my rides tend to consist of a lot of uphills / downhills. i just can't see to make it up some of the really big hills and it's starting to become an issue (granted the only hill i couldn't make it to the top of was more like a mountain). but i was wondering what gear ratios work best for uphill rides? IIRC my kilo is 48/16. TIA.

ravine and vine are doable on that ratio, but i would advise going with something more like 48/18 and learning how to spin faster on the downhills.

My 44x18 is what you need. I handle every seattle hill no problem. In fact, Its too easy and I'm going to a 17T soon. The tradeoff is you can't go fast when youre on the flats.

Somewhere in the range of 75 gear inches or slightly less seems to work best for me for hills. Let's me get up them and not spin too crazy fast on the downhills. I use a 44x16 (74.2 GI) on my Kilo and a 45x16 (75.9) on my other fixed gear. If you don't want to change chainrings (and mess with chain length) hooters recommendation of 48x18 will get you 72 GI.

Mine are actually 44x18 at the moment. A little too low. But hills are a breeze.

I have ridden in a hilly urban/suburban setting with as high as 82 gear inches (53X17), a norm of 72 gear inches (47X17), and, presently, for temporary health reasons, 58 gear inches (42X19).

Most of my rides involve a seven to 15 mile one-way trip, with a dynamic range of 800' (800' between highest and lowest points on the ride), but up and down that 800' more than once.

As I went to lower and lower gear inches, it surprised me how much my spin improved.
I no longer have a high speed bounce, and I find my spin limited only by my cardiovascular fitness (it takes energy to keep up with the pedals).

I found that my average times for each trip remained the same at every gear inch down to about 65 gear inches (42X17), and then, as I went lower, my total times began to increase, but not by much.

For a 7.5 mile trip through traffic with, typically, three stoplights, my time, whether at 82 gear inches or 65 gear inches, I averaged 26 minutes, with a one time, atypical 23 minute commute to work (just a good day, feeling my oats, enjoying a favorable wind, and hitting all the lights just right).

The same ride at 58 gear inches (42X19) averages 30 minutes, which means, going down from 82 gear inches to 58 gear inches added only four minutes to a 7.5 mile commute.

I think at the lower gear inches I can brake later, accelerate faster, and maintain a more consistent average speed.

I ride mostly with either a 17t EAI cog, or a 19t EAI cog.
Because I have a 130mm BCD crank, I can experiment with a broad range of inexpensive chain rings.
I have a 53t, 52t, 48t, 47t and 42t chain ring, and I learn a lot by experimenting with them.

In my humble opinion, 72.7 gear inches (47X17) represents the most useful all around gearing for moderately hilly terrain and minimal use or no use of brakes.

Factory street fixed gear bikes typically come with 78.8 gear inches (48X16).

48x16 is waaay too high for hilly areas, at least for me. I rode 52X17 in a flat area, went down to 48x17 when I moved back to Worcester (made of hills) and I was like... **** this, so I switched down to 42x16 which works really, really well for me.

i just shift my deep-vfixedgearmodulator to "hills" and it automaticaly switches betweena 37x20 up the hills and a 58x14 down the other side.

They call that a "derailler."

42x16 works well for me with most of the hills i have to ride in sf. but i love going fast, so in that situation it's kind of a bummer...

Threads like this make me think that someone could make a fortune by re-releasing something like the SA 2-speed fixed hub.

I know I'd be all over it.

I live in a hilly area and run 70 gear inches on average. I ALWAYS walk the steepest hills.

Such a critter has existed?

I mean, a two-speed hub without a coaster brake and the ability to back pedal?

That would interest me, hugely.

I remember my favorite bike of all time, before I discovered fixed gear bikes.
It had a Bendix two-speed and a coaster brake.

If I could have a two-speed hub fixed gear bike, I can't imagine it getting any better than that.

Except for a single-speed fixed gear bike.

Yes, but on second look it appears that it was a 3-speed, not 2.

https://sheldonbrown.com/asc.html

wow! i did not expect all this feedback! thanks a ton guys! the information really helps, it sounds like i need to play around with some ratios a bit. i guess i'll try a 48/18 first since it's probably the easiest / cheapest first step.

shants, yeah, i can make it in that area. i don't know how familiar you are with the nasti, but there's a hill that leads through northside and keeps going up to college hill. that was the hill i couldn't make. i thought i was on the homestretch and turned a corner to find that it just keeps going and going then turns another corner and goes some more. it destroyed me, haha!

but thanks a again for all the help guys. i'm bookmarking this for reference.

I'm 42 x 18 in the mountains and can mostly get up anything. Some days I'm sorta spent and havta walk alittle, but this is a good combo. I think you'd like it.

Aww, that's Kirby (or Glenview), one of my favorite roads to ride on when I come to Cincinnati. When I'm home, and I crash at my dad's in Clifton, I'll head up that road as a warm-up before dropping down into Ross and beyond.

Anyway, when I used to ride fixed in Cincinnati, I was on 42x15, which worked out great. I could climb anything and I had enough flat-line range to keep a good pace on Spring Grove or Eastern.

SAve Alkaline- I ride all over Cincy, and nKy. ( I live in Ft. Thomas) on my 42-20 SS. At times I think a 42-18 would be better. I'll probably pick up a dicta 18 tooth freewheel soon. I have a 16, and it is too high for many of the hills here. At least for me.
If I had to name a gear right now it would be 42-18.

There was a pic on here a week ago of a Bianchi that was setup around 1:1 for a Mt. Washington Hillclimb or something. Couldn't find the pic, but it was crazy.

I commute SS in Cincy during the summer months and run a 44/17 or 42/17 which gets me over just about most hills. However for hills such as Ravine, Straight St, Caldwell or the back side of Devoe Park, I use gears. At 58 anything over about 8% just isn't meant for a SS/fixie.

Sam in Cincy

yeah.. at least you can make a pit stop at the comet for beer and burritos!

per a friends suggestion (and because i'm out of money due to the holidays, lol) i would like to just change out my rear cog for now. I was thinking an 18t cog giving me 48/18.

i'm still a newb so forgive the next question.. will my kilo chain require additional links? and is there a shop online where i can get a cog and lockring cheap? (might as well replace that too as i hear the stock one on the kilo is pretty craptastic).

thanks again for the input, guys.

i was doing 46x17 in pittsburgh and found it to be a moderate middle ground for both down hill and flat but could still easily make it up most hills, pittsburgh is pretty hilly too...

there are a few hills that i just couldnt do but there are a thousand ways around those..

i ride 40x14 on seattle's hills.

also did the Seattle-to-Portland ride on my 14x40 fixie, it's a good all-around gear, for me anyway.

46x18 (69-70 in.) for Seattle seems to work fine. Haven't ever had to walk yet, and some hills here are mighty steep. It's all keepin' up the momentum and mashing like crazy.

I've got hills to deal with too so I stayed with the 42 x 17 on the SJ for a while. Now I'm pushing 42 x 15 (73.6gi)and getting up some really steep stuff, albeit slowly. I do a long climb and switch to freewheel for the descent. It's 42 x 18 and on the flats it's really slow. I'm going to swap the 18 for a 15 or 16.

So anywhere between a 42 x 17 and 42 x 15 is for me.