Originally Posted by Blopslee

I'm mostly a road cyclist and have been riding a converted road ss for about ten years for commuting, errands, etc. First, I'm glad to see others doing this - although I just got a fixie too, It seems like no one rides road ss bikes around here

I'd say stick your 39 on the front and buy a range of BMX cogs (15, 16, 17 or something like that - this would probably necessitate a shimano freehub body, but it might be worth converting if you have campy because cogs from a cassette make loosing your chain very easy even with good tension) - they are cheap - and a spacer kit or conversion kit form some place like Rennen Design (they have a really nice two piece spacer that telescopes to allow an exact chainline adjustment) to convert your freehub body - and try your best guess first and just change sprockets as you get a better idea - did this about ten years ago and it worked itself out pretty fast. (seems like lots of people end up around 70 inches in a wide range of terrain, which would put you at about 39 x 15). Some will say that BMX cogs damage your freehub body, but I have been beating the hell out of mine for years with no problems.