das_pyrate

as of now, my bike has 48/16 gearing, which i believe is stock on most track bikes.

unfortunately, it is not a very practical gearing for me. even though i'd probably top out at higher speeds than most of my friends (who have lower gearing), i would would be unable to skid to a stop at those speeds. also, 48/16 gives you only 1 skid patch on your back tire, so i probably skid through tires quicker.

anyways, i am in the process of buying a new 17t cog. i think this will make it easier to skid to a stop easier and make tires wear out slower than having one skidpatch (new gearing would be 17 patches )

has anyone else done this switch before?

dsh

If you're finding that you can't skid on 48x16, the switch to 48x17 isn't going to make a huge difference.

Then again, cogs are cheap. Go for it.

Patricky

i run 48 17. i love it casue no matter how fast im going, i can do a seated skid

adriano 

i like 48/19.

dobbler

How about running a brake and grabbing a 15t cog until your legs get stronger?

BLACK BIKE

I have this crazy idea that just might solve your dilemma. You could keep the 48-16 and use one of these:

das_pyrate

another thing i forgot to add is that it is much harder to get up to speed with 48/16 gearing, so i don't think i'm gonna raise it. a 15t cog might solve the skid problem though.

916dave

I have a 48/16 and am going to 49/16 as my town and commute is about as flat as can be. 2 questions:

1. Is it really that much harder to skid when gearing up?
2. Why are people always so eager to gear down than up?

das_pyrate

woah why would i do that d00d i cant do epic barspinzz wit a front breaakeke!!!111!



in all seriousness, i'm actually about to mount a front brake soon.

(my front wheel doesn't have clearance anyway)

PedallingATX

OP- going 48/17 will be a great switch. It will make skidding significantly easier and be much more practical. I use 48/17 gearing around town, and I live in a hilly city. I think it will definitely be a noticeable difference. Switching one tooth on a cog makes a pretty big difference. As far as skid patches go, you can't get much better than 17...

das_pyrate

ok cool. i live in a pretty flat city, so i don't really have to worry about climbing much.

yeah tho. i recently bought an everwear and it's already getting kinda worn out. not THAT bad, but yeah i've only had it for a few weeks.

i might just end up picking up a couple of different cogs and try em out. thanks for all the input!

btw what's a good cog that's on the cheap side? i have a surly one right now that i'm happy with, but they're like 25-30

PedallingATX

check ebay! I got a Soma cog on ebay for 10 bucks w/ shipping. Anything that is machined and not stamped should be fine. Surly is good, Dura Ace is good, EAI is good, Soma is good, Bens cycles cogs are good...

Formula is probably cheap but I have never used one to konw if they are any good. I know I shredded a formula lockring once...

dsh

A lot of people think it's better to spin higher cadences in a low gear than mash 60 rpm in a high gear and go the same speed. It also helps when you run into hills and the like.

Go with the lowest gear that you're unlikely to spin out on level ground. If you start spinning out when you didn't before, that means you're getting stronger. So gear up.

If you aren't "bike fit" and start out at 80+, you're going to have a hard time with things like stopping and getting up hills.

das_pyrate

yeah there's some great deals on ebay forsure. some of em look kinda shady tho.

ie. "cog and lockring for $10"

i was originally gonna change my chainring, but i have a crappy lasco crankset with 4 bolts and I can't find what bcd it is anywhere.

buying a new cog is cheaper anyways

BLACK BIKE

I don't know if you've checked this link yet, but it might help you determine your crank's bcd.
https://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_bo-z.html#bcd

das_pyrate

thanks for that link black bike.

yeah it's kinda lame how the only place i've seen them sold are on leader's site, and they give very few details. i couldn't even find them on lasco's website haha.

BLACK BIKE

No problem!

ALaS

a 15t cog will make it much harder to skid. 46/17 is nice. I agree with the brake comment.

juggleaddict

lol, practical fixed gear : P nice. It sounds silly when you say it outside of context.

Yea, just put a brake on it. : )

I can't really say even when I try to ride without brakes that I skid very much at all, but then again I kept the stock 42 17 ratio on the Langster. It's a hill climber xP . . . and a bit slow. I don't know who in the WORLD decided to put a 42 chainring on the front, that was a horrible idea.

sp00ki

47x16 is a fantastic gearing (but not much different from 48, i'm sure).
it's great for bursting into sprints and not so big that you can't get up climbs.
good balance of speed and practicality imo.

Scrodzilla

Hey pyrate...I started what ended up being a pretty extensive thread on this subject about a week ago (and have since decided to gear down a bit).

The thread can be found here if you should want to read what everyone had to say:
https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/554855-48-16-killing-me.html

Dion Rides

I have my wheel flip-flopped - (48/)16 on one side, (48/)18 on the other.

I rode 18T a few weeks ago and got dropped left and right. My legs spun like I was in a Hanna-Barbara cartoon.

I switched back to 16T.

frymaster

i fail to understand how running a unicrown fork is going to address his gearing problems...

frymaster

for your chainring you can always get a "rocket ring"... aluminum, which is lame, but it comes drilled for 110, 130 and 144 bcd and you can get them for 1/8". this is a really good choice if you want to run road cranks and a fat chain or if you want to keep the options for new cranks open.

sp00ki

that's it exactly.
gearing down forces you to develop a spin faster, but you're going to develop spin anyway regardless of what gear you're in. the only difference is that 100rpm is going to get you less and less as you gear down. You lose something like two-and-a-half miles per hour at 100rpm from 18 to 16 teeth with a 47 tooth ring.
That's doesn't seem like a huge difference, but 24.5mph vs 27mph (120rpm) really is the difference between riding with traffic and getting honked at by it.
There's a reason riders put bigger rings (or smaller cogs) on the more they ride...