OK, I know it's a stupid question, and in general its a bad idea to use a crappy stamped steel cog, but here's my situation.

I have a real beater of a bike as my fixed conversion. The goal was to build it as inexpensively as I felt safe doing. For me, this necessitated buying new wheels and a new front brake caliper to fit the new wheels.

The wheels came with a cheap, stamped 16T cog. I immediately swapped it out with a quality machined 14T cog. After nearly a year, I decided that I want to go back to the lower gearing I get with the 16T cog.

If it matters, I never skid. I always use my front brake, unless I'm already going real slow and it is easy to come to a stop by backpedalling. It's my low-budget beater and I'm not out to set any records on it...I don't ride it hard. I do like to trackstand at lights. Can I get by with the crappy cog I already have, or should I buy a new quality cog?