53t chainring too big?
 

Hey everyone, I'm currently turning my raleigh super record into a fixie/ss.... I'm repainting the frame right now, but when the time comes, is it ridiculous to use the 53t as my front chainring? The crank is swaged to the bigger of the two chainrings, so other than getting a new crankset, its my only choice rather than keeping the whole double and running it on the 42t.... any feedback would be great!

higher teeth are always beneficial as there is less wear than lower teeth cogs/chainrings. the tighter the circumference that the chain has to travel, the more wear - think about it.

what actually matter is your gear ratio. I'd worry more about that. If your terrain is relatively flat and not too steep, I recommend a 19t cog for approximately 73 gear inches. That should be comfortable.

good luck.

good to know about the teeth wear! What I meant to ask in the post was the question regarding gear ratio.. I'll be getting a felt z85 in the upcoming week or two, and I was using the raleigh as a project and something fun to ride around town on. I most likely won't be doing too many hills on it. 53/19 sounds good.. I've been pushing around the 53/42 for a while now so it shouldn't be too much trouble! Thanks for the info!

plus if i keep the 53 as my chainring I can keep the cool chainring guard on it :)

I started out on 52/19 and I really liked it. It's got enough pick up and go for city riding and I could still stay in control

A 19 or 20t cog is easy to find and will give you a good starting ratio with a 52-53 tooth chainring.

I had 52/20

Its not big at all, I felt cool w/ a big ass chainring and a big ass cog, haha

Everyone just said, wtf why is your cog so big

sexy ride similar to 46/17

not too big if matched with a 19/20 cog, as mentioned.

When you replace your bottom bracket to move the chainring in to get an appropriate chainline, I can all but guarantee your 53T ring will hit your chainstays and you won't be able to get your cranks on properly. It's not going to work.

This is true. You can set up a fixed hub to a 44-45 mm chainline but this might be a bigger pain in the ass than getting different cranks.

53x19 here. Love it.

+1 I run this and love it.

Depends on the frame. On my first bike (Schwin Le Tour conversion), I ran my 52t on the outside of my spiders with the stock bottom bracket to clear the chain stay, and still had a decent chainline.

it sounds like the OP is using the road double cranks that came with his frame -- they will work fine.

Put on a 13t cog and fly !! :D
Wish i could ride such a ratio...

Efficiency and wear rate differences between a 42T and 53T ring will hardly be noticeable. Focus more on the gear ratio. Obviously for a reasonable gear, you'll need a larger than average cog, but no one here can tell you what gear ratio is best for you.

Unless you are going to be climbing hills, 53t is fine. I ran 55/16 for a month or two.

a 53 tooth chainring has nothing to do with climbing, just put a bigger cog and you could climb pretty much anything.

I like 53/19. It's a good all around ratio.

I rode 53 X 19 and 53 X 17 for awhile.

People notice your chain ring at 53t. :)

Sometimes I work part time for a man who used to own a bike shop. While digging through the piles of parts the other day I found both a 62 and 64 tooth chainring. They are huge. I'm getting ready to build a frame this winter with 120mm spacing so I can use one of them. He used to sponsor a track team at Indianapolis and a road team that traveled the midwest and he has piles of 80's and 90's top of the line parts.

I had a 52/20 on this bike and I thought it was a tad too easy, even in the hilly area I live, where the hills are steep and loooooooong.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...g?t=1256184100

i ride 52x21 where its flat.

i'm riding 52/13 on my fixie... but that's with 20" tires (451). works out to 81ish inches.