the sea level island of Alameda (Juaquim Miller), turn around at the top without stopping and fly down. Despite being 2 lanes on either side of a parkway median and California drivers, I was never passed on the way down. (45 mph?) Always a 42 x 17. 225 rpm? Yes, it was completely nuts. (And yes, when I rolled back into Alameda, I did not have a single tight muscle in my legs from that 1000' climb!) Oh, I used aluminum slotted cleats and quality Binda toestraps pulled tight!

I am no longer that crazy.

Ben
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