Help picking a new gear ratio?
 

Hi fellas.

I've decided to upgrade my stock chainring and cog on my bikes direct steed & I'd like to try a new ratio.
Something a little more mashy than spinny.

The chainring is a 46 & and the cog is a 15, so what would be the next step up from that?

I commute daily about 9 miles each way, and its mostly flat. Just some minor hills & inclines once in awhile, so nothing super tough. So I'm after something that'll keep me going faster for a longer distance.

Ol' Sheldon says that a 42/16 ratio is a pretty good starting spot. Since that chainring is is smaller than mine, will that make it spin faster than my current one? Or does my smaller cog make it pretty much the same ratio?

You spin faster.

If you find your current ratio too "easy", then i would suggest getting a new 48t chainring, or a 14t cog.

You can get about the same gear suggested by Sheldon by installing a 17t cog and keeping your stock chain ring. It will have you spin more.

You're already at 80 gear inches, how much more mashy do you want to get?

Well, before I bought my motobecane, I was riding around on an ooooooold schwinn 10 speed, and mostly stayed on the big chainring, that had like 50+ something teeth on there. Since I rarely shifted thats one reason why I wanted to try a fixed. I went from pushing 55ish teeth to pushing 46, I guess I spoiled myself with the schwinn, or the opposite...

But since I can no longer coast, I figure I'd probably be better to have something no so huge on my chainring. I'm not trying to win the hour or anything like that, just riding to work.
But the car traffic is awful here, so I want something that'll let me keep up with the pace as much as humanly possible.

Also..
So basically what you're saying is the bigger the chainring, and/or the smaller the cog, then the more mashy it gets?
I tried to play with those gear inch calculator sites and what not, but I'm just awful at math.

Thanks for the tips!

go lower

i used to run 46x16 which was fun, but then i switched to 46x19 for winter gearing, and i loved it, wasn't even that spinny then I thought. I ride with the Purdue Cycling Club and I can keep up just fine with all road bikes, Especially when those giant hills come, then I can mash up the hill just as fast as roadies

The only downside is the downhill, but i learned to go up to extreme cadences

the bigger the ratio (bigger ring/smaller cog) the harder the gear and theoretically faster bike. Your gear can get you to a car's speed without spinning insanely fast but in reality getting that gear up to speed is gonna be hard as hell. Also, someone that can spin a lower gear really well will probably be faster than the guy trying to pedal a tall gear at a low cadence.

That's what I run now and it really isn't hard to go around 20mph, which I think most people with good fitness will be trying to ride at. But I get that others will want to stick around 70 gear inches or just over.

Spinnin' iz bettah.

try a 48t chainwheel.

Higher gear inches = bigger chainring/ smaller cog
Lower gear inches = smaller chainring/ bigger cog
Always inverse relationship between chainring and cog.

I run 46-16 and I think that's pretty good for mashing, especially on those hills, but if you're riding flats you can probably go higher.
I say 48-16, because adding two teeth to the chainring makes less impact than taking away two teeth from the cog. 46-14 would be pretty intense.

I personally like chainrings in 44, 45, or 46. These ring sizes give me the most versatility with the cogs I like to run.
Of course these are all dependent on your fitness level and the terrain you ride in.

49/17

I use a front brake, so skidding isnt really a priority or anything. But.. I guess since I have a (sorta?) large amount of gear inches, thats a reason why I can't get this bike to skid much?
Or probably just my scraggly legs?

Sorry, but do you lack basic math skills?

You're currently running 46/15. You want something more "mashy" than "spinny" so I'm assuming you want a higher gear ratio..

1) go with 48t chainring

or

2) go with 14t cog