I'm thinking of picking up either an 19, 18 or 17 cog + some lights...and some clipless ****....but I'm running 48/16 right now and I can't seem to spin out other than going down hill so I'm thinking of lowering my Ratio and seeing if I cant get my spinning into better shape.

I managed to spin towards the top last night but i got drained really fast.

I ride 46/17, Been thinking of cutting that down to 44/17 not a huge difference, but makes it a little easier and forces me to spin more.

I guess I could go 46/19 and make a larger jump, especially since Cogs are cheaper than chain rings.

Ive been riding 48:16 for 3 years. It is a little tough at times but you can really pick up speed on flat ground and just have to power through hills. That being said I am picking up a 17t cog pretty soon.

I like 17t and 19t cogs for skidding purposes. Though I am not a particularly good skidder. Usually I can lock up the rear wheel for a second or so but then it puses my leg around and I have to do it again with my left leg.

Right. Well I do not really skid much anymore but still for general tire wear I think a 48:16 gear ratio is not the greatest. I mainly want to hop down to 48:17 just for hills and starting up after stopping. It only recently occurred to me through starting to read these forums again that 48:16 is a pretty high ratio and most are riding something a bit lower and liking it a lot more for various reasons. Cogs are cheap so I am going to give 48:17 a go.

speaking of cogs. I'm shopping for one, and I suppose a lockring although I may just try to refuse my lockring. What is the cheapest cog that you guys would recommend?

Surly cogs are generally pretty good

I would not recommend a cheap cog. I have a dura ace cog.

Dura ace, or EAI.

Brakeless?

I'm a spinner with 38x16 (in town with lots of hills). If I want to go fast, I can always hop on the track bike at 48x16 and spin like a madman... until I hit the two to three mile climb back home, just not fun or good for the knees.

to hijack the thread. How are formula cogs?

Formula made cogs?

Site?

I'm at 46x16 which is 75 GIs. But planning on going up to 48x16 which is 79

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-FORMULA-17T-...#ht_6283wt_992 was look at this on ebay.

just picked up a new fuji classic track with 46x15 and it is killing me. i have not been on a bike since my late teens and now that i am 39 i am severely out of shape. the 46x15 is 80.9gi and would like to get down into to the lower 70's ?

just looking for an opinion on what to try, i can keep the 46 and pop for a 17 and that will get me to a 71.4gi.

my city is mostly flat and i and out of shape. went for a 1/2 mike today and thought i was going to fall down when i got off the bike from my jello legs ! LOL

Nah, I am not cool enough to go brake less. I can get to a stop pretty quickly by alternating legs and locking the rear wheel though. But down steep hills and in traffic, I prefer to have a brake.

I really like the idea of using own strength and leverage to power/stop the bike as much as possible. It feels more organic to me. So I tend to lay off the brake as much as I can, which means if I see the opportunity to skid in a non-******y way, I usually take it, even though I know I can stop faster with my hand brake.

I have 46/15, what came with the bike. It works just fine for me! A little slow starting sometimes but I like how fast I can get going.

That seems reasonable or even 46 x 18. Many road oriented fixed gear bikes are geared this way. For example, standard gearing on a Surly Steamroller is 47 x 19. I run 42 x16, 48 x 19 and 46 x 20 on my road FG bikes.

48/16

39/14 currently. flip flop at 39/16. i really enjoy the 39/16 for the hills.

I'm running 48:18 on my rig and it feels great. The only times I spin out are on steep downhills, and the 72GI is comfortable to climb in. The only downside is there are only 3 skid patches. I'm looking to gear up or down, 17T or 19T, to increase the number of skid patches. I leaning towards 19T to make it easier on my knees, but afraid of spinning out.

Im running 48/16 too. I rather like it, though I've not been able to spin out going down hill since my first 2 weeks on my fixie :/ buying a 17 cheapo cog, my grab at 18 or 19 eightinch just to bring my GI down further.

OP said he rides SS, not fixed, so no skid patch worries.

I ride 44 X 19 with 28 mm tires for a little less than 63 gear inches.

Two prime numbers, 47 X 19, will give 65-66 gear inches depending on the tire size (23-28 mm), and will allow stopping without skidding and without a brake.

Learn to spin and stop skidding.

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EAI makes the best cogs, and Dura Ace cogs represent the best cog for the money.

sorry, what does it mean when you say 'learn to spin'?