poopncow

+++

If you are slow, riding a big gear will only make you slower (on avg)

gear for the climbs and learn to spin on the flats

shishi

w/ the big chainring up front takes more to get going

dutret

minutely more.

mcatano

I think I'm confused... you said that 42x16 sounded dinky, but you ride 48/49x18? Those gearings are pretty similar. 42x16 is about 71", and 48x18 is about 72".

Anyway, I ride 46x17 and 50x19 in hilly-as-fuck halifax.

m.

sunv

I have a noob ques
so these ratios, can you compare them using gear inches?
Like upper 80s inches means more speed on flats but total mashing up hills, and lower 60s inches means low speed on flats and spinning crazy down hills. Am I correct on this?

So in that case, can't u use different chainrings on two diff bikes with diff cogs that give the same ratio each and wouldn't those bikes be the same in the chainline? For instance 42x13 and 13x42. is there such a thing? no i imagine the stresses on the 13t chainring from your pedaling would bend the teeth.

See that was something that was on my noggin.

mcatano

I'm not sure what chainline has to do with it, but yeah. You can use the different chainring/cog combinations to give you approximately equivalent gear inches. ie, 42x15 and 45x16 are both approximately 75".

dutret

<i>so these ratios, can you compare them using gear inches?
Like upper 80s inches means more speed on flats but total mashing up hills, and lower 60s inches means low speed on flats and spinning crazy down hills. Am I correct on this?</i>

yes that is exactly what the number is for

sfcrossrider

I ride 2 to 1 on fixed and SS (I ride alot of cross and MTB and, love a fast spin vs. mashing a higher gear). I find fixed easier than SS (imo). When I spin out on SS I'm SOL. When I spin out fixed I just relax my legs and let the cranks take over. I have a good friend that is the other way around. He can rock a single and has a hard time on fixed. It all comes down to your spin style.

dutret

huh? Isn't coasting preferable to slowing yourself down by letting the pedals drag you around?

shishi

Standing start at the track it does make a diff.

pedex

spinning a 52/17 or 52/16 at 90 rpm isnt mashing

dutret

-it's not exactly spinning fast either.
-you've got to mash it up there.
-unless you are insanely strong you are mashing that up hills.

TNCLR

I think the operative word there was "sounded". 42x16 sounds dinky. I didn't do the calculations before I posted, but yes, you are right. 42x16=71 gear inches while 49x18=73.5. My point was to start out with lower gear and work your way up.

mcatano

Totally valid.

pedex

on the hills here you get out of the saddle and climb, which isnt tough on the knees at all really

my best speed vs cadence comes in at about 82-85rpm

you wanna spin at 90-100+ go right ahead, but dont complain when you find yourself unable to go much faster than 20mph LOL. me, being able to do 25-27mph when I need to is a nice tool to have, and I cant do it and hold it with a dinky little 70 inch gear

baxtefer

hey, how did you get **** past the filter?

[edit] hey! where did it go? [/edit]

sfcrossrider

Coasting with a single speed = slowing down. You don't have the fixed wheel to help keep your speed up. It's more of a spin fast, recover/coast, spin fast, recover/coast. They both offer challenges in their own way. I just find fixed easier (IMO). I also spent the better part of 13 years racing track (you learn alot like how to relax you legs with out having your peddals drag you all over the place so you can recover from a sprint or hard effort in a race) so... the idea of being locked into my rig isn't a big deal. That's why it's good to ride ALOT of different types and styles of bikes. Helps to open your eyes to how hard the other guys style of riding really is.

dutret

relaxing your legs and letting momentum pull your feet around = slowing down even faster though. Your feet can only move soo fast.

I ride around 2:1 ss and rigth below 30mph on road or a bit less on trails my feet just can't keep up anymore so I start coasting. This allows me to go alot faster on steep descents. If I was fixed instead I would not be able to coast. Sure I could get my feet going faster by letting the cranks pull them around but that would be taking energy that could be keeping the bike speed up and wasting it pulling my feet in little circles. After the point at which you spinout on a ss you are just scrubbing off speed with your legs on a fixie. You spin out on the ss because you legs are incapable of applying force to pedals at higher speeds.

Sorry, if that was a bit convoluted but the simple physics of the situation dictate that allowing the pedals to pull your feet around(even smoothly) is going to be slower then coasting unless you have the worlds worst freewheel or something.

mcatano

I have powers.

sloppy robot

i concur!

spinning is the ****.. spinning is the new riser bar.. embrace it

No_Minkah

trestestestes