Switching cogs and adjusting the chain
 

Right now I am running 46/16 and want to gear a little lower. If I were to change the back cog out to an 18 or even bigger, how much adjustment to the chain will be required?

If I were to switch my chain ring out for a smaller one, lets say 44, then bump the cog up to 18, how much chain adjustment would be needed? Are we talking removing links or just moving the rear wheel hub back some to ensure chain tension?

Thanks for the info.

wow, well, i can only speak from experience, last night I dropped from 44/17 to 44/15 and it wasnt enough that I had to take links out, though in either of those cases you might have to adjust chain length depending on wear your wheel sits in the dropouts now...purely out of curiosity, why the gearing down?

Yeah I think ultimately, depending on what gear ratio I finally decide on, I will have to play around a little to ensure chain tension.

This is my first FG and I'm not quite used to such a high gear for every terrain scenario I encounter. Louisville, KY, though urban in most places, still has a fair amount of hills so I thought I would gear down to compensate for the learning curve.

If I were you I would gear down in a small step, jumping two cogs up is a pretty big jump. You might find 44/16 a nice ratio to learn on. Jumping from 46/16 to 46/18 is a mighty jump and you might find yourself spinning out on even little downhills.

Thanks for the suggestion frank! I think I will try 44/16 initially and see how it goes.

just go with a gearing you like and buy a chain tool...
it doesn't really need to involve a lot of thinking.

agree

46*16 is definitely a high gear for the street, at 77 inches or so it's getting into the track range.

You should learn to use a gear calc if you haven't already. Rabbit is the best for ssfg: http://software.bareknucklebrigade.c...it.applet.html

I don't know about 46/16 being high for the street. I run that and find it nice, even for a city with some larger hills. When I got my conversion finished I ended up with 46/15 and thought 80 GI was a little high for some of the hills, I have tried the same 46 ring with 15,16 & 17t cogs and I like 16 the best for all around and longer distances.

Who needs a gear calculator? Chainring divided by cog multiplied by wheel's outside diameter is all you need.